Page:The Enchanted Knights; or The Chronicle of the Three Sisters.djvu/87

Rh The Unknown saw and gratified the desire of the prince. He took the chip of the cask, which had served him as a sea-horse, and threw it into the air unseen by any one, when it became a hawk which arose above the head of the prince, followed the jays and brought them down successively without obeying any call but that of the stranger to whose hands it returned, much to the astonishment of the prince and his whole hunting suite. All made their secret comments on the enigmatic man, some believed him a god of the sea, others, a sorcerer; Udo himself knew not what to think, but judged him rather favourably. He took him to the palace as a guest, tended him carefully, and presented him to his wife, Edda, as a friend. The Unknown justified by his behaviour the good opinion of the prince. He was a high-bred courtier, exhibited much knowledge, and amused the ladies by his wizard tricks, yet neither the kindness shown to him, nor the friendship of his host could untie the band that bound his tongue. The quick-sighted eye of the prince perceived a certain melancholy in his guest, principally when he made him a witness of his domestic happiness, a spectacle as rare in the palaces of the great as in the divan of Gods in the Homeric Olympus. This