ords, and already they fancied themselves scouring
over the plain in pursuit of a thousand flying foes.

"But is there no gallant achievement, no heroic deed, which you would
desire me to perform, as a mark of my gratitude?" asked Saint George,
after he had duly thanked the Fairy for the aid she had wrought him.

"Well spoken," answered the Fairy; "yes, there languishes, even now, a
brother knight, one for whose country I have a fond regard, Saint David,
of Wales, in the gloomy castle of the Magician Ormandine, on the borders
of Tartary. Go and free him. From trusting entirely to his own
strength, and not seeking rightly for all other aids, he failed in what
he undertook to accomplish. A magic sword, by which alone the Magician
can be conquered, is held in a rock near his castle. No human strength
can pull it out; but take this flask of oil, pour it into the rock, and,
waiting patiently, you will find the sword easily come forth."

The Knight promised to obey the Fairy's directions; and she having
disappeared, he and De Fistycuff set to work so manfully, although not
accustomed to handle such tools, that in a few days they hewed
themselves a subterranean passage beneath the walls of the city.
Through iron plates, and thick walls, and granite rocks, and mud, and
sand, they worked, the last, like slippery people, giving them the
greatest difficulty to deal with. At length the sky appeared; and
there, at the mouth of the cave out of which they emerged, stood their
steeds, held by two dwarfs of ugly aspect, who presented them with their
spears, and swords, and other weapons.

No sooner were they mounted, and Saint George was about, to reward the
dwarfs, than he found that they had disappeared.

Accordingly, they set off, as fast as Bayard and the Squire's steed
could carry them, along the neck of land which joins Africa to Asia, and
then galloped rapidly northward. In wonderful condition were the
horses, while the pure, fresh air their riders breathed, after their
long imprisonment, added fresh vigour to their limbs, and courage to
their hearts.

Many adventures, which cannot here be recorded, were met with; and at
length they reached the magic forest which surrounded the castle of the
fell Enchanter. They witnessed the same terrific sights, and heard the
same sounds as did Saint David and the faithful Owen; but, equally
dauntless, they clove their onward way through brake and briar, in spite
of the hissing of