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E MOUNTAINS.] "The priests chanted their wild hymns, and the light at last began to break and to crown the mountains and be scattered over the blue river. "The roar of the monster was heard. The rocks trembled, and he appeared. He approached the maiden, bound to an oak. "Her eyes were raised in prayer towards heaven. "As the Dragon approached the victim, she drew from her bosom a crucifix, and held it up before him. "As soon as he saw it, he began to tremble. He fell to the earth as if smitten. He lost all power and rolled down the rocks, a shapeless mass, into the Rhine. "The pagans released the girl. "'By what power have you done this?' they asked. "'By this,' said the maiden, stretching out the cross in her hand. 'I am a Christian.' "'Then we will become Christians,' said the pagans, and they led the lovely apostle away to be their teacher. Her first convert was one of the rival princes, whom she married. Their descendants were among the most eminent of the early Christian families of the Seven Mountains of the Rhine. "Such is the fable as told by the monks of old. The figure of the power of the cross over the serpent, employed in early Christian writings, undoubtedly was its origin, but how it became associated with the story of the captive maiden it would be hard to tell." * * * * * Master Lewis introduced the story-telling of the evening by anecdote pictures of FREDERICK THE GREAT. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, was born in 1712. He was a wilful youth, and his father subjected him to such severe discipline that he revolted against it, and, like other boys not of royal blood, formed a plan of running away from home. His father discovered the plot, and caused his son's most intimate friend, who had assisted him in it, to be put to death, and made the execution as terrible as possible. He early came to hate his father, his father's religion, and everything that the old king most liked. His father was indeed a hard, stern man, of colorless character; but he managed the affairs of state so prudently that he left his undutiful son a powerful army and a full treasury, and to these as much as to any noble qualities of mind or soul the latter owed the resources by which he gained the title THE GREAT. His mother was a daughter of George I. Frederick loved her, and from her he inherited a taste for music and literature
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