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