the music of angels' voices was heard above; and the fairies vanished
in a burst of sunbeams, and were seen no more. And when the queen's
maidens came soon afterward into the chamber, they found the child
smiling in his mother's arms. But she was cold and lifeless: her
spirit had flown away to fairyland.




HOW CHARLEMAGNE CROSSED THE ALPS

It was near the time of the solemn festival of Easter,--the time when
Nature seems to rise from the grave, and the Earth puts on anew her
garb of youth and beauty. King Charlemagne was at St. Omer; for there
the good Archbishop Turpin was making ready to celebrate the great
feast with more than ordinary grandeur. Thither, too, had come the
members of the king's household, and a great number of lords and
ladies, the noblest in France.

Scarcely had the good archbishop pronounced a blessing upon the devout
multitude assembled at the Easter service, when two messengers came in
hot haste, and demanded to speak with the king. They had come from
Rome, and they bore letters from Pope Leo. Sad was the news which
these letters brought, but it was news which would fire the heart of
every Christian knight. The Saracens had landed in Italy, and had
taken Rome by assault. "The pope and the cardinals and the legates
have fled," said the letters; "the churches are torn down; the holy
relics are lost; and the Christians are put to the sword. Wherefore
the Holy Father charges you as a Christian king to march at once to the
help of the Church."