"That Heaven, O Kraken, placed me in thy path, for what reason I know
not."

Kraken beheld her for a long time in silence.

Then he said with gentleness:

"Orberosia, come into my house; it is that of the bravest and most
ingenious of the sons of the Penguins. If thou art willing to follow me,
I will make thee my companion."

Then casting down her eyes, she murmured:

"I will follow thee, master."

It is thus that the fair Orberosia became the consort of the hero
Kraken. This marriage was not celebrated with songs and torches because
Kraken did not consent to show himself to the people of the Penguins;
but hidden in his cave he planned great designs.




VI. THE DRAGON OF ALCA

"We afterwards went to visit the cabinet of natural history. . . . The
care-taker showed us a sort of packet bound in straw that he told us
contained the skeleton of a dragon; a proof, added he, that the dragon
is not a fabulous animal."--Memoirs of Jacques Casanova, Paris, 1843.
Vol. IV., pp. 404, 405