not resolve to leave her lover in captivity, and determined first
to finish the adventure on which she was engaged. Pinabel leading
the way, they at length arrived at a wood, in the centre of which
rose a steep, rocky mountain. Pinabel, who now thought of nothing
else but how he might escape from Bradamante, proposed to ascend
the mountain to extend his view, in order to discover a shelter
for the night, if any there might be within sight. Under this
pretence he left Bradamante, and advanced up the side of the
mountain till he came to a cleft in the rock, down which he
looked, and perceived that it widened below into a spacious
cavern. Meanwhile Bradamante, fearful of losing her guide, had
followed close on his footsteps, and rejoined him at the mouth of
the cavern. Then the traitor, seeing the impossibility of escaping
her, conceived another design. He told her that before her
approach he had seen in the cavern a young and beautiful damsel,
whose rich dress announced her high birth, who with tears and
lamentations implored assistance; that before he could descend to
relieve her a ruffian had seized her, and hurried her away into
the recesses of the cavern.

Bradamante, full of truth and courage, readily believed this lie
of the Mayencian traitor. Eager to succor the damsel, she looked
round for the means of facilitating the descent, and seeing a
large elm with spreading branches she lopped off with her sword
one of the largest, and thrust it into the opening. She told
Pinabel to hold fast to the larger end, while, grasping the
branches with her hands, she let herself down into the cavern.

The traitor smiled at seeing her thus suspended, and, asking her
in mockery, "Are you a good leaper?" he let go the branch with