during his enforced absence in Thuringia at the court of Basium, king of that country.  The Franks had elected Aegidius, a Roman general, to the sovereignty over them, but as he proved himself no better than Childeric, whom they had deposed, they once more essayed to choose another ruler.  This was made known to Childeric through his friend Winomadus.  He rapidly returned to the shores of the Rhine and, reinforcing his following as he proceeded on his march, appeared before Andernach at the head of a formidable force, composed of many of his former subjects, together with Thuringian auxiliaries.  The people of Andernach, unable to resist this overwhelming argument, again accepted Childeric as their king.

Basina the Sorceress

While in Thuringia Childeric had seduced the affections of Basina, the queen of his protector.  When he regained his throne he induced her to leave her husband, and made her his queen.  Basina was a sorceress, one who could divine the future and also bestow the gift upon others.  Through this she gained great influence over Childeric, who desired to see and know what fate had in store for himself and his race.  Basina agreed to satisfy his curiosity, and one night, at the midnight hour, they climbed together to the summit of the hill behind Andernach.  There she bade him stand and look out over the plain while she performed her magical operations.  After some lengthy incantations she bade him look well and tell her what he saw.

In a trance-like voice the king replied: 

“I see a great light upon the plain, although all around is blackest night.”

He paused; then, at her bidding, proceeded again: 

“I see an immense concourse of wild animals—­the lion, the tiger, the spotted pard, the elephant, the unicorn—­ah! they are coming this way—­they will devour us!” and he turned to flee in great terror.

Basina bade him stay in peremptory tones and again to look out over the plain.  In a voice of alarm he cried out: 

“I see bears and wolves, jackals and hyenas.  Heaven help us, the others are all gone!”

Heedless of his terror, the queen bade him look again and, for the last time, tell her what he saw.

“I see now dogs and cats and little creatures of all kinds.  But there is one small animal—­smaller than a mouse—­who commands them all.  Ah! he is eating them up—­swallowing them all—­one after another.”

As he looked the light, the plain, the animals all vanished, and darkness fell.  Basina then read to him the meaning of his vision.

“The first vision you saw indicated the character of our immediate successors.  They will be as bold as lions, terrible as tigers, strong as elephants, uncommon as unicorns, beautiful as the pard.  These are the men of an age; for a century shall they rule over the land.”

At this Childeric was delighted and ejaculated a fervent “Praise be to the gods!”