Read Ebook: A Letter to Sir Richard Ford and the Other Police Magistrates Upon the Prevalancy of Gaming and the Infamous Practices of Common Informers by Holloway Robert Active

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Ebook has 91 lines and 2912 words, and 2 pages

'Then I will ask your master himself,' said the maid. But as she stepped towards the knight, the dwarf struck her with his whip, and the little maid, half-angry and half-frightened, hurried back to the Queen, and told her how the dwarf had treated her.

Prince Geraint was angry when he heard how rude the dwarf had been to the Queen's little messenger, and said that he would go and find out the knight's name.

But the dwarf, by his master's orders, treated the Prince as rudely as he had treated the little maid. When Geraint felt the dwarf's whip strike his cheek, and saw the blood dropping on to his purple sash, he felt for the sword at his side. Then he remembered that while he was tall and strong, the dwarf was small and weak, and he scorned to touch him.

Going back to the Queen, Geraint told her that he had not been able to find out the knight's name either, 'but with your leave, I will follow him to his home, and compel him to ask your pardon,' said the Prince. And the Queen allowed him to follow the knight.

'When you come back, you will perhaps bring a bride with you,' said the Queen. 'If she be a great lady, or if she be only a beggar-maid, I will dress her in beautiful robes, and she shall stand among the fairest ladies of my court.'

'In three days I shall come back, if I am not slain in battle with the knight,' said Geraint. And he rode away, a little sorry not to hear the merry sound of the hunter's horn, and a little vexed that he had undertaken this strange adventure.

Through valleys and over hills Geraint followed the lady, the knight and the dwarf, till at last, in the evening, he saw them go through the narrow streets of a little town, and reach a white fortress. Into this fortress the lady, the knight and the dwarf disappeared.

'I shall find the knight there to-morrow,' thought Geraint 'Now I must go to an inn for food and a bed,' for he was hungry and tired after his long ride.

But all the inns in the little town were full, and every one seemed too busy to take any notice of the stranger.

'Why is there such a bustle in your town this evening?' asked Geraint, first of one person and then of another. But they hurried past him, muttering, 'The Sparrow-hawk has his tournament here to-morrow.'

'The Sparrow-hawk! that is a strange name,' thought Geraint. But he did not know that this was one of the names of the knight he had followed so far.

Soon Geraint reached a smithy, and he looked in, and saw that the smith was busy sharpening swords and spears. 'I will go in and buy arms,' thought Geraint.

And because the smith saw that the stranger was dressed like a Prince, he stopped his work for a moment to speak to him.

'Arms?' he said, when Geraint told him what he wanted. 'There are no arms to spare, for the Sparrow-hawk holds his tournament here to-morrow.'

'The Sparrow-hawk again!' thought Geraint. 'I wonder who he can be.' Then he turned to the smith again and said, 'Though you cannot give me arms, perhaps you can tell me where to find food and a bed.'

'The old Earl Yniol might give you shelter. He lives in that half-ruined castle across the bridge,' said the smith. And he turned again to his work, muttering, 'Those who work for the Sparrow-hawk have no time to waste in talk.'

So Geraint rode wearily on across the bridge and reached the castle. The courtyard was quite empty and looked very dreary, for it was all overgrown with weeds and thistles. At the door of the half-ruined castle stood the old Earl.

'It is growing late. Will you not come in and rest,' said Earl Yniol, 'although the castle be bare, and the fare simple?'

And Geraint said he would like to stay there, for he was so hungry that the plainest food would seem a feast.

As he entered the castle, he heard some one singing. The song was so beautiful, and the voice was so pure and clear, that Geraint thought it was the sweetest song in all the world, and the old castle seemed less gloomy as he listened.

Then Earl Yniol led Geraint into a long low room, and this room was both dining-room and kitchen.

The Earl's wife sat there, and she wore a dress that must have been very grand once, but now it was old.

Beside her stood her beautiful daughter, and she wore a faded silk gown, but Geraint thought he had never seen so fair a face.

'This is the maiden who sang the beautiful song,' he thought. 'If I can win her for my bride, she shall come back with me to Queen Guinevere. But the brightest silks the Queen can dress her in, will not make her look more fair than she does in this old gown,' he murmured to himself.

'Enid,' said the Earl, 'take the stranger's horse to the stable, and then go to the town and buy food for supper.'

Geraint did not like the beautiful girl to wait on him, and he got up eagerly to help her.

'We are poor, and have no servants, but we cannot let our guest wait upon himself,' said the Earl proudly. And Geraint had to sit down, while Enid took his horse to the stall, and went across the bridge to the little town to buy meat and cakes for supper.

And as the dining-room was the kitchen too, Geraint could watch Enid as she cooked the food and set the table.

At first it grieved him that she should work at all, but afterwards he thought, 'She touches everything with such grace and gentleness, that the work grows beautiful under her white hands.'

And when supper was ready, Enid stood behind, and waited, and Geraint almost forgot that he was very hungry, as he took the dishes from her careful hands.

When supper was over, Geraint turned to the Earl. 'Who is this Sparrow-hawk of whom all the townspeople chatter? Yet if he should be the knight of the white fortress, do not tell me his real name. That I must find out for myself.' And he told the Earl that he was Prince Geraint, and that he had come to punish the knight, because he allowed his dwarf to be so rude to the Queen's messengers.

The Earl was glad when he heard his guest's name. 'I have often told Enid of your noble deeds and wonderful adventures,' he said, 'and when I stopped, she would call to me to go on. She loves to hear of the noble deeds of Arthur's knights. But now I will tell you about the Sparrow-hawk. He lives in the white fortress, and he is my nephew. He is a fierce and cruel man, and when I would not allow him to marry Enid, he hated me, and made the people believe I was unkind to him. He said I had stolen his father's money from him. And the people believed him,' said the Earl, 'and were full of rage against me. One evening, just before Enid's birthday, three years ago, they broke into our home, and turned us out, and took away all our treasures. Then the Sparrow-hawk built himself the white fortress for safety, but us he keeps in this old half-ruined castle.'

'Give me arms,' said Geraint, 'and I will fight this knight in to-morrow's tournament.'

'Arms I can give you,' said the Earl, 'though they are old and rusty; but you cannot fight to-morrow.' And the Earl told Geraint that the Sparrow-hawk gave a prize at the tournament. 'But every knight who fights to-morrow must have a lady with him,' said the Earl, 'so that if he wins the prize in fair fight from the Sparrow-hawk, he may give it to her. But you have no lady to whom you could give the prize, so you will not be allowed to fight.'

'Let me fight as your beautiful Enid's knight,' said Geraint. 'And if I win the prize for her, let me marry her, for I love her more than any one else in all the world.'

Then the Earl was pleased, for he knew that if the Prince took Enid away, she would go to a beautiful home. And though the old castle would be more dreary than ever without her, he loved his fair daughter too well to wish to keep her there.

'Her mother will tell Enid to be at the tournament to-morrow,' said the Earl, 'if she be willing to have you as her knight.'

And Enid was willing. And when she slept that night she dreamed of noble deeds and true knights, and always in her dream the face of each knight was like the face of Prince Geraint.

Early in the morning Enid woke her mother, and together they went through the meadows to the place where the tournament was to be held.

And the Earl and Geraint followed, and the Prince wore the Earl's rusty arms, but in spite of these, every one could see that he was a Prince.

A great many lords and ladies and all the townspeople came to see

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