that no one there would dare to touch his shield. For Sir
Thomas was considered one of the first, if not the very first, lance in
England at that time; he having been chosen to represent the late King
Edward in the last tournament given by that indolent Sovereign. My
friend, with a courtly inclination of his head, struck the shield of
Sir Thomas a gentle blow with the blunt end of his spear, and then did
he rein back his steed that he might return to receive his pointless
weapon.

"Tarry an instant, Sir Knight," called out Sir Thomas.

"I await thy speech," replied Frederick.

"Hast thou grown tired of sitting on yon saddle, that thou dost wish to
be removed from off its irritating back? Be assured, young sir, 'twere
more gentle, far, wert thou to have thy squire remove thee."

"Thou dost mistake my purpose," replied my friend; "I come but to
awaken thee from thy dreams of past conquests; which are but poor
weapons with which to fight fresh battles, unless other arms be brought
to their assistance."

At this rebuff to the over-confident knight the King laughed both long
and loud, and of course the courtiers which surrounded him followed his
example.

"By the light of Heaven, thou shalt pay dearly for thine insolence when
I do hurl thee from thy saddle as a stone goeth from its sling!" called
out the enraged Sir Thomas, as my friend rode at a gentle walk in the
direction of the northern end.

When he heard this Harleston turned hastily around, and rode back to
Sir Thomas and said:--

"As thou still dreamest, methinks 'twere better to arouse thee with the
point," and he did strike the surprised knight's shield with the armed
end of his lance, and caused it to ring out right lustily.

"Ah! that is better," laughed Sir Thomas. "Now I may have the pleasure
of spitting thee like a rotten apple and then hurling thee from my
lance's point."

"Verily thou speakest from experience," returned Sir Frederick; "thou
hast, no doubt, been in the habit of spitting rotten apples, and
nothing more dangerous; else where didst thou get leisure to grow yon
ponderous paunch, next to thy speech, the most formidable part of
thee?" And amid a roar of applause and laughter he rode back to where
I waited. Here he handed to his squire the lance he carried, and in
its place he chose another, very heavy and unwieldy, as I thought; but
to balance these defects it did have a much greater strength than the
one with which he had chall