Lionel," whispered the Lion. "Lionel is my proper name."

"Oh, I see, but, Mister----"

"There you go again," said the Lion. "Call me Lal and be friendly."

"Indeed I am very friendly, Mister--I mean Lal; but there are so many
things I don't understand."

"Common complaint of little boys," grumbled the Lion, "and you are
going to see a lot more things in a minute that you will find most
amazing. For instance, would you like to see a tournament?"

"Rather, Lal, I've always longed to see a tournament, but they never
have such things now, do they? Aren't they all ended in England?"

"On the contrary," declared the Lion, "one is about to begin."

"Where?"

"Here in front of your eyes, and if you like you shall stay and see it.
St. George outside Westminster has challenged the Griffin at Temple Bar
to fight. All the really important Statue folk will be present. King
Richard I from outside the Houses of Parliament will ride up to see
fair play. Charles I. will come over from Whitehall across the road;
Oliver Cromwell will most likely put in an appearance, if he can only
make up his mind to leave his mound outside the Commons in those big
boots of his."

"But, Lal," questioned Ridgwell, "surely Charles I. and Cromwell won't
come to the Tournament together? Will they speak and be friendly?"

"No, no," confessed the Lion, "we still have great trouble with those
two, they never speak. You see Cromwell is jealous of Charles, because
Charles is mounted upon a nice horse, and rides past Cromwell and never
notices him at all. Now Cromwell has to go about on foot, squeaking
and squelching in those big boots, so that he never gets up to Charles,
which annoys Cromwell very much."

"Why?"

"Well, you see, Cromwell wants to shout out 'Ha!!!' at Charles, and he
never gets a chance. Cromwell gets left out very much in the cold,"
continued the Lion, "Richard I. never notices him either."

"Why is that?" asked Ridgwell.

"It's like this," said the Lion, "and it's only reasonable when you
come to think of it. Richard I. spent nearly the whole of his time
fighting to preserve a shrine, whilst Cromwell spent most of his time
destroying them. Of course that annoys Richard, so Richard simply
looks through Cromwell whenever they meet. Nothing would induce him to
notice Cromwell."

"I should think that must annoy Cromwell," debated Ridgwell.

"It does," agreed the Lion, "but Cromwell always shouts out Ho! at
Richar