time to speak to him. It seemed as if something unusual
were going on, for there were horses standing about in the courtyard,
held by grooms in strange liveries, and servants were hurrying along, as
if they were so busy they hardly knew what to do first. The old beggar
man spoke to one or two of them as they passed, but they did not pay any
attention to him, so at last he thought it was no use waiting any
longer, and was about to turn away, when a little scullery-maid came out
of the kitchen, and began to wash some pots under a running tap. He went
up to her, and asked if she could spare him any broken victuals.

She looked at him crossly. "A pretty day to come for broken victuals,"
she cried, "when we all have so much to do that we would need twenty
fingers on every hand, and four pairs of hands at the very least. Knowst
thou not that an embassage has come from over the sea, seeking the hand
of our Princess Jean for the young Prince of Eastnesse, he that is so
rich that he could dine off diamonds every day, an' it suited him, and
they are all in the great hall now, talking it over with King Aylmer?
Only 'tis said that the Princess doth not favour the thought; she is all
for an old lover called Hynde Horn, whom everyone else holds to be dead
this many a year. Be it as it may, I have no time to talk to the like of
thee, for we have a banquet to cook for fifty guests, not counting the
King and all his nobles. The like of it hath not been seen since the day
when Princess Jean and that Hynde Horn plighted their troth these seven
years ago. But hark'ee, old man, it might be well worth thy while to
come back to-morrow; there will be plenty of picking then." And, flapping
her dish-clout in the wind, she ran into the kitchen again.

The old beggar went away, intending to take her advice and return on the
morrow; but as he was walking along the sands to a little cottage where
he sometimes got a night's lodging, he met a gallant Knight on
horseback, who was very finely dressed, and wore a lovely scarlet cloak.

The beggar thought that he must be one of the King's guests, who had
come out for a gallop on the smooth yellow sands, and he stood aside and
pulled off his cap; but the Knight drew rein, and spoke to him.

"God shield thee, old man," he said, "and what may the news be in this
country? I used to live here, but I have been in far-off lands these
seven years, and I know not how things go on."

"Sire," answered the beggar