of him, his squires of honor marching
before, and the whole party preceded by "sundry minstrels making a loud
noise of music."

When they came to the chapel, the two knights who escorted him took
leave of the candidate, each saluting him with a kiss upon the cheek.
No one remained with him but his squires of honor, the priest, and the
chandler.

In the mean time the novitiate's armor, sword, lance, and helmet had
been laid in readiness before the altar. These he watched and guarded
while the others slept, keeping vigil until sunrise, during which time
"he shall," says the ancient authority, "pass the night in orisons,
prayers, and meditation." At daylight he confessed to the priest, heard
matins, and communicated in mass, and then presented a lighted candle
at the altar, with a piece of money stuck in it as close to the flame
as could be done, the candle being offered to the honor of God, and the
money to the honor of that person who was to make him a knight.

So concluded the sacred ceremony, which being ended his squires
conducted the candidate to his chamber, and there made him comfortable,
and left him to repose for a while before the second and final part of
the ordinance.

Such is a shortened account of the preparatory stages of the ceremonies
through which Myles Falworth passed.

Matters had come upon him so suddenly one after the other, and had come
with such bewildering rapidity that all that week was to him like some
strange, wonderful, mysterious vision. He went through it all like one
in a dream. Lord George Beaumont was one of his squires of honor; the
other, by way of a fitting complement to the courage of the chivalrous
lad, was the Sieur de la Montaigne, his opponent soon to be. They were
well versed in everything relating to knightcraft, and Myles followed
all their directions with passive obedience. Then Sir James Lee and the
Comte de Vermoise administered the ceremony of the Bath, the old knight
examining him in the laws of chivalry.

It occurs perhaps once or twice in one's lifetime that one passes
through great happenings--sometimes of joy, sometimes of dreadful
bitterness--in just such a dazed state as Myles passed through this. It
is only afterwards that all comes back to one so sharply and keenly that
the heart thrills almost in agony in living it over again. But perhaps
of all the memory of that time, when it afterwards came back piece by
piece, none was so clear to Myles's back-turned vi