entered, clad cap-a-pie in a full suit of magnificent Milan armor
without juppon or adornment of any kind. As he approached across the
lists, Myles closed the umbril of his helmet, and then sat quite still
and motionless, for the time was come.

So he sat, erect and motionless as a statue of iron, half hearing the
reading of the long intricately-worded bills, absorbed in many thoughts
of past and present things. At last the reading ended, and then he
calmly and composedly obeyed, under the direction of his attorney,
the several forms and ceremonies that followed; answered the various
official questions, took the various oaths. Then Gascoyne, leading the
horse by the bridle-rein, conducted him back to his station at the east
end of the lists.

As the faithful friend and squire made one last and searching
examination of arms and armor, the Marshal and the clerk came to the
young champion and administered the final oath by which he swore that he
carried no concealed weapons.

The weapons allowed by the High Court were then measured and attested.
They consisted of the long sword, the short sword, the dagger, the mace,
and a weapon known as the hand-gisarm, or glave-lot--a heavy swordlike
blade eight palms long, a palm in breadth, and riveted to a stout handle
of wood three feet long.

The usual lance had not been included in the list of arms, the
hand-gisarm being substituted in its place. It was a fearful and
murderous weapon, though cumbersome, Unhandy, and ill adapted for quick
or dexterous stroke; nevertheless, the Earl of Alban had petitioned
the King to have it included in the list, and in answer to the King's
expressed desire the Court had adopted it in the stead of the lance,
yielding thus much to the royal wishes. Nor was it a small concession.
The hand-gisarm had been a weapon very much in vogue in King Richard's
day, and was now nearly if not entirely out of fashion with the younger
generation of warriors. The Earl of Alban was, of course, well used to
the blade; with Myles it was strange and new, either for attack or in
defence.

With the administration of the final oath and the examination of the
weapons, the preliminary ceremonies came to an end, and presently Myles
heard the criers calling to clear the lists. As those around him moved
to withdraw, the young knight drew off his mailed gauntlet, and gave
Gascoyne's hand one last final clasp, strong, earnest, and intense with
the close friendship of young