the king said, "and, believe
me, you shall not find Richard ungrateful. As to your page, he appears
brave and wise beyond his years. Were it not that I think that it would
not be good for him, and might attract some envy upon the part of
others, I would at once make him a knight. He already has my promise
that I will do so on the first occasion when he can show his prowess
upon the infidels. Bring him to me to-morrow, when the princess will be
here with the Queen of Navarre at a banquet. I would fain thank him
before her; and, although I have agreed--at the princess' earnest
solicitation--to take no further notice of the matter, and to allow it
to pass as if it had not been, yet I cannot forgive the treachery which
has been used, and without letting all know exactly what has occurred
would fain by my reception of your page let men see that something of
great import has happened, of the nature of which I doubt not that rumor
will give some notion."

Upon the following day, therefore, Cuthbert to his confusion found
himself the center of the royal circle. The king expressed himself to
him in the most gracious manner, patting him on the shoulder, and said
that he would be one day one of the best and bravest of his knights. The
princess and the Queen of Navarre gave him their hands to kiss, and
somewhat overwhelmed, he withdrew from the royal presence, the center of
attention, and, in some minds, of envy.

Cnut too did not pass unrewarded.

His majesty, finding that Cnut was of gentle Saxon blood, gave him a
gold chain in token of his favor, and distributed a heavy purse among
the men who had followed him.

When the British fleet, numbering two hundred ships, set sail from
Sicily, it was a grand and martial sight. From the masts were the colors
of England and those of the nobles who commanded; while the pennons of
the knights, the bright plumes and mantles, the flash of armor and arms
made the decks alive with light and color.

The king's ship advanced in the van, and round him were the vessels
containing his principal followers. The Queen of Navarre and the
Princess Berengaria were with the fleet. Strains of music rose from the
waters, and never were the circumstances of war exhibited in a more
picturesque form.

For two days the expedition sailed on, and then a change of a sudden and
disastrous kind took place.

"What is all this bustle about?" Cuthbert said to Cnut. "The sailors are
running up the ladders, all