them stepped
forward and spoke.

'Sire, this morning we were all playing tennis in the court, the prince
and this gentleman with the rest, when there broke out some dispute
about the game. The prince lost his temper, and said many insulting
things to the other, who was playing against him, till at length the
gentleman whom you see there struck him violently in the face, so that
the blood ran from his mouth and nose. We were all so horrified at the
sight, that we should most likely have killed the man then and there,
for daring to lay hands on the prince, had not his grandfather the duke
stepped between and commanded us to lay the affair before you.'

The king had listened attentively to the story, and when it was ended he
said:

'I suppose the prince had no arms with him, or else he would have used
them?'

'Yes, sire, he had arms; he always carries a dagger in his belt. But
when he saw the blood pouring from his face, he went to a corner of the
court and began to cry, which was the strangest thing of all.'

On hearing this the king walked to the window and stood for a few
minutes with his back to the room, where the company of young men
remained silent. Then he came back, his face white and stern.

'I tell you,' he said, 'and it is the solemn truth, that I would rather
you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my only son, than
know that he would suffer such an injury without attempting to avenge
it. As for the gentleman who struck him, he will be brought before my
judges, and will plead his own cause, but I hardly think he can escape
death, after having assaulted the heir to the crown.'

The young man raised his head as if to reply, but the king would not
listen, and commanded his guards to put him under arrest, adding,
however, that if the prisoner wished to visit any part of the city, he
was at liberty to do so properly guarded, and in fifteen days he would
be brought to trial before the highest judges in the land.

The young man left the king's presence, surrounded by soldiers, and
accompanied by many of his friends, for he was a great favourite. By
their advice he spent the fourteen days that remained to him going about
to seek counsel from wise men of all sorts, as to how he might escape
death, but no one could help him, for none could find any excuse for the
blow he had given to the prince.

The fourteenth night had come, and in despair the prisoner went out to
take his last walk through