roduction of the victor into the pavilion of Queen Berengaria.
He entered, supported on either side by his sponsors, Richard and
William Longsword, and knelt gracefully down before the Queen, though
more than half the homage was silently rendered to Edith, who sat on
her right hand.

"Unarm him, my mistresses," said the King, whose delight was in the
execution of such chivalrous usages; "let Beauty honor Chivalry! Undo
his spurs, Berengaria; Queen though thou be, thou owest him what marks
of favor thou canst give.--Unlace his helmet, Edith; by this hand, thou
shalt, wert thou the proudest Plantagenet of the line, and he the
poorest knight on earth!"

Both ladies obeyed the royal commands,--Berengaria with bustling
assiduity, as anxious to gratify her husband's humor, and Edith
blushing and growing pale alternately, as slowly and awkwardly she
undid, with Longsword's assistance, the fastenings which secured the
helmet to the gorget.

"And what expect you from beneath this iron shell?" said Richard, as the
removal of the casque gave to view the noble countenance of Sir Kenneth,
his face glowing with recent exertion, and not less so with present
emotion. "What think ye of him, gallants and beauties?" said Richard.
"Doth he resemble an Ethiopian slave, or doth he present the face of an
obscure and nameless adventurer? No, by my good sword! Here terminate
his various disguises. He hath knelt down before you, unknown save by
his worth; he arises, equally distinguished by birth and by fortune. The
adventurous knight, Kenneth, arises David, Earl of Huntingdon, Prince
Royal of Scotland!"

There was a general exclamation of surprise, and Edith dropped from her
hand the helmet which she had just received....

"May we know of your grace by what strange and happy chance this riddle
has been read?" said the Queen Berengaria.

"Letters were brought to us from England," said the King, "in which we
learned, among other unpleasant news, that the King of Scotland had
seized upon three of our nobles, when on a pilgrimage to Saint Ninian,
and alleged as a cause, that his heir being supposed to be fighting in
the ranks of the Teutonic Knights, against the heathen of Borussia, was,
in fact, in our camp and in our power; and, therefore, William proposed
to hold these nobles as hostages for his safety. This gave me the first
light on the real rank of the Knight of the Leopard, and my suspicions
were confirmed by De Vaux, who, on his re