ssed in crimson
and gold and blue and green, with clothes made of velvet and silk, much
brighter than anything we have now, and the men were quite as gay as the
ladies. Before the time for the tournament, the knights who were going
to take part in it would ride up on their prancing horses; some came
from the Tower of London, and there is a street not far from St. Paul's
Cathedral still called Knightrider Street, because the knights used to
come riding up there to the tournaments at Smithfield.

Cannot you imagine how a young knight's heart would beat when he first
took part in a tournament? Perhaps he was just one-and-twenty, and still
only a boy in heart, and when he rode into that great open space
everyone cheered him, and he saw the ladies rising, sitting on tiers of
seats that rose higher and higher, making a beautiful mass of colour,
like a bed of flowers; and there was one there who he knew would see
him, a girl only seventeen, very sweet and fair and shy, who was among
the Queen's maids-of-honour, and the young knight could not see her just
then for the crowds of other people there. But he knew that she would be
watching, and that he was to fight for her. For the glove he wore fixed
on to his helmet was hers: she had given it to him the day before; no
one else knew it was hers. But if he fell off his horse and rolled in
the mud, that glove would be rolled in the mud too, and then he would be
so much ashamed he would never dare to look her in the face again.

So he plucked up his courage, and looked round as if he were not at all
nervous, and he saw the man he had to fight come riding toward him, a
big strong man on a great black horse. The two knights held up their
long lances to salute the King and Queen and ladies, and bowed to each
other. A trumpet sounded, and the two horses rushed toward one another,
the lances came against the strong armour with a crash, and the young
knight felt a wrench, for his horse was thrown back on its haunches; but
it recovered itself and dashed on, passing the other knight, until he
wheeled it round and came to meet his opponent again. This time, just as
they were going to meet, the horse of the older knight swerved, and his
lance, striking crossways, broke in two, and the young knight could
easily then have knocked him off his horse. But it was considered
disgraceful to strike an unarmed man, so he lowered his lance and rode
past without touching him, and all the people cheered. T