xt day all rode forth on fire with eagerness. And at the end of
it another knight brought back the selfsame tale. He sword that in the
tattered archer was no harm at all but his arrogance, since he was
clearly incapable of hitting where he aimed. But his very presence and
his swift escape, running beside the hart, made failure seem double;
for the derision he excited recoiled on the deriders, who could not
bring this contemptible foe to book. After that day many saw him,
sometimes at a great distance, sometimes near enough to be lashed by
his insolent tongue. He always kept beside the coveted quarry, as
though to guard it, and ran when it ran, with incredible speed; but
once when he flagged after a longer chase than usual, he had been seen
to leap on its back, and so they escaped together. From dawn to dusk
through that bright month of autumn the man and the hart were hunted in
vain; and in all that while their lair was never discovered. It was now
taken for granted that where one would be the other would be; and in
all likelihood Proud Rosalind also.

At last the final day of the month and the chase arrived, and Maudlin
spoke to her mortified company. Among them all she was the only one who
laughed now, for her nature was like that of running water, reflecting
all things, retaining none; she could never retain her disappointments
longer than a day, or her affections either.

"Sirs and dames," said she, "I see by your clouded faces it is time we
departed, but we will depart as we came in the sun. If this day bring
no more fruit than its fellows, neither victory to a lord nor
sovereignty to his lady, we will to-morrow hold the mightiest tourney
of the year, and he who wins the crown shall give it to his love, and
she shall be called for ever the fairest of Sussex; but for that, if
her lord desire it, she shall wed him--yes, though it be myself she
shall!"

And at this the hearts of nine men in ten leapt in their breasts for
longing of her, and in the tenth for longing of Linoret or Clarimond or
Damarel or Amelys; and all went to the chase thinking as much of the
morrow as of the day.

It was the day when the forests burned their brightest. The earth was
fuller of color than in the painted spring; the hedgerows were hung
with brilliant berries in wreaths and clusters, luminous briony and
honeysuckle, and the ebony gloss of the privet making more vivid the
bright red of the hips and the dark red of the haws. The smooth