T their faces?)

Their faces (said Martin) were as beautiful as day and night and the
four seasons of the year. They were so beautiful that I must stop
talking about them or I shall never talk about anything else. So I'd
better talk about the young Squire, who was a great deal less
interesting, except for one thing: that he was in love. Which is a big
advantage to have over Gorgons, who never are. The only other
noteworthy thing about him was that his voice was breaking because he
was merely fifteen years old. He was just a sort of Odd Boy about the
King's court.

(Martin: Mistress Joscelyn, if you keep on wiggling so much you'll get
a nasty tumble. Kindly sit still and let me get on. This isn't a very
long story.)

One morning in April this Squire sat down at the end of the world, and
he sobbed and he sighed like any poor soul; and a sort of wandering
fellow who was going by had enough curiosity to stop and ask him what
was the matter. And the Squire told him, and added that his heart was
breaking for longing of the flower that his lady wore in her hair. So
this fellow said, "Is that all?" And he got into his boat, which had a
painted prow, and a light green pennon, and a gilded sail, and called
itself The Golden Truant, and he sailed away a thousand leagues over
the water till he came to the island where the princess was imprisoned;
and the six Gorgons came hissing to the shore, and asked him what he
wanted. And he said he wanted nothing but to play and sing to them; so
they let him. And while he did so they danced and forgot, and he ran to
the tower and found the Princess with her beautiful head bowed on the
windowsill behind the bars, weeping like January rain. And he climbed
up the wall and took from her hair the flower as she wept, in exchange
for another which--which the Squire had sent her. And she whispered a
word of sorrow, and he another of comfort, and came away. And the
Gorgons suspected nothing; except perhaps the littlest Gorgon, and she
looked the other way.

So in the summer the Squire told the Wanderer that he would surely die
unless he had his lady's ring to kiss; and the fellow went again to the
island. The Gorgons were not sorry to see him, and were willing to
dance while he played and sang as before; and as before he took
advantage of their pleasure, and stole the gold ring from the
Princess's hand as she lay in tears behind her bars. But in place of
the gold ring he left a silver one wh