ered:

"When he is dead, I will come to Arthur's Court as one of his
followers."

All this time Sir Brune was lying in a swoon on the bed in the
turret room. But at last he came to himself and looked about him.
He saw near him his sword and shield; so he lifted them up beside
him. As he lay still, trying to recover his strength, he heard
stealthy footsteps coming up the turret stairs. They came nearer
and nearer. Suddenly, in rushed Lord Brian of the Isles. He knew
that Sir Brune was there, alone and wounded, and he intended to
kill him as he lay defenseless. Sir Brune understood this and he
cried:

"Ah, wretch, you were ever a coward. You come to kill me as I lie
wounded here, just as you killed my poor father while he slept.
But the sight of you makes me forget my wounds."

At these words, and at the fierce rage which shone in Sir
Brune's eyes, Lord Brian, who was indeed a coward, tried to
retreat. But Sir Brune sprang to the doorway.

"You shall never go down by these stairs, villain," he said, "for
I will kill you!"

Lord Brian rushed to the window and sprang out upon the
battlements. Sir Brune followed him, though with difficulty. The
two began to fight, and Sir Brune soon saw that his enemy was
trying to push him close to the edge of the battlements, that he
might fall down into the courtyard below.

Sir Brune, at this, put himself behind Lord Brian, determined to
cast him off instead. Slowly he pushed him, until Lord Brian was
but a step from the edge. Then Sir Brune lifted his shield and
struck his enemy with it. The wicked lord lost his footing, and
was dashed to pieces at the feet of Sir Lancelot and Sir
Plenorius in the courtyard below.

They ordered his soldiers to bury him, and while Sir Lancelot
went to care for Sir Brune, Sir Plenorius went down the hill to
find the damsel Elinor. She came back with tears of joy to Sir
Brune.

[Illustration: _"He pushed him until he was but a step from the
edge"_]

When Sir Brune was well enough to travel, he visited all the
castles of Lord Brian, in search of his lost mother. He was very
much afraid that she was dead, but at last he found her alive, in
the very castle which had belonged to his father. There was great
joy at their meeting. He took her to Arthur's Court, whither Sir
Lancelot had already conducted the damsel Elinor. A few days
afterward Sir Brune and the damsel were married amid great
festivities.

[Illustration: The Shield and the Sword]