h black armor.

Sir Lancelot wished to fight with him, but Sir Gareth would not
permit it.

"This must be my adventure," he said.

Sir Gareth rode at the knight, expecting to meet a very strong
man, but he easily unhorsed him. His enemy cried:

"Oh spare my life; I am not a knight."

Then he took off his helmet and showed the face of a young boy.

"My three brothers made me pretend to be a fierce knight," he
explained. "They thought it would make people more afraid if they
believed we were four strong knights."

Sir Lancelot and Sir Gareth laughed heartily, and so did Lynette.
They took the boy into the castle, where Lynette's sister,
Lyonors, who was now freed from her money-loving captors, greeted
them with much joy. She put before them a great feast, and this
time Sir Gareth and Lynette sat side by side. Afterwards a
marriage was made between them, and they went to live with King
Arthur in Camelot.

[Illustration] SIR IVAINE

Among Arthur's Knights of the Round Table was one who was a
mixture of good and bad, as indeed most people are. His name was
Sir Ivaine; brave, kind-hearted, and merry; but at the same time
fickle, sometimes forgetful of his promises, and inclined to make
light of serious things.

One night, in the early spring, the knights and ladies of
Arthur's Court were sitting in the dining-hall. The king and
Guinevere had withdrawn, but were expected to return. Supper had
been served, and the last course, consisting of pomegranate seeds
and dates, had just been carried off. A fire had been built in
the deep hearth, and the four bronze pillars in front were
lighted by the flames. Four little pages in blue and white
velvet kirtles sat on stools watching the fire, and perhaps
dreaming of the days when they, too, should be warriors and have
adventures.

Sir Ivaine was telling of his experience with the Black Knight.

"It was when I was very young," he said; "indeed, I had just been
made a knight. Some one told me of the wicked Black Knight who
lived, and still lives, in a wood a long way from here. Knowing
that he did much evil, I determined to kill him. I rode to the
wood where he lived, and in which I found a marble platform. In
the middle of it was a sunken space holding a fountain. I walked
to this, and following the directions of some writing which was
on the stone, picked up a cup that lay at hand, and filling it
with water, poured it into the fountain.

"Then a great storm of