armor in a hole in the side of the wall, and told
him to hide himself between the two mattresses of the bed. Before
he had time to do so, however, they heard a great noise in the
courtyard, and looking down, saw that the body of the Black
Knight had been discovered. Near it stood a beautiful lady, more
beautiful than any Sir Ivaine had ever seen, except Queen
Guinevere. She was dark like the queen, and her eyes were as
bright as stars. He would have looked at her a long time, but the
little maiden begged him to hide without delay.

"Quick!" she cried. "The men have seen that there is the front
part of a horse inside the gate, and know that the person who has
killed our lord must be here. Even now they have begun the
search, for they all love the Black Knight, although my mistress
does not, and they will hang you if they find you."

So Sir Ivaine crept between the mattresses, and the little maiden
hurried down the stairs and went to her beautiful mistress.
Presently Sir Ivaine heard men tramping up the turret steps.
They often stopped, trying all the doors they came to, and at
last entered the room in which he lay. One of them, peering into
the hole in the wall where his armor was, said:

"Here is armor."

But another replied:

"That is some that once was used by our master; there is no need
to drag it into the light."

Then they searched among all the furnishings of the room, but
found no one. At last, as they were leaving, one of the men
thrust his sword twice through the mattress. The second thrust
cut deeply into Sir Ivaine's arm; but as the knight was brave, he
did not utter a cry.

When the men had gone, he crept out, and found that the cut in
his arm and his other wounds were bleeding badly. Just then the
little maiden came in with food. She cried out in alarm when she
saw the blood, and quickly tore a piece of linen from her robe
for bandages. When all the wounds had been carefully attended to,
she gave him a plentiful supper and promised to take care of him
until there was a good opportunity for him to escape.

She visited him every morning, and told him the day's news in the
castle. He learned that a lion kept roaring about the walls, and
that the bowmen had tried to kill it, but could not. Sir Ivaine
was sure that it was his lion, and longed to have it, but knew
that this was impossible. And she told him how the people of the
castle had been angry at their lady because she would not marry
the Bla