from the
spring; for I promised to be there before the setting of the sun."

Now little Gauvain wanted to help the good knight so much that he was
sorry to say this; but Sir Tristram told him to run, and promised to
wait patiently until his return; and before many moments Gauvain was
back, bounding like a fawn through the wood, to lead the way to his own
home.

When they came there the little dog ran out to meet them, and the cat
rubbed up against Gauvain, and the mother called from the kitchen:--

"Is that my sunbeam coming home to roost?" which made Gauvain and the
knight both laugh.

Then the mother came out in haste to welcome the stranger; and she
treated him with honor, giving him the best place at the table and the
hottest cakes.

She and little Gauvain lived all alone, for the father had gone to the
wars when Gauvain was a baby, and had died fighting for the king.

She had cows, horses, and pigs, hens, chickens, and a dog and a cat, and
one treasure greater than a kingdom, for she had a good child in her
house.

Sir Tristram found this out very soon, for little Gauvain ran when he
was called, remembered the cat and dog when he had eaten his own supper,
and went to bed when he was told, without fretting, although the knight
was telling of lions and bears and battles, and everything that little
boys like to hear about.

Sir Tristram was so glad of this that he could scarcely wait for the
time to come when he should meet his comrades under the oak tree.

[Illustration: And the mother called from the kitchen--'Is that my
sunbeam coming home to roost?']

"I have found a child whom you must see," he said, as soon as they
came together.

"And so have I," cried Gerald the Glad.

"And I," exclaimed Kenneth the Kind.

"And I," said Brian the Brave.

"And I," said Percival the Pure; and they looked at each other in
astonishment.

"I do not know the child's name," continued Gerald the Glad; "but as I
was riding in the forest I heard some one singing the merriest song! And
when I looked through the trees I saw a little boy bending under a heavy
burden. I hastened to help him, but when I reached the spot he was gone.
I should like to hear him sing again."

"I rode by the highway," said Sir Brian the Brave, "and I came suddenly
upon a crowd of great, rough fellows who were trying to torment a small
black dog; and just as I saw them, a little boy ran up, as brave as a
knight, and took the dog in his arms,