h he mounted his
horse and rode away in the darkness.

[Sidenote: King Ban beholdeth the burning of Trible] Now there was a very
high hill near-by where they were, and upon the top of the hill was an open
platform of rock whence a man could see a great way off in every direction.
So King Ban went to this place, and, when he had come there, he cast his
eyes in the direction of the light and he straightway beheld with a manner
of terror that the light came from Trible; and then, with that terror still
growing greater at his heart, he beheld that the town and the castle were
all in one great flame of fire.

When King Ban saw this he sat for a while upon his horse like one turned
into a stone. Then, after a while, he cried out in a great voice: "Woe!
Woe! Woe is me!" And then he cried out still in a very loud voice, "Certes,
God hath deserted me entirely."

[Sidenote: The death of King Ban] Therewith a great passion of grief took
hold upon him and shook him like to a leaf, and immediately after that he
felt that something brake within him with a very sharp and bitter pain, and
he wist that it was his heart that had broken. So being all alone there
upon the hilltop, and in the perfect stillness of the night, he cried out,
"My heart! My heart!" And therewith, the shadows of death coming upon him,
he could not sit any longer upon his horse, but fell down upon the ground.
And he knew very well that death was nigh him, so, having no cross to pray
upon, he took two blades of grass and twisted them into that holy sign, and
he kissed it and prayed unto it that God would forgive him his sins. So he
died all alone upon that hilltop.

Meanwhile, Queen Helen and Foliot sat together waiting for him to return
and presently they heard the sound of his horse's hoofs coming down that
rocky path. Then Queen Helen said: "Foliot, methinks my lord cometh." So in
a little came the horse with the empty saddle. When Foliot beheld that he
said: "Lady, here meseems is great trouble come to us, for methinks
something hath befallen my lord, and that he is in sore travail, for here
is his horse without him."

Then it seemed to Queen Helen as though the spirit of life suddenly went
away from her, for she foresaw what had befallen. So she arose like one in
a dream, and, speaking very quietly, she said: "Foliot, take me whither my
lord went awhile since!" To this Foliot said: "Lady, wait until the
morning, which is near at hand, for it is too dark for