ple, a lady, a knight and a dwarf, came
out of the forest, and rode slowly past. The knight had his helmet
off, and the Queen saw that he looked young and bold.

'I cannot remember if he is one of Arthur's knights. I must know
his name,' she said. And she sent her little maid to find out who
the strange knight was.

But when the little maid asked the dwarf his master's name, the
dwarf answered rudely that he would not tell her.

'Then I will ask your master himself,' said the maid. But as she
stepped towards the knight, the dwarf struck her with his whip, and
the little maid, half-angry and half-frightened, hurried back to
the Queen, and told her how the dwarf had treated her.

Prince Geraint was angry when he heard how rude the dwarf had been
to the Queen's little messenger, and said that he would go and find
out the knight's name.

But the dwarf, by his master's orders, treated the Prince as rudely
as he had treated the little maid. When Geraint felt the dwarf's
whip strike his cheek, and saw the blood dropping on to his purple
sash, he felt for the sword at his side. Then he remembered that
while he was tall and strong, the dwarf was small and weak, and he
scorned to touch him.

Going back to the Queen, Geraint told her that he had not been able
to find out the knight's name either, 'but with your leave, I will
follow him to his home, and compel him to ask your pardon,' said
the Prince. And the Queen allowed him to follow the knight.

'When you come back, you will perhaps bring a bride with you,' said
the Queen. 'If she be a great lady, or if she be only a
beggar-maid, I will dress her in beautiful robes, and she shall
stand among the fairest ladies of my court.'

'In three days I shall come back, if I am not slain in battle with
the knight,' said Geraint. And he rode away, a little sorry not to
hear the merry sound of the hunter's horn, and a little vexed that
he had undertaken this strange adventure.

Through valleys and over hills Geraint followed the lady, the
knight and the dwarf, till at last, in the evening, he saw them go
through the narrow streets of a little town, and reach a white
fortress. Into this fortress the lady, the knight and the dwarf
disappeared.

'I shall find the knight there to-morrow,' thought Geraint 'Now I
must go to an inn for food and a bed,' for he was hungry and tired
after his long ride.

But all the inns in the little town were full, and every one seemed
too busy to ta