ng turned to Sir Percivale. And because Arthur wished
it, Sir Percivale tried to take the sword; but he could not move
it. And after that no other knight dared to touch the fair sword;
so they turned and went back to the palace.

In the dining-hall the King and his knights sat down once more at
the Round Table, and each knight knew his own chair. And all the
seats were filled except the chair opposite the writing in gold.

It had been a day full of surprise, but now the most wonderful
thing of all happened. For as they sat down, suddenly all the doors
of the palace shut with a loud noise, but no one had touched the
doors. And all the windows were softly closed, but no one saw the
hands that closed them.

Then one of the doors opened, and there came in a very old man
dressed all in white, and no one knew whence he came.

By his side was a young man in red armour. He had neither sword nor
shield, but hanging by his side was an empty sheath.

There was a great silence in the hall as the old man said slowly
and solemnly, 'I bring you the young knight Sir Galahad, who is
descended from a king. He shall do many great deeds, and he shall
see the Holy Grail.'

'He shall see the Holy Grail,' the knights repeated, with awe on
their faces.

For far back, in the days of their boyhood, they had heard the
story of the Holy Grail. It was the Sacred Cup out of which their
Lord had drunk before He died.

And they had been told how sometimes it was seen carried by angels,
and how at other times in a gleam of light. But in whatever way it
appeared, it was seen only by those who were pure in heart.

And as the old man's words, 'He shall see the Holy Grail,' fell on
their ears, the knights thought of the story they had heard so long
ago, and they were sorry, for they had never seen the Sacred Cup,
and they knew that it was unseen only by those who had done wrong.

But the old man was telling the boy-knight to follow him. He led
him to the empty chair, and lifted the silk that covered the golden
letters. 'This is the seat of Sir Galahad, the Pure-hearted,' he
read aloud. And the young knight sat in the empty seat that
belonged to him.

Then the old man left the palace, and twenty noble squires met him,
and took him back to his own country.

When dinner was ended, the King went over to the chair where his
boy-knight sat, and welcomed him to the circle of the Round Table.
Afterwards he took Sir Galahad's hand, and led him out o