settled
down again.

Cedric stood looking after the horsemen until they seemed a mere speck
in the distance and then disappeared all together. He did not even
notice the kitten in his arms when she put her nose up against his
cheek.

At last he turned to go into the house, and as he went, he said softly
to himself, "To be a knight some day!" "To be a knight some day!" He ate
his simple supper of bread and milk in silence. His mother noticed how
quiet he was, but she said nothing, for she knew that in his own good
time he would tell her all that was in his heart.

That night as he undressed for bed he looked up at the stars and said in
a soft, low tone, "Beautiful stars, do you know what a wonderful thing
Sir Rollin said to me to-day? He told me that perhaps some day I might
be a knight!" He could hardly sleep, he was so happy. The great knight
had spoken to him, had praised his courage, and, best of all, had said
that perhaps, some day, he, Cedric, might be a great knight himself!
"Could such a thing possibly come to pass?" He asked himself this
question over and over again, until at last he fell asleep and dreamed
that he was a large, strong man, and wore a shining armor of steel and
rode a splendid black horse, and carried a great sword and that all the
people of the country round about honored and loved him because he was
one of the bravest knights in the whole land.

Just as he was dreaming that he was about to rescue a beautiful princess
from an ugly giant who had shut her up in a prison, he heard his mother
calling him. He opened his eyes and saw that the sky was all pink and
gold with the clouds of the sunrise, and that he was only little Cedric
in his attic chamber. He dressed himself quickly and climbed down the
wooden ladder to the room below.

He was soon busy and happy, helping his mother feed the doves and water
the cow and fetch hay for the two horses. After his father had eaten his
breakfast, and had gone to his work in the field, the little would-be
knight and his mother washed the dishes and tidied the two small rooms.
Cedric was very fond of thus helping her with the work, and she often
said, "My little boy is both son and daughter to me." By and by she sat
down to her sewing. Then Cedric could keep his secret no longer. Going
up to her, he put his arm around her neck and whispered to her the story
of the knight, how he had stopped and spoken, and what he had said. "Do
_you_ think I could ever gr