d to withdraw.

Whereat, with a great shriek, she vanished.

'Now,' said Sir Lancelot, 'may God, who has brought me through these
evil adventures, shield me from any further subtle crafts of these foul
things.'

Straightway he mounted his horse, and took his way towards the marsh,
so that he should give the sword and the cloth into the hands of the
lady of Sir Meliot, for the healing of her lord.

But at the dawn Merlin met him.

'Sir Lancelot,' said the old white wizard, 'ye have no need to go to
the ruined manor, except ye would have the proof of what I tell you.'

'And what is that?' asked Sir Lancelot.

'That all that hath befallen thee hath been done by evil magic,'
replied Merlin. 'The black dog that led thee to the manor was a fiend,
the fair lady that entreated ye was an evil witch, and she and the
damsel at the chapel were the same, and all was caused by the witch
queens who had you in their tower; and the likeness of the wounded
knight to Sir Meliot was formed by wizardry. They that craved your
death did hope that ye would fail at the terrors of the Chapel
Perilous, and that your soul would be lost as have the souls of those
evil or weak knights whose ghosts assailed ye. But by your courage and
great heart ye won through all.'

'This is a great marvel,' said Sir Lancelot, 'and I thank God that He
hath shielded me of His mercy.'

When Sir Lancelot was returned to Camelot, and Merlin had told King
Arthur of the knight's adventures, the king made him one of the knights
of the Round Table.

'Ye do well,' said Merlin privily unto the king, 'for he shall prove
the most man of worship that is in the world, and all your court and
all your Round Table shall be by him made more famous than by any
knight now living. Yet shall he not be one of those three that shall
achieve the Holy Graal.'

IV

THE KNIGHT OF THE KITCHEN

It was the feast of Pentecost, and King Arthur was holding his court of
the Round Table at the city of Kin-Kenadon, hard by the sea in Wales.
In the high hall the tables were set for dinner, and the floor was
freshly strewn with rushes, flowers and fennel, so that the place
smelled as sweet as a field. The cook and his scullions came to and fro
through the door of the kitchen with anxious faces, for they feared
lest the meats should be overdone, but as yet King Arthur would not sit
to dinner. For it was his custom never to go to meat on that day until
he had heard or seen some g