me knight
the same day that ye shall wed fair Gwenevere.'

'I will do it with a good will,' said the king. 'And Lancelot,' he
said, calling to the young man, 'have ye no boon to ask of me?'

'Not at this time, sir,' replied Lancelot, 'but in a little while I
may.'

Into the hall next day, as the king sat at dinner, came an old woman,
bent and feeble, but with reverend white hair and gentle face, and she
kneeled at the king's feet.

'What is it, dame?' said Arthur. 'What is't you crave?'

'Justice, lord king,' she said in a weak voice, while the tears gushed
from her eyes. 'Or else I die beside the gate where you do give the
justice that all men praise.'

'Who hath done evil to you?' said the king.

'Sir Caradoc of the Dolorous Tower in the Marsh,' replied the old
woman. 'I and my son, lord, did build a little hut of wattle on a
little plot which we banked from the marsh, near the great wall of the
rich baron, deeming it safe to rest within the shadow of the strong
lord, and though his hard rule was hateful to those whom he oppressed,
we were so humble that we thought he would not notice us. And meagrely
we reared our living from the ground, and sold our poor herbs to Sir
Caradoc his steward, or to the people in the villages in the marsh
about us. But soon the Lord Caradoc desired the land on which our
little hut was standing, to make his lands the broader. He tore our
poor home down, and scattered all, and thrust us out to wander in the
marshes; and when my poor son pleaded with the lord, he had him
whipped, and he was brought and cast half dead at my feet as I waited
outside the hall. Now if thou givest us not justice, we shall surely
die.'

'Doth any know Sir Caradoc?' asked the king of his knights.

'Yea, sir,' said one, 'and he is a great man of his hands, fierce and
bold, of strong family, and his brother is Sir Turquine of Camber, who
tried to slay thee at Caerleon, and was with the eleven kings in
battle. Sir Caradoc liveth in a strong tower beyond the marshes to the
south of the river, and he slayeth all that desire to pass them, unless
they pay him all he demands.'

'What!' said the king with fierce anger, 'within a few miles of this my
justice-seat doth such tyranny rule unchecked, and ye tell me naught of
it? Are ye then more fearful of this marsh robber than of me your
king?'

The knights hung their heads abashed, and were silent.

Then Lancelot came and stood before the king.

'Let me, sir