of gold that was placed in honour
of the Knight who lies dead in the chapel. Give it to me, and I will
carry it back; and if you do not this of your own will, I will make
you.'

'By my faith!' cried the squire, 'I will never yield it to you!
Rather, will I carry it off and make a present of it to King Arthur.'

'You will pay for it dearly,' answered the man, 'if you yield it not
up forthwith.'

To this the squire did not make answer, but dashed forward, thinking
to pass him by; but the man thrust at him with his knife, and it
entered his body up to the hilt. And when the squire dreamed this, he
cried, 'Help! help! for I am a dead man!'

As soon as the King and the Queen heard that cry they awoke from their
sleep, and the Chamberlain said, 'Sir, you must be moving, for it is
day'; and the King rose and dressed himself, and put on his shoes.
Then the cry came again: 'Fetch me a priest, for I die!' and the King
ran at great speed into the hall, while the Queen and the Chamberlain
followed him with torches and candles. 'What aileth you?' asked the
King of his squire, and the squire told him of all that he had
dreamed. 'Ha,' said the King, 'is it, then, a dream?' 'Yes, Sir,'
answered the squire, 'but it is a right foul dream for me, for right
foully it hath come true,' and he lifted his left arm, and said, 'Sir,
look you here! Lo, here is the knife that was struck in my side up to
the haft.' After that, he drew forth the candlestick, and showed it to
the King. 'Sir, for this candlestick that I present to you was I
wounded to the death!' The King took the candlestick in his hands and
looked at it, and none so rich had he seen before, and he bade the
Queen look also. 'Sir,' said the squire again, 'draw not forth the
knife out of my body till I be shriven of the priest.' So the King
commanded that a priest should be sent for, and when the squire had
confessed his sins, the King drew the knife out of the body and the
soul departed forthwith. Then the King grieved that the young man had
come to his death in such strange wise, and ordered him a fair burial,
and desired that the golden candlestick should be sent to the Church
of Saint Paul in London, which at that time was newly built.

After this King Arthur would have none to go with him on his quest,
and many strange adventures he achieved before he reached the chapel
of St. Augustine, which was in the midst of the White Forest. There he
alighted from his horse, and sough