itself. Silently they gazed,
then turned away in horror, while Duessa wandered into paths of which
she alone knew the ending.

* * * * *

It was not until they had rested themselves awhile in the castle that
the stranger knight told who he was and why he came there. He was, he
said, Arthur, the ward of Merlin, and had ridden far and long in quest
of the Faerie Queen. And having fulfilled his vow to Una, in delivering
the Red Cross Knight out of the power of the giant, he bade both
farewell, leaving behind him, as a remembrance of their friendship a
diamond box containing a precious ointment, which would cure any wound,
however deep or poisonous.

* * * * *

So they parted, but not yet was the Red Cross Knight able to face the
monstrous dragon who held captive Una's royal parents. For some weeks
therefore he rested in the castle till his strength came back, then once
more he and Una rode forth side by side.

They had not gone far when they beheld an armed knight galloping fast
towards them, and as he went ever glancing over his shoulder as if
fearful of some dread thing behind. His matted hair streamed in the wind
and the fingers which grasped the reins were like the claws of an eagle.
Stranger than all, round his neck was tied a hempen rope. 'He seems to
be afraid of himself,' thought the Red Cross Knight as he checked his
horse to offer help to the flying man before him.

At first it seemed as if his words fell on dumb ears, but patiently he
repeated them over and over again, and at length an answer came from
the shaking figure:

'For God's sake, Sir Knight, do not, I pray you, stay me, for look, HE
comes, HE comes fast after me;' and as he spoke he urged on his horse
afresh. But the Red Cross Knight caught his bridle and bade him fear
nothing, as he was safe with him, and to tell him why such awful fear
possessed his soul.

At last the stricken man poured forth his tale, and the Red Cross Knight
learned that once he was happy and free, like other men, till on an
ill-starred day he and a friend had fallen in with a cursed wight who
called himself 'Despair,' who had plucked all hope from their breasts,
and bade them seek death, the one with a rope, the other with a knife.
His friend, whose love had been disdained by a proud lady, fell an easy
prey to the persuasions of the giant, and it was the sight of his corpse
lying weltering in his blood that d