ur rest. A longer
life means old age and sickness, and every kind of sorrow. So lay it
down while things are yet well with you.'

[Illustration: IN THE CAVE OF DESPAIR]

In spite of Sir Trevisan's warning, the fair-sounding words found an
echo in the heart of the Red Cross Knight, as they had done in the
hearts of many men before him. The miscreant saw that his courage was
wavering, and forthwith he brought forth a store of swords, ropes,
poisons, and a brazier of fire, and bade him choose what manner of
death he would prefer. The knight gazed at them all, like one who walks
in sleep, but touched none of them, and the miscreant, beholding this,
chose out a dagger bright and new, and thrust it in his shaking hand.
The young man looked at it, his face reddened and then grew pale again,
and slowly, as if against his will, he lifted the dagger.

A shriek from Una, who had only just reached the cave, caused him to
drop his arm again, and in an instant she had snatched it from his limp
fingers, and had flung it on the ground.

'Come away, come away,' she cried, 'let no vain words bewitch you! What
have you to do with despair, after all the brave deeds you have done?
Arise, Sir knight, arise and leave this cursed place. Have you forgotten
that other work awaits you?'

The voice of Una broke the spell which had possessed him. Once more his
eye grew bright and his arm strong. He mounted his horse and rode away
by Una's side without ever looking behind him. If he had, he would have
seen that the miscreant had placed a rope round his own neck, and hanged
himself on a tree. But even so he could not die; the death to which he
drove others remained far from him.

* * * * *

The ease with which the Red Cross Knight had been mastered by the wily
talk of the gloomy miscreant in the cave showed Una that his mind, if
not his body, was still weak from his long imprisonment in the dungeon.
She saw that before he could fight the dragon who had carried off her
parents he needed yet more repose, and luckily she knew of a house not
far off where they would be made welcome for as long as they chose to
stay. Hither they fared, and for many weeks the knight's armour was laid
away, and the ladies who dwelt in that place gave him all the strength
and counsel that they could think of. Then, when at last he had become
what he had been of yore, Una bade farewell to her hosts with great
thanks, and set out for the