m he spake took him to a certain place where was
that barge, and the deaf and dumb bargeman. And the bargeman was a very
old man with a long beard as white as snow and he gazed very steadfastly
upon Sir Lavaine as he drew near thitherward. So Sir Lavaine came close
to the bargeman and he made signs to him, asking him if he would ferry
him down the stream to the King's town, and the dumb bargeman understood
what Sir Lavaine would have and he made signs in answer that it should
be as Sir Lavaine desired.

[Sidenote: _Sir Lavaine with the dead lady departeth in the barge._]

After that Sir Lavaine gave command that the barge should be hung and
draped all with white samite embroidered with silver and he gave command
that a couch of white samite should be established upon the barge, and
the covering of the couch was also embroidered with silver. So when all
was in readiness there came forth a procession from the chapel, bearing
that still and silent figure, and they brought it to the barge and laid
it upon the couch of white samite that had been prepared for it.
Thereafter Sir Lavaine entered the barge and took his station in the bow
of the boat and the deaf and dumb man took his station in the stern
thereof.

Then the bargeman trimmed the sail and so the barge drew slowly away
from that place, many standing upon the landing-stage and watching its
departure.

[Sidenote: _So they descend the flood._]

And after that the barge floated gently down the smooth stream of the
river, and ever the deaf and dumb man guided it upon its way. And anon
they floated down betwixt banks of rushes, with here and there a row of
pollard willow-trees and thickets of alder. And all about them was the
pleasant weather of the summertime, with everything abloom with grace
and beauty.

Then anon, departing from those marshy stretches with their rushes and
their willows and their alders, they drifted past some open
meadow-lands, with fields and uplands all trembling in the still hot
sunlight. And after that they came to a more populous country where were
several small towns and villages with here and there a stone bridge
crossing the river. And at those places of habitation many came and
stood upon a bridge beneath which they passed, and others stood upon the
smooth and grassy banks of the stream and gazed in awe at that wonderful
barge as it drifted by adown the flood. And they who thus gazed would
whisper and marvel at what they beheld and wo