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1(36 MOONfOLK.
" Many thanks, fair knight and brother; and we accept
the gift right joyously," replied the king graciously.
"And what of your other captive, Sir Guy du Fontaine
"
?
" He also is at Your Grace's disposal, for I can make
no terms,
even those of honorable enmity, with a dastard
and a liar."
" Nor can we count such among the knighthood of
our realm," replied the king gravely. "We have already
heard of Sir Guy du Fontaine's misdeeds from the Lady
Isolde of Escourt.
"We now ordain that he be for to-night
kept in close ward, and that to-morrow, before the jousts
begin, he shall stand upon a scaffold in face of all the
court ;
and that then and there his spurs shall be hacked
from his heels by the common headsman, the crest shall
be shorn from his helmet, and the bearings upon his
shield shall be effaced and blotted from our roll of armorial
and knightly bearings. So let it be."
A great silence fell
upon the hall as this severe and
terrible sentence passed from the lips of the good king,
who never blamed without cause, or punished when he
could forgive. Even Guy du Fontaine bowed his head
without a word ;
and when the king's guards approached
to unbind and lead him away, he followed without
resistance.
"Heaven be praised that he was never of the Round
Table," said Sir Pcrcivale, looking sternly after the dishonored
knight.