"Not so. That knight seems a shrewish fellow. It will need a stronger hand than mine to manage him."
"Good faith, then, here's to teach you a lesson," said Dinadan, and he rode fiercely against the other knight, with the unlucky result that he was thrust from his horse, and fell headlong to the earth.
"What did I tell you?" said Tristram. "You had better have taken a lesson from my prudence, and let that good fellow alone."
"The fiends take you, coward!" cried Dinadan, as he started to his feet and drew his sword. "Come, sir knight, you are my better on horseback, let us have it out on foot."
"Shall it be in love or in anger?" said the other.
"Let it be in love. I am saving all my anger for this do-nothing who came with me."
"Then I pray you to tell me your name."
"Folks call me Dinadan."
"Ah, and I am your comrade Gareth. I will not fight with an old friend like Dinadan."
"Nor I with you, by my faith!" cried Dinadan, seizing Gareth's hand and giving it a warm pressure. "Beaumains is safe from my spear. Here is a chap now, if you want to try your skill; but if you can get him to fight you must first learn the art of converting a coward into a man of valor."