“And how know’st thou I am either?”
“Because thou fearest nothing,” said the robber, simply.
“Well said!” cried the stranger, heartily. “Thou art a fellow worth fighting, and gladly will I have a bout with thee; but tarry till I alight, for ’twixt horseman and footman is no fair fight.”
As he sprang from his horse, and tied him to a tree, the bandit eyed him in blank amazement, and said—
“Art thou indeed knight and noble?”
“Why ask?” cried the other, with a hearty, boyish laugh. “Fear’st thou I am of too low degree for the worshipful sword of a knightly outlaw?”
“Not so; but because thou art the first of them who ever showed knightly courtesy to such as I.”
The knight winced as if the words stung him, and said gravely—
“A good knight is bound to show courtesy to every man for his own sake.”
His tone and manner had a quiet dignity that abashed the savage in spite of himself; and the latter’s keen eye had noted the ease with which this stranger moved in his heavy armour, his nimbleness in leaping from his horse, and the formidable weight of spear, shield, and battle-axe. He began to guess (though this only heightened his eagerness for the fray) that he had for once met his match.