Once in a long while, when a knight had fought a terribly hard battle or had done a great many very, very brave deeds, a beautiful golden star would appear in the center of the shield.
One day a messenger came riding up to the castle in great haste. He was terribly excited and he shouted, “The giants are coming! They are all gathered together to fight you!”
You can imagine the commotion that took place in the castle! There was a great hurrying and scurrying to bolt and bar all the doors and windows, to polish armor, and to get everything ready.
The youngest knight of all, Sir Roland, was so happy that he did not know what to do! You see, he had done many brave deeds already, and he was thinking how much brighter his shield would be now that he had a chance to go into a real battle. He could hardly wait!
By and by, all the knights were ready and the lord of the castle said:
“Somebody must stay here to guard the gate. Sir Roland, you are the youngest; suppose you stay; and remember—don’t let any one in.”
Poor Sir Roland! I wonder if you can imagine how he felt. Why, he just felt as if he wanted to die! To think that he had to stay at home when he wanted to go more than anyone else. But he was a real knight, so he made no reply.
He even tried to smile as he stood at the gate and watched all the other knights ride away with their banners flying and their armor flashing in the sunshine and their red plumes waving in the wind. Oh, how he did want to go! He watched till they had galloped out of sight, and then he went back into the lonely castle.
II
After a long while, one of the knights came limping back from the battle.