“Oh, it’s a dreadful fight,” he said. “I think you ought to go and help. I’ve been wounded; but I’ll guard the gate while you go.”
You see, he wasn’t a brave knight and he was glad to get away from the battle. Sir Roland’s face became all happy again, for he thought, “Here is my chance!” And he was just about to go; when, suddenly, he seemed to hear a voice, “You stay to guard the gate; and remember—don’t let any one in.” So instead of going, he said, “I can’t let any one in, not even you. I must stay and guard the gate. Your place is at the battle.”
That sounds easy to say, doesn’t it? But it was very hard to do, when he wanted to go more than anything else in the world.
After the knight had gone, there was nothing for him to do but to wonder how the fight was going and to wish that he was right in the midst of it.
III
By and by, he saw a little bent old woman coming along the road. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that all around the castle there was a moat—a sort of ditch, filled with water—and the only way to get to the castle was over a little narrow drawbridge that led to the gate. When the knights didn’t want any one to come in, they could pull the bridge up against the wall.
Well, the little old woman came up and asked Sir Roland if she might come in to get something to eat. Sir Roland said, “Nobody may come in today; but I’ll get you some food.”
So he called one of the servants; and while she waited the old woman began to talk.
“My, there is a terrible fight in the forest,” she said.
“How is it going?” Sir Roland asked.