"None the worse, I trust, Sir Knight?"
"Only my pride hurt a little," was the reply; "but it was gallantly done and by a worthier knight, so I yield my steed and wish you further success; which you will have, I trow, whether I wish it or not, or I am no judge of your mettle."
"Take your horse, Sir Knight, I have no need of him, for there is a better in the lists, I perceive," said the stranger.
"You have my hearty wishes in the winning of it, if they will do you any good. Just a word in your ear, nevertheless," said he, drawing close to the "Knight of the Sun," and uttering in an undertone, whilst he professed to be adjusting his sword-belt, "You are a stranger, Sir Knight, but I have known Vigneau a round dozen years at least, so let me warn you. Beware your man, and doubly so if you throw him. His ugly carcase is charged with venom from head to foot, and no treacherous villainy will be too mean, in order to compass his revenge."
"Thanks for your good wishes, and I will not neglect your advice; but if he be wise, he will look to himself or he will rue it."
At the blast of the bugle, the knights who had proved victorious wheeled into line again; one pair had failed to unhorse each other; but evidently they were not consumed with a desire to try further their prowess in the mimic war, for both of them retired from the fray. So there were but four knights called upon to take part in the next encounter and brave again the fortunes of war. The stranger knight was now brought side by side with Vigneau, who surveyed him from head to foot, then turned sneeringly away, growling to himself, "If length of limb counted for anything, why, then, he would be formidable enough."
At the signal calling for the ready, each lance was laid in rest, and each knight braced himself afresh. Springing again at the call to the charge, the turf flew from the horses' hoofs, and the shock, in more than one instance, was enough to throw the horses on their haunches. The "Knight of the Sun" and Vigneau were again victorious; but the latter had met a doughtier opponent than he had bargained for, for he had received a vigorous and well-aimed blow at the pit of his stomach, discomposing most unpleasantly its contents, and causing his head to swim with sickly qualms. He recovered his balance quickly, however, much more quickly than he recovered from the fury of his temper; for, as he faced about to meet the "Knight of the Sun," he poured out a volley of fierce oaths at Pierre, who was too slow in his attentions to him. The tall squire of the stranger dismounted and ran his eyes over the trappings of his master's steed, tightening a girth here and there, and whispering to his master as he did so, "He is strong and heavy; it were better policy to dodge his blow, I think, for he is unmistakably clumsy and slow."
"That is the very thing I have been turning over in my mind, and I think I will try it. Hand me a shorter lance, will you?"
The squire immediately reached him a lance shorter by some feet; and the bugle sounded again for the ready amid breathless silence. The whole scene floated dimly before the sickened gaze of Alice, who was but half conscious of what was passing in the lists; though she realised with painful vividness that Vigneau and the stranger were now opposed to each other. Jeannette put her arm around her mistress and held a small silver flask of rich scents to her nose, whispering gently to her,—
"Courage, lady! all goes well, never fear. The stranger will be the victor."