"They shall not pass these gates," answered the Knight sternly, and he entered the hall alone.
"I have come back, my lord," he said, kneeling down before the rich man, who had just returned from court. "Have you brought my money?"
"I have come to pray you to give me more time," said the Knight.
"The day was fixed and cannot be gainsaid," answered the Justiciar, who was sitting at meat with others in the hall.
The Knight begged the Justiciar to be his friend and help him, but he refused.
"Give me one more chance to get the money and free my lands," prayed the Knight. "I will serve you day and night till I have four hundred pounds to redeem them." But the rich man only vowed that the money must be paid that day or the lands be forfeited.
Then the Knight stood up straight and tall.
"You are not courteous," he said, "to make a Knight kneel so long. But it is well to prove one's friends against the hour of need."
Then he looked the rich man full in the face, and the man felt uneasy and hated the Knight more than ever. "Out of my hall, false Knight," he cried, pretending to a courage he did not feel.
But the Knight answered him, "Never was I false, and that I have shown in jousts and in tourneys."