"I have had a strange dream, Will—a kind of nightmare," he said. "Methought that pretty page, Jasper, was calling out for help, and neither of us could stir."
"'Twas no dream, sire," replied Careless. "The circumstance actually occurred. I was awake, and heard the cries. They pierced my heart."
"Why did you not answer them?"
"My duty to your majesty forbade me. I would not even waken you—for I well knew what your chivalrous impulse would have suggested."
"And you allowed him to be captured?—ha!"
"I trust he escaped—but I cannot say. I am now right glad that I did not wake your majesty. 'Twas a hard matter to keep quiet I will frankly confess, but I could not desert my post. Duty before everything."
The king smiled, and patted his shoulder. "Thou art ever faithful," he said.