But the damsel showed him a secret place where hung a little horn. On
this he blew a sharp and ringing blast, when the bridge presently began
to lower, and instantly to adjust itself across the moat; whereon,
hastening, he unlocked the gate. But here he had nigh fallen into a
subtle snare, by reason of an ugly dwarf that was concealed in a side
niche of the wall. He was armed with a ponderous mace; and had not the
maiden drawn Sir Lancelot aside by main force, he would have been
crushed in its descent, the dwarf aiming a deadly blow at him as he
passed. It fell, instead, with a loud crash on the pavement, and broke
into a thousand fragments. Thereupon, Sir Lancelot smote him with the
giant's sword, and hewed the mischievous monster asunder without mercy.
Turning towards the damsel, he beheld her form suddenly change, and she
vanished from his sight: then was he aware that it had been the nymph
Vivian who accompanied him through the enchantments he had so happily
subdued. He soon released his brethren, and great was the joy at the
Round Table when the Knights returned to the banquet.


Thus endeth the chronicle of Sir Tarquin, still a notable tradition in
these parts, the remains of his castle being shown to this day.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Du-glass, "the becoming, the seemly, green," described by Camden as
"a small brook, running with an easy and still stream;" which conveys a
good idea of the word _Du_. The Du-glass empties itself into the estuary
called by Ptolemy _Bellesama, Belless-aman-e;_ pronounced
Violish-anne,[9] the literal meaning of which is, that the "mouth of the
river only is for ships;" _i.e._, that the rivers which form the haven