whom thou seest yonder, and who hight Simon, shall tell thee
where the hunt is up, and thou shalt go with him. But
hearken! thou shalt not call me king; for to-day there is no
king in Oakenrealm, and I am but Marshal, and Earl of the
king that shall be."

The lad fell a-musing for a minute, and then he said: "Yea,
Lord Marshal, I shall do thy will: but meseemeth I have
heard some tale of one who was but of late king in
Oakenrealm: is it not so, Lord?"

"Stint thy talk, young man," cried the Marshal in a harsh
voice, "and abide to-morrow; who knoweth who shall be king,
and whether thou or I shall live to see him."

But as he spake the words they seemed to his heart like a
foretelling of evil, and he turned pale and trembled, and
said to Christopher: "Come hither, lad; I will give thee a
gift, and then shalt thou depart till to-morrow." So
Christopher drew near to him, and the Marshal pulled off a
ring from his finger and set it on the lad's, and said to
him: "Now depart in peace;" and Christopher bent the knee to
him and thanked him for the gracious gift of the ruler of
Oakenrealm, and then went his ways out of the hall, and the
folk without gave a glad cry as he came amongst them.

But by then he was come to the door, Lord Rolf looked on his
hand, and saw that, instead of giving the youngling a
finger-ring which he had bought of a merchant for a price of
five bezants, as he had meant to do, he had given him a ring