The crowd waited and the knights
waited--so long that the Mayor rose in his
seat some twenty feet away and called out:

``Go ahead, Budd.''

``You jus' wait a minute--my man
ain't come yet,'' he said easily, but from
various places in the crowd came jeering
shouts from the men with whom he had
wagered and the Hon. Sam began to look
anxious.

``I wonder what is the matter?'' he
added in a lower tone. ``I dressed him
myself more than an hour ago and I told
him to come last, but I didn't mean for
him to wait till Christmas--ah!''

The Hon. Sam sank back in his seat
again. From somewhere had come suddenly
the blare of a solitary trumpet that
rang in echoes around the amphitheatre of
the hills and, a moment later, a dazzling
something shot into sight above the mound
that looked like a ball of fire, coming in
mid-air. The new knight wore a shining
helmet and the Hon. Sam chuckled at the
murmur that rose and then he sat up