said, "I warrant me that there will be none of finer make or of truer metal
in the tourney, seeing that I made them specially for you. They are light,
and yet strong enough to withstand a blow from the strongest arm. I tried
them hard, and will warrant them proof, but you had best see to the rivets
and fastenings. They had a rough handling last year, and you have not worn
them since. There are some other pieces that I must put in hand at once,
seeing that in such a melee you must be covered from head to foot."

For the next week nothing was talked of in London but the approaching
sports, and the workmen were already engaged in the erection of the lists
and pavilions in the fields between the walls and Westminster. It was
reported that the king would add valuable prizes to those given to the
winners by the city; that there would be jousting on horseback by the sons
of the court nobles, and that the young Prince of Wales would himself ride.


The king had once before taken part in the city sports, and with ten of the
citizens had held his own against an equal number of knights. This was at
the commencement of his reign; but the accident to the queen's stand had so
angered him that he had not again been present at the sports, and his
reappearance now was considered to be an act of approval of the efforts
which the city had made to aid him in the war, and as an introduction of
the young prince to the citizens.

When the day arrived there was a general flocking out of the citizens to
the lists. The scene was a picturesque one; the weather was bright and
warm; the fields were green; and Westminster, as well as London, sent out
large numbers to the scene. The citizens were all in their best; their
garments were for the most part of somber colours - russet, murrey, brown,
and gray. Some, indeed, of the younger and wealthier merchants adopted