pavilion, the white curtains of which were conspicuous in the centre
of the camp. Within, it was completely lined with silk, embroidered
with the various devices of the Prince: the lions of England--the
lilies of France--the Bohemian ostrich-plume, with its humble motto,
the white rose, not yet an emblem of discord--the blue garter and
the red cross, all in gorgeous combination--a fitting background,
as it were, on which to display the chivalrous groups seen in relief
against it.

At the upper end was placed a long table for the Prince and his
guests, and here Sir Reginald took his seat, with many a hearty
welcome from his friends and companions in arms, while Gaston
led his comrades to the lower end, where Squires and pages were
waiting for the provisions brought in by the servants, which they
were to carry to their Knights. Gaston was soon engaged in
conversation with his acquaintance, to some of whom he introduced
Eustace and Leonard, but the former found far more interesting
occupation in gazing on the company seated at the upper table.

The Black Prince himself occupied the centre, his brother John at
his left hand, and at his right, a person whom both this post of
honour and the blazonry of his surcoat marked out as the dethroned
King of Castile. Pedro the Cruel had not, however, the forbidding
countenance which imagination would ascribe to him; his features
were of the fair and noble type of the old royal Gothic race of
Spain; he had a profusion of flaxen hair, and large blue eyes,
rather too prominent, and but for his receding forehead, and the
expression of his lips, he would have been a handsome man of
princely mien. Something, too, there was of fear, something of
a scowl; he seemed to shrink from the open and manly demeanour of