Then the victor ordered that all the gates should be thrown open, and in the streets of the neighboring town were crowds of people, crying gladly,--
"Sir knight, you are heartily welcome. Long have we waited for the deliverance which you bring us."
And a gentlewoman came, who said to him,--
"These knights are fled, but they will come again. Therefore, sir, I counsel you to send for all the knights that hold their lands of this castle, and make them swear to restore the old customs, and do away with the evil practices which these villanous knights have fostered."
"That is good counsel," said Galahad.
Then she brought him a horn of ivory, richly adorned with gold, and said,--
"Blow this horn loudly. It will be heard two miles and more from the castle, and all that hear it will come."
[Illustration: Copyright 1901 by E. A. Abbey; from a Copely print copyright 1902 by Curtis and Cameron.
SIR GALAHAD FIGHTING THE SEVEN SINS.]
Galahad took the horn, and blew so loud a blast that the very trees shook therewith. Then he seated himself and waited to see what would come from the summons. As he sat there a priest came to him and said,--
"Sir knight, for seven years these brethren have held the castle, whose lord, Duke Lianor, they killed, and held his daughter prisoner; and by force they have kept all the knights of the castle under their power, and have acted as tyrants, robbing the common people of all they had, and taking tribute and demanding service from all the country round.
Seven years ago the duke's daughter said to them, 'You shall not hold this castle for many years, for by one knight you shall be overcome.'
'Say you so,' they replied. 'Then shall never knight or lady pass this castle, but all that come shall stay or lose their heads, till comes that knight of whom you prophesy.' Therefore this is called the Maidens'
Castle, since its tyrants have so long made war upon maidens."
"Is the duke's daughter still here?"
"No; she died three days after the castle was taken. But her younger sister and many other ladies are held prisoners."
Soon afterwards the knights of the country began to flock in, in response to the bugle-call, and glad were they to find what had occurred. Galahad made them do homage and fealty to the duke's daughter, which they did with great willingness of heart.
And when the next day dawned great news was brought in, for a messenger came to Galahad and told him that the seven felon brothers had been met by Gawaine, Gareth, and Uwaine, and all slain.
"So ends their rule and power," said Galahad, fervently. "It is well done, and well are all here delivered."
Then he commended them to God, and took his armor and horse, and rode away amid the prayers of those he had delivered.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TEMPTATION OF SIR PERCIVALE.
Many adventures had the other knights that set out in search of the Sangreal, and much reproof did many of them receive for the evil lives they had led; but all this we cannot stop to tell, but must confine ourselves to the deeds of a few only. As for Sir Gawaine, he parted from Gareth and Uwaine after they had slain the seven wicked knights of the Castle of Maidens, and rode from Whitsuntide to Michaelmas without an adventure. Then came a day in which he met Sir Hector de Maris, and glad were both at the meeting.
"Truly," said Gawaine, "I am growing weary of this quest."
"And I as well," said Hector. "And of the twenty knights I have met from time to time, they all complain as we do."
"Have you met with Lancelot?"
"No, nor with Percivale, Bors, or Galahad. I can learn nothing of these four."
"They are well able to take care of themselves," said Gawaine. "And if they fail to find the Sangreal, it is waste of time for the rest of us to seek it, for outside of them there is little virtue in the Round Table fellowship."
Afterwards these two knights went far in company, and had strange dreams and visions, the meaning of which was expounded to them by the hermit Nancien. This holy man also reproved Gawaine severely for his evil life, and bade both him and his companion to give up the search for the Sangreal, as that high achievement was not for hands like theirs.
Soon after they met an armed knight in the road, who proffered to joust with them. Gawaine accepted the challenge, and rode against this unknown opponent, dealing him so severe a blow that he was hurled from his horse with a mortal wound. But when they had removed his helmet, what was their horror to find that it was their friend and comrade, Uwaine.
"Alas!" cried Gawaine, "that such a fatal misadventure should have befallen me! I would sooner have died myself."
"Thus ends my quest of the Sangreal," said Uwaine. "And thus will end that of many a noble knight. Dear friends, commend me to King Arthur, and to my fellows of the Round Table, and sometimes think of me for old brotherhood's sake."
And he died in their arms, leaving them plunged in the deepest grief, from which they were long in recovering.
Meanwhile Lancelot and Percivale rode far in company, and many things happened to them. While journeying through a strange region they met an unknown knight, whom they challenged to joust. But the event turned out little to their satisfaction, for Lancelot was hurled to the ground, horse and man, and Percivale received so fierce a sword-blow that he would have been slain had not the sword swerved.
Then the victor knight rode rapidly away, leaving them to recover as they best could. But a recluse near whose hut this encounter had taken place told them that the victor was Sir Galahad. On learning this they pursued him at all speed, but in vain.
Percivale now turned back to question the recluse further, but Lancelot kept on, passing through waste and forest till he came to a stone cross at the parting of two ways.
Near by was a ruined chapel, with broken door, and other signs of waste and decay, if it had been long deserted. But when he looked within he saw to his great surprise a high altar richly dressed with cloth of white silk, on which stood a lofty candelabra of silver which bore six great candles, all lighted.
Lancelot sought to enter the chapel, but try as he would he could not pass the broken door, nor find entrance elsewhere. Some invisible power seemed to stand between him and admission to that sacred place.
Then, out of heart at this ill success, he took off his helm and sword, relieved his horse of saddle and bridle, and lay down to sleep before the cross. Night came upon him as he lay there, and with the night came strange visions.
For as he lay but half asleep he saw a sick knight brought thither in a litter. This knight prayed earnestly for aid in his affliction, and as he did so Lancelot saw the silver candlestick come from the chapel to the cross, and after it a table of silver on which was the holy grail.
The sick knight crawled painfully to it on his hands and knees, and raised himself so as to touch and kiss the sacred vessel. No sooner had he done so than he grew whole and sound, with all his pain and sickness gone, and rose to his feet with his former strength and vigor.
"Lord, I thank thee deeply," he said; "for through thy infinite grace I am healed of my affliction."
Then the holy vessel returned to the chapel, and Lancelot strove hard to rise and follow it. But his limbs were powerless, and he lay like one chained to the ground.
He now fell into deep slumber, and waked not till near morning. And as he raised himself and sat on the ground he heard a voice in the air, that seemed to come from no earthly lips.
"Sir Lancelot," it said, "more hard than is the stone, more bitter than the wood, more bare than the barren fig-tree, arise and go from hence, and withdraw thyself from this holy place."
Lancelot arose with a heavy heart, for the sense of these words sank deeply within him. But when he sought his horse and helm and sword he found they were gone, for they had been taken by the knight whose healing he had seen.
Deeply depressed and unhappy at this misfortune, he left the cross on foot, and wandered onward till he came to a hermitage on a high hill.
Here he told the hermit what had happened to him, and confessed all the evil deeds of his life, saying that he had resolved to be a different man from what he had been, and to live a higher life than that of doing deeds of arms that men might applaud.
Then the holy man gave him absolution, with injunctions of penance, and prayed that he would abide with him all that day. This Lancelot did, talking much with him upon his sins, and repenting sincerely the worldly life he had led.
Meanwhile Percivale had returned to the recluse, and questioned her as to how he should find Galahad.