Then was the King well pleased with the young man for his courage and loyalty to others.  “Fair youth,” said he, “ye shall go with me to Camelot, and if ye prove you brave and just in all your doings, ye shall be of my Round Table.”  But to Sir Damas he said sternly:  “Ye are a mean-spirited varlet, unworthy of the degree of knighthood.  Here I ordain that ye shall yield unto your brother the moiety of the lands that ye had of your father and, in payment for it, yearly ye shall receive of Sir Ontzlake a palfrey; for that will befit you better to ride than the knightly war-horse.  And look ye well to it, on pain of death, that ye lie no more in wait for errant knights, but amend your life and live peaceably with your brother.”

Thereafter, the fear of the King kept Sir Damas from deeds of violence; yet, to the end, he remained cowardly and churlish, unworthy of the golden spurs of knighthood.  But Sir Ontzlake proved him a valiant knight, fearing God and the King and naught else.

CHAPTER V

HOW THE SCABBARD OF EXCALIBUR WAS LOST

Now when Queen Morgan le Fay knew that her plot had miscarried and that her treachery was discovered, she feared to abide the return of the King to Camelot; and so she went to Queen Guenevere, and said:  “Madam, of your courtesy, grant me leave, I pray you, to depart.”  “Nay,” said the Queen, “that were pity, for I have news of my lord the King, that soon he will return to Camelot.  Will ye not then await his return, that ye may see your kinsman before ye depart?” “Alas! madam,” said Morgan le Fay, “that may not be, for I have ill news that requires that immediately I get to my own country.”  “Then shall ye depart when ye will,” said the Queen.

So before the next day had dawned, Morgan le Fay arose and, taking her horse, departed unattended from Camelot.  All that day and most of the night she rode fast, and ere noon the next day, she was come to a nunnery where, as she knew, King Arthur lay.  Entering into the house, she made herself known to the nuns, who received her courteously and gave her of their best to eat and to drink.  When she was refreshed, she asked if any other had sought shelter with them that day; and they told her that King Arthur lay in an inner chamber and slept, for he had rested little for three nights.  “Ah! my dear lord!” exclaimed the false sorceress; “gladly would I speak with him, but I will not that ye awaken him, and long I may not tarry here; wherefore surfer me at least to look upon him as he sleeps, and then will I continue my journey.”  And the nuns, suspecting no treachery, showed Queen Morgan le Fay the room where King Arthur slept, and let her enter it alone.

So Morgan le Fay had her will and stood beside the sleeping King; but again it seemed as if she must fail of her purpose, and her heart was filled with rage and despair.  For she saw that the King grasped in his hand the hilt of the naked brand, that none might take it without awakening him.  While she mused, suddenly she espied the scabbard where it hung at the foot of the bed, and her heart rejoiced to know that something she might gain by her bold venture.  She snatched up the empty sheath, and wrapping it in a fold of her garment, left the chamber.  Brief were her farewells to the holy nuns, and in haste she got to horse and rode away.