does it please thee that I should perish, not having deserved it! and then again, Ah, truth, an ill guerdon dost thou give him who never failed thee! Then he took the letter again, saying, you are the cause of my unhappy end; come here, that it may be sooner! and he placed it in his bosom. He asked Durin if he had aught else to say; and hearing that he had not, replied, well then thou shalt take my answer. Sir, quoth he, I am forbidden to receive any.-Did neither Mabilia nor thy sister bid thee say any thing?-They knew not my coming my Lady commanded me to conceal it from them.-Holy Mary help me! I see now my wretchedness is without remedy. He then went to a stream that proceeded from a fountain, and washed his face and eyes, and bade Durin call Gandalin, and bid him bring Ysanjo the Governor; and he said to the Governor, promise me, as you are a loyal Knight, to keep se cret all that you shall see till after my brothers have heard mass to-morrow; and the same promise he exacted from the two Squires. Then he commanded Ysanjo to open privately the gate of the castle, and Gandalin to take his horse and arms out, privately also. This done they left him, and he remained alone, thinking upon a dream which he had dreamt the last night, wherein it

seemed, that being armed and on horseback he was on a hill covered with trees, and many persons round about him making great joy; when a man from amongst them presented him a box, saying, Sir, taste what I bring you; which he did, and it was exceeding bitter; and therewith feeling himself cast down and disconsolate, he loosed the reins of his horse, and let him go whither he would;. and he thought that the mirth of all around him was changed into such sorrow as was pitiful to behold; but his horse carried him far away. from them, and took him through the trees to a rocky place surrounded with water; and then it seemed in his dream that he left his horse and arms, as if by that he would have had rest, and there came to him an old man in a religious habit, and took him by the hand as if he had compassion, and spoke to him in a language which he did not understand, whereupon he awoke. Upon this dream Amadis now mused, thinking that he now found it true.

Then hiding his face from his brethren, that they might not see his trouble, he went to the castlegate, which the sons. of Ysanjo had opened. Come you with me, said Amadis to the Governor, and let your sons remain here, and keep this mats

ter secret.

So they went to the foot of the rock, where there was a little chapel, and Gandalin and Durin went with them. There he armed himself, and asked the Governor to what saint that chapel was dedicated. To our Lady the Virgin, who hath wrought many miracles here. Hearing this, Amadis went in and knelt down, and said, weeping, Our Lady Virgin Mary, the consoler and helper of those that are afflicted, I beseech you to intercede with your glorious Son, that he may have mercy on me; and, if it be your will not to help me in my body, have mercy on my soul in these my last days, for other thing than death I do not hope. He then called Ysanjo, and said, promise as a loyal Knight to do what I shall direct! and turning to Gandalin, he took him in his arms and wept abundantly, and held him somewhile, for he could not speak. At length he said, my good friend Gandalin, you and I were nursed by the same milk, and our lives have been past together, and never have I endured hardship and danger in which you had not your part also. Your father took me from the sea when I was so little, being only that night's child, and they brought me up as a good father and mother bring up their beloved son; and you, my true friend, have always thought how to serve me, and I have hoped in God that he would

one day enable me to requite thee; but now this misery, which is worse than death, is come upon me, and we must part, and I have nothing to leave thee, except this island: I therefore command Ysanjo and all others, by the homage which they have done to me, that so soon as they shall know my death they take thee for their Lord. The Lordship shall be thine, but I enjoin that thy father and mother enjoy it while they live, and afterwards it shall remain to thee. This I do for what they did for my childhood, for my ill fortune will not suffer me to do what they deserve, and what I desire. He then told Ysanjo to take from the rents of the island, which had accumulated, enough to build a monastery by that chapel, in honour of the Virgin Mary, and to endow it for thirty friars. But Gandalin cried out, Sir, you never yet had trouble wherein I was separated from you, nor shall it be now; and if you die, I do not wish to live: and I want no honours or

lordships; give it to your brethren, I will not take it, and I do not want it. Hold thy peace, for God's sake, quoth Amadis, and say no such folly to displease me. My brethren are of such worth that they can gain lands for themselves, and to bestow on others. Then he said to Ysanjo, it grieves me, my friend Ysanjo, to leave you before

I could honour you according to your deserts; but I leave you with those who will do it. Ysanjo answered, let me go with you, Sir, and suffer what you suffer. Friend, answered Amadis, it must be as I say; God only can comfort me! I will be guided by his mercy, and have no other company. He then said to Gandalin, if thou desirest knighthood, take my arms; for, since thou hast kept them so well, it is right they should be thine. I shall little need them: if not, my brother Galaor shall knight thee. Tell him this Ysanjo, and serve and love him as thou hast me, for I love him above all my lineage, because he is the best, and hath ever been humble towards me. Tell him, too, that I commit Ardian the Dwarf to his care. They for great sorrow could make him no answer. Then Amadis embraced them, and commended them to God, saying that he never thought to see them more, and he forbade them to follow him; and with that spurred his horse and rode away, forgetting to take either shield, or helmet, or spear. He struck into the mountain, going whither his horse would. Thus he kept till midnight, being utterly lost in thought; the horse came then to a little stream of water, and proceeded upward to find a place so deep that he could drink thereat. The branches struck Amadis in the face, and so