"
And therewith he turned his horse's head, and smote the spurs
into the sides of him, and went a great gallop over the field
on the right side of the road, away from the gay pavilion;
but even therewith came a half-score of horsemen from the camp,
as if they were awaiting him, and they spurred after him straightway.
The race was no long one, for Ralph's beast was wearied,
and the other horses were fresh, and Ralph knew naught of
the country before him, whereas those riders knew it well.
Therefore it was but a few minutes till they came up with him,
and he made no show of defence, but suffered them to lead
him away, and he crossed the highway, where he saw no token
of the minstrel.
So they brought him to the pavilion, and made him dismount and led him in.
The dusk had fallen by now, but within it was all bright with candles.
The pavilion was hung with rich silken cloth, and at the further end,
on a carpet of the hunting, was an ivory chair, whereon sat a man,
who was the only one sitting. He was clad in a gown of blue silk,
broidered with roundels beaten with the Bear upon the Castle-wall.
Ralph deemed that this must be no other than the Lord of Utterbol,
yet after all the tales he had heard of that lord, he seemed no such
terrible man: he was short of stature, but broad across the shoulders,
his hair long, strait, and dark brown of hue, and his beard scanty:
he was straight-featured and smooth-faced, and had been no ill-looking man,
save that his skin was sallow and for his eyes, which were brown, small,
and somewhat bloodshot.
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