Then the various knights whom Lancelot had bidden to seek the court came in, one by one, and all were glad to learn that it was by no common man that they had been overcome. Among them came Sir Belleus, whom Lancelot had wounded at the pavilion, and who at his request was made a Knight of the Round Table, and Sir Meliot de Logres, whom he had rescued from the enchantment of the Chapel Perilous. Also the adventure of the four queens was told, and how Lancelot had been delivered from the power of the sorceresses, and had won the tournament for King Bagdemagus. And so at that time Lancelot had the greatest name of any knight in the world, and was the most honored, by high and low alike, of all living champions. BOOK V. THE ADVENTURES OF BEAUMAINS. CHAPTER I. THE KNIGHTING OF KAY'S KITCHEN BOY. King Arthur had, early in his reign, established the custom that at the feast of Pentecost he would never dine until he had seen or heard of some marvellous event. Through that custom many strange adventures were brought to his notice. It happened on one day of Pentecost that the king held his Round Table at a castle called Kinkenadon, on the borders of Wales. On that day, a little before noon, as Gawaine looked from a window, he saw three men on horseback and a dwarf on foot approaching the castle. When they came near the men alighted, and, leaving their horses in care of the dwarf, they walked towards the castle-gate. One of these men was very tall, being a foot and a half higher than his companions. On seeing this, Gawaine went to the king and said,-- "Sire, I deem you can now safely go to your dinner, for I fancy we have an adventure at hand." [Illustration: KING ARTHUR'S ROUND TABLE, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.] The king thereupon went to the table with his knights and the kings who were guests at his court. They were but well seated when there came into the hall two men, richly attired, upon whose shoulders leaned the fairest and handsomest young man that any there had ever seen. In body he was large and tall, with broad shoulders and sturdy limbs, yet he moved as if he could not bear himself erect, but needed support from his comrades' shoulders. When Arthur saw this youth he bade those around him to make room, and the stranger with his companions walked up to the high dais without speaking. Then he drew himself up straight and stood erect before the king. "King Arthur," he said, "may God bless you and your fellowship, and, above all, the fellowship of the Round Table. I am come hither to beg of you three gifts, promising that they shall not be unreasonable, and that you can honorably grant them without hurt or loss to yourself. The first I shall ask now, and the other two this day twelvemonth." "Ask what you will," said Arthur. "You shall have your gift, if it be so easy to grant."