"Alas!" said Sir Balin, "I would rather not fight, for I wish to rest. Since such is the custom of the castle, however, I must do my part. Let some one bring my armor." A servant at once came up to him with a suit of black armor. "This is not my armor," said Sir Balin. "My armor is not painted black. It is honest gray steel, decorated with blue." "It is the custom of the castle to wear black," they told him. "This armor is as good as your own." Sir Balin felt sad, he could hardly tell why; and was very sorry that he had ever come to the castle. Putting on the armor, however, he went into the courtyard and mounted his horse. No sooner was he ready than another knight, clad all in black, entered the courtyard. The two knights rode together so fiercely that the shock threw them both off their horses in a swoon. After a time they recovered and began to fight on foot, pressing each other near the walls of the castle. Sir Balin was fighting with the sword that he had taken from the damsel in King Arthur's Court. It was a strong sword, and whenever it struck, the armor of his opponent cracked. They fought till their breath failed, and then they rested. Each knew that never before had he dealt with such a strong enemy. Then they fought again, and gave each other seven deep wounds, the least of which would prove fatal. All the ground was red with blood, but Sir Balin fought on still, for the people of the castle were watching from the walls, and he wished to be thought a great warrior. So at last he used all his remaining strength and gave the other knight such a hard blow that he fell to the ground. Sir Balin knew that it was a death stroke. He felt that he, too, was about to die, and said: "Who are you? I never fought with such a strong knight before." The other answered faintly: "I am Sir Balan, the brother to the good knight Sir Balin." Then Sir Balin cried out: "Alas, alas! that I should live to see this day!" and he fell backward in a swoon. Sir Balan was dying, but he crawled on his hands and knees to where Sir Balin lay, and took off his helmet only to discover the face of his brother. Then he wept bitterly till Sir Balin recovered from his swoon. "Alas!" said Sir Balan, "if we had but worn our own armor we should have known each other. And now we must die; we have killed each other." [Illustration: _"They fought till their breath failed"_] Sir Balin was too full of remorse to weep. "All this is my fault," he said. "As the old man on the road told me, I have been too self-willed. First, I would have the damsel's sword, although she told me that I should slay with it the best friend I had. That is you, Balan. And then I would enter this castle in spite of warnings. I deserve to die, but it is a hard punishment that I should have killed you, my brother." Soon some ladies came from the wall into the courtyard, and to them Sir Balin said: