Alf did not read so much, was of a nature less imaginative, and his younger brother, Valentine, read not at all, but among them was enacted a great scene of chivalry which ended almost in a tragedy.

Grant, his mind absorbed in jousting and its laurels, explained the thing to Alf and induced him to read the tales of various encounters.

Alf was more or less affected by the literature and ready to do his share toward making each of them a proper warrior fit for any fray.

They considered the situation with much earnestness, and concluded that the only way to joust was to joust, and that Valentine should act as marshal of the occasion, for a marshal at a tourney, they discovered, was a prime necessity.

As for coursers, barbs, destriers, or whatever name their noble steeds might bear, they had no choice.