Yet shall one or two fall to earth before I fall." Therewith he shook his sword aloft, and a great roar arose, and weapons came down from the wall, and the candles shone on naked steel.

But the Puny Fox came and stood by Hallblithe, and spake in his ear amidst the uproar: "Well now, brother-in-arms, I have been trying to learn thee the lore of lies, and surely thou art the worst scholar who was ever smitten by master.

And the outcome of it is that I, who have lied so long and well, must now pay for all, and die for a barren truth." Said Hallblithe: "Let all be as it will! I love thee, lies and all; but as for me I cannot handle them.

Lo you! great and grim shall be the slaying, and we shall not fall unavenged." Said the Puny Fox: "Hearken! for still they hang back.

Belike it is I that have drawn this death on thee and me.