noon
He remembered the story , of the faithful troubadour , Blondel , who sought his master , Richard of the Lion Heart , imprisoned somewhere in a castle in Austria , and who , finding him , sang under his window to let him know one loyal friend was there . But Richard , under the light of history , had become merely a barbarous king , cruel to his enemies and unjust to his friends . John felt that his own quest was higher and better . Toward noon he was in the middle of a valley down which a swift little river flowed . Old men , women and children were at work in the fields preparing for the new crop , and again John 's frank eyes and hearty voice won him a welcome . He was a man of Lorraine who had been on the far western front and they welcomed Ulysses on his travels . They said that he was going to Zillenstein at a fortunate time , as the prince had just returned for a space and the great castle was full of people .