About noon
The journey did not exceed five leagues . What he might find at the castle , how long he would stay , what do , were so uncertain -- indeed everything in the connection was so dependent upon conditions impossible of foresight , that he resolved to set out on foot . To this course he was the more inclined by the mildness of the weather , and the reputation of the region for freshness and beauty . About noon he was fairly on the road . Persons whom he met -- and they were not all of the peasant class -- seeing a traveller jaunty in plumed cap , light blue camail , pointed buskins , and close-fitting hose the color of the camail , sword at his side , and javelin in hand , stayed to observe him long as he was in sight , never dreaming they were permitted to behold a favorite of one of the bloody Mahounds of the East . Over hill and down shallow vales : through stone-fenced lanes ; now in the shade of old trees ; now along a seashore partially overflowed by languid waves , he went , lighter in step than heart , for he was in the mood by no means uncommon , when the spirit is prophesying evil unto itself . He was sensible of the feeling , and for shame would catch the javelin in the middle and whirl it about him defensively until it sung like a spinning-wheel ; at times he stopped and , with his fingers in his mouth , whistled to a small bird as if it were a hunting hawk high in air .