Everywhere as he journeyed to Kemper he
heard the rumour of the Red Queen's great-
ness, of her terrible beauty, of Dahut the
Beautiful, Dahut the Perilous, Dahut the Sor-
ceress. And he laughed to think that the girl
of ten summers was already so like the woman
who bore her : and his heart yearned for both,
as his ears longed to be void of the ceaseless
moan of the sea. His first joy was when he
rode through the forest of Huelgoet and heard
no sound but the croodling of wild doves and
the soft, sleepy purring of the south wind lap-
ping the green leaves. When he reached the
great town, as Kemper was then called, he saw
black banners falling from the low walls of
the Fort. He rode onward alone, and found
Malgven lying on a high couch with her gold-
en diadem on her head, and her long hair
clasped with golden rings, and her snow white
arms alongside her breastplate of curiously
carven mail, which she wore above a white
robe. Beside her sat the old blind King.
