"Come forward," the herald cried, "and take your diamond."
"Talk not to me of diamonds. Give me air. I fear me I have received my death wound. Let me go hence, and I bid you follow me not."
Sir Lavaine helped him upon his horse, and they two rode slowly off the field. When they were near the neighboring forest the great knight fell from his horse and cried:
"Pull forth the spear-head which is in my side."
"Oh, my lord," said Sir Lavaine, "I am afraid you will die if I draw it forth."
"I shall die if you leave it," said Sir Lancelot.
So Sir Lavaine drew it forth quickly, causing Sir Lancelot to faint from the pain. Then a hermit who lived near by came to them, and bore the wounded knight into his hut, where for many a week Sir Lancelot lay between life and death.
When Arthur found that the unknown knight had gone, no one knew whither, he was sorry. He called the light-hearted Sir Gawain and said to him:
"Go forth, take this diamond and seek the stranger knight. Do not cease from your search till you have left the diamond in his hand."
Then Arthur went to the queen. She had been ill and had not attended the tournament. When the king told her all that had happened, she cried:
"A stranger knight! My lord, my lord! That was our dear Sir Lancelot. He was fighting in disguise."
"Alas! he is hurt," said the king. "Perhaps he is dying. He said that he would not fight. He should have told me that he meant to fight in disguise. The truth, my queen, is always best."
"Yes, my good lord, I know it," she said. "If I had but let our Lancelot tell the truth, perhaps he would not have been wounded. You would have called on his kinsmen to cease."
For many days the king and Guinevere waited in deep anxiety for news of Sir Lancelot. Meantime, Sir Gawain rode forth and sought for the great knight in vain. At last he came to the castle of Astolat, where he was welcomed by the lord and Sir Torre and the fair Elaine. He told them the result of the tournament, and how the stranger knight had won. They showed him Sir Lancelot's shield.
"Ah!" said Elaine, when he had told them the name of the unknown knight, "I knew that he must be great."
Sir Gawain guessed by the expression of her beautiful face that she loved Sir Lancelot. So he said: