Page:Stories from Old English Poetry-1899.djvu/27

Rh bars, beheld her in the garden path. At that moment he uttered a cry as if some sharp pain had stabbed him suddenly.

“What ails thee, dear cousin?” asked Arcite, coming hurriedly to his side.

“Indeed I know not if I dream, but something walks in the garden below; whether she is maid or a goddess I cannot tell, but I think none but Venus could so walk, or look thus.”

Then, sinking on his knees, Palamon prayed,&mdash;“Sweet goddess (if it be indeed thy divine self I have seen), help us, thy servants, to escape these prison bars and find a way out of our captivity.”

Burning with curiosity, Arcite meanwhile raised himself to the gratings and beheld Emelie. But his eye, less reverent than Palamon&rsquo;s, knew her at once for a mortal like himself.

“O lovely maiden,” he cried piteously, “either I must have thy grace, or I am dead henceforth. All my life and all the deeds that my knighthood may yet be found worthy of, I lay at thy feet.”

At this Palamon started up in anger.

“What dost thou say, Arcite?” he questioned. “The lady is my love. I saw her first.”

“What of that?” rejoined Arcite, “Are not my eyes free to love her too?”