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time feeding pigs back in Arkansas. They didn't seem too dangerous to me.”
    The prince was wearing a buckram outfit and stood tall and strong in the sunlight. “I never heard of Arkansas,” he said, “but the pigs around Camelot are about as dangerous a beast as you'll be likely to find.” He held up his forefinger. “They've got razor-sharp yellow tusks this long. Let one of them get you down, and he'll un seam you from belly to throat.”
    Jake said nervously, “I think I'll just watch this time. No sense rushing into anything.”
    Wash grinned, his teeth very white against his black face. “Let's both of us watch. Reb, you know so much about pigs, we'll let you do the hunting.”
    Reb gave him a disgusted look. “The day I run away from a little old pig, that's the day you can put me on the floor!” he said defiantly. He was wearing a green doublettoday, green breeches, and a pair of soft leather boots—the sort of outfit the boys were all wearing—and he gave Abigail a slight smile. “Hey, Abbey, I'm gonna show you how to get pork chops for supper!”
    Loren looked at him with a superior expression. “Well, we'll just let you go on in the front of the hunters, then, Reb. You can show the rest of us how to do it.”
    Soon the hunters were in the midst of the forest. The king had come along too. He himself did not hunt, but he liked to watch his son and the other knights in action.
    As they moved deeper into the woods, Josh looked around nervously. “This is one time I wouldn't mind wearing one of those tin suits,” he said.
    The king smiled at him. He had obviously grown to like the boy, mostly because of his offer to take Will's penalty a few days earlier. “You wouldn't be able to do much with a suit of armor on,” he said jovially. “Those beasts are fast as lightning, so I want you young men to be very careful.”
    â€œReb here has offered to lead the hunt” Loren grinned at his father. “I think that's fine of him, don't you?”
    The king gave him a sharp look and shook his head. “It's not wise to let an untried hunter go up against one of those tuskers. You know how vicious they are, my boy.”
    Reb's pride was touched. “Don't worry, Your Majesty. I know how to handle pigs.”
    As they moved on, the ladies of the court joined them. The queen had been brought in a sort of covered cot, carried by two stout men. The young ladies walked along beside the canopy and listened as she told them of hunts in days gone by.
    Reb dropped back and found himself walking beside the Princess Elaine. She was only one year older than he and seemed to be a merry young lady.
    â€œTell me about Atlantis,” Elaine said. “It must have been frightening to go under the sea. I don't see how you could do it.”
    Reb shoved his soft cap back on his head. It had a pointed eagle's feather in it, and he took it off to admire it. “Aw, shucks,” he said, “it wasn't so much, except when the big octopus pinned us down.”
    Elaine's eyes grew large. “An octopus! What's an octopus?”
    â€œBig critter, with eight arms. This one had a beak big enough to snap your leg off.” He launched into the tale of how the seven of them had been trapped in an underwater cavern by a huge squid. When Elaine looked at him with admiring eyes, he was forced to say, “Of course, it was Wash there that got us out.”
    â€œThe little fellow?” Elaine said in surprise. “He doesn't look as though he could do a thing like that.”
    â€œWell, he says Goel was with him, and I guess that's what saved our bacon.”
    â€œSaved your bacon?” Elaine asked in confusion. “What does bacon have to do with Atlantis?”
    Elaine listened as Reb explained the figure of speech, then walked along without speaking for a time. She clearly admired the tall young man, and her eyes went back to