Once upon a time there might have been seen a gentle Knight, riding across the plain. He was clad in armor of proof, and on his arm he carried a silver shield. A shield it was that brave men had carried before him, for there were great dints upon it, which were as a witness of great fights that had been fought. Now the Knight himself had never yet been in battle; but he seemed as one who could bear himself bravely, so well did he sit upon his horse, and so stout of limb he was. On his breast he wore a cross, red as blood, in token that he was vowed to serve the Lord Christ, who had died for him; and on his shield was yet another cross, to be as it were a sign that this service should be a defense to him in all dangers. Somewhat sad of look he was, not as though he had fear in his heart, but rather as one upon whom had been laid the burden of a great task. And such, in truth, there was, for Queen Gloriana had sent him upon a great enterprise, and all his heart was full of the thought of how he should best accomplish it. And the task was this--to slay the Great Dragon. "It would be difficult to present the stories in more alluring guise." -Guardian "Another volume from the charming and indefatigable pen of the Rev. Alfred J. Church, M. A. It consists of stories retold from Spenser, with all the grace, simplicity, and deftness that Mr. Church has so often exhibited in the long list of his delightful books for young readers." -The Educational Times "Alfred J. Church...has already simplified the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey and the mediaeval legends and romances so attractively for young people. Few young readers and not many older ones make their way through the whole of the Faery Queen, and it is a real service which Mr. Church renders in enabling young people to obtain some idea of its beauty." -The Living Age "Stories retold from Edmund Spenser." -Publishers Weekly "This famous Elizabethan classic retold for children." -The Bookman No illustrations.