HE WALKED up the street to the local inn, where the knights spent most of their time eating and drinking. He went into the inn and looked for the captain of the King's Guard. The captain was seated at the first table, a huge platter of beef and a tankard of ale in front of him. He was a fat man with a red face and a wart on the left side of his nose. He kept eating while William talked to him.

"Captain," he said, "I need a brave and courageous knight or three for a brave and courageous deed."

"All of my knights are brave and courageous," said the captain, without looking up from the table.

"The king needs a dragon," said William, "medium-sized and with colored lights. So, will you kindly supply me with someone brave and courageous enough to go after one? The captain choked on his ale and looked up suddenly.

"A dragon?" he said. "You want me to send one of my men after a dragon?"

"That is correct. One, or two, or three, or as many as you feel would be necessary." The captain scratched his head.

"Well, I don't know," he said finally. "Most of my men are out of practice when it comes to dragons... ."

The inn was suddenly very quiet. At the mention of the word "dragon" all the clattering of platters and tankards and dice had stopped. All the laughter and the sounds of table-pounding and chair-scraping had stopped. William felt everyone staring at him.

"Are you trying to tell me that your men would be afraid to go after a dragon?" he asked.

"Afraid!" snorted the captain through his mustaches (which were quite large, and blew up almost as high as his ears when he snorted). "My men afraid of dragons? I should say not!

"Are any of you men afraid of dragons?" he called out in a loud voice.

"N-no," came several soft answers. "But of course, we're out of practice when it comes to dragon-slaying. . "

"Not slaying, just catching," said William, "and I can see that I'm getting nowhere this way. So I'll just ask for volunteers. Do any of you men want to volunteer to go get a dragon for the princess' birthday party and bring it back alive?"

No one answered.

"Come, come!" cried William, jumping up onto a table. "Surely a few of you brave fellows would be willing to do this thing to make the princess' birthday a happy and memorable occasion. Who will be first to volunteer?"

Still no one answered.

"Then I think you are all cowards!" said William.

"Not so, not so ! " cried the captain. "Consider, if you please, the circumstances. All of these men are fearless and have done many brave deeds in the past, or they would not be knights today. They are, as I said, just out of practice when it comes to dragons. They do not know the meaning of the word 'fear'."

"Doubtless," said William, "and a good many others besides.

"You there," he said to one man. "What was the last brave deed you did?"

The knight looked at his captain, looked at William. Finally, he said, "I saved the princess' poodle from a large and ferocious rat one day, sir, and the king knighted me on the spot."

"I see," said William. "And you?" he asked another knight. "What was your brave deed?"

"I escorted the queen to a ball, back when the king had an attack of the gout. He knighted me for it."

"I see," said William. "How about you?" he asked another. "Have you ever captured a dragon?"

"No, sir," answered the knight, "but I caught a boy picking flowers in the palace garden and the king knighted me for it."

"A small boy?" asked William.

"He was pretty big for his age," said the knight.

"That was my nephew Louis," said William. "I remember the incident. He is short for his age.

"Have any of you knights ever seen a dragon?" he called out.

No one answered.

"How about you, captain?" he asked.

The captain looked back at his platter and reached for his tankard. "I do not choose to answer that question, because it is none of your business," he told him.

"Then no one here knows anything about dragons, and no one here will help me?"

No one answered.

"All right. Then you are all cowards, and I will go by myself to seek a dragon." He turned away and walked out of the inn.

ON THAT AFTERNOON he got his horse from the stable, put on a suit of armor, picked up his sword and shield and rode toward the mountains.

The only one who missed him was his dowager aunt, who was a friend of the queen. She waved a pink handkerchief from a window of the highest tower in the castle, and he waved at her once and then did not look back.

For three days he made his way through the mountains, but he did not meet any dragons. On the fourth day he came to a valley. It was marked on the map he carried, and slightly beyond it were written the words,

-HERE THERE BE DRAGONS-

He dismounted and looked around. He looked for a long while, but there were no dragons. Then he sat down on a rock.

After he had been sitting there for some time, he felt as if he were being stared at. He turned his head slowly. A small lizard was watching him from beneath a bush.

"Hello," he said to the lizard. "Any dragons around?"

The lizard kept staring at him. It blinked once, slowly.

"I wonder if you could be a baby dragon?" he said. "I think I'll capture you for practice." He grabbed at the lizard.

It dashed away. He threw his shield, aiming carefully. The shield, which was curved, came down over it, trapping it in the hollow place beneath. He reached there then and seized the lizard. Then he lifted the shield. The little lizard was silver, the same color as the metal.

"You were green a moment ago," he said.

"That is because I was under a green bush," said the lizard.

"You can talk!" said William.

"Yes. There are lizards and there are lizards," replied the creature. "I am an educated lizard. Now, if you please, release me."

"No," said William. "You are the closest thing to a dragon that I've found so far, and I am going to keep you until something better comes along."

"That might not be wise," said the lizard. "Supposing I am a baby dragon, and my parents come looking for me?"

"Then I suppose I will have to try to take them back, too," William sighed.

"What?" said the lizard. "You do not look like a young knight out to make a name for himself. What do you want with a dragon?"

"I don't want a dragon," said William. "My king does. I am only following orders."

"What does he want with a dragon?"

"He wants it to provide a fireworks display for his daughter's birthday party," William explained.

"That is ridiculous," said the lizard.

"That is what I said, and what I still say," said William. "But mine is not to reason why. I just do what I am told, if I want to keep my otherwise easy job."

"Well, I am glad that someone has good sense," said the lizard. "My name is Bell. Maybe I can help you."

"How might you do that?"

"Stop squeezing my delicate sides so tightly and put me down on that rock. Then perhaps I'll tell you."

"How do I know that you won't run away?"

"You don't. You take my word for it. Otherwise, I don't talk, no matter how hard you squeeze me."

"All right," said William. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"That's better," said Bell, after William had set him down. "What's your name?"

"William."

"Great. Okay, now here is what you do..."

"You just turned gray!" said William. "Like the stone!"