white but enveloped in a black mantle, rides up to court on a
snow-white ass, leading a woolly lamb. She is followed by a dwarf, who
conducts a war-steed, on which are piled all the arms of a knight. On
approaching Gloriana, Una--the personification of Truth--explains that
her royal parents are besieged in their capital by a dragon, which has
slain all the warriors who have ventured to attack him.

On hearing Una beg for aid, Georgos eagerly steps forward to claim the
task. Ill pleased to be given a peasant instead of the knight she was
seeking, Una coldly bids Georgos--the personification of Holiness--try
on the armor she has brought, adding that, unless it fits him exactly,
he need not expect to triumph. But no sooner has the youth donned the
armor which the dwarf produces than all recognize with wonder it must
have been made for him, and Gloriana publicly dubs him "Knight of the
Red Cross," because the armor Una brought bears that device.

Vaulting on his war-steed, Georgos now rides off with Una and the
dwarf, and after crossing a wilderness enters a forest, where before
long he descries the mouth of a cave, into which he feels impelled to
enter. No sooner has he done so than he encounters a dragon,--the
personification of Heresy and Error,--which attacks him with fury. A
frightful battle ensues, in the course of which the Red Cross Knight
is about to be worsted, when Una's encouragements so stimulate him
that he slays the monster.

On seeing the exhaustion of her companion, Una realizes he will
require rest before undertaking further adventures, and therefore
eagerly accepts an invitation tendered by a venerable old hermit who
meets them. He leads them to his cell, where, after entertaining them
all evening by pious conversation, he dismisses them to seek rest. His