At one of the frequent tournaments held in Camelot, Sir Dinadan (who tells many bad jokes) is being drubbed by Sir Gareth, and The Boss (as Morgan is now called) says that he hopes that he (Sir Dinadan) dies. By the time these ambiguous words are uttered, however, Sir Gareth has crashed into Sir Sagramor le Desirous, and Sir Sagramor thinks that Morgan's derogatory wish was meant for him. Sagramor therefore challenges Morgan, The Boss, to a bout after he, Sagramor, returns from questing after the Holy Grail. The king and others urge The Boss to also undertake a quest so that he will be more worthy of taking on Sir Sagramor. Morgan puts off this journey for some time, though, so that he can make some changes in the kingdom — such changes as providing some schools, factories, military academies, telephones, and telegraph lines; all these changes are done quietly, of course, so that they will not be too noticeable immediately.
Finally, Morgan can put off his quest no longer. The king decides that Morgan will accompany the Demoiselle Alisande la Carteloise to free her mistress and forty-four princesses held captive by three giants with one eye each.
Along the way, Morgan, The Boss, discovers many things; first, he learns that armor is very uncomfortable to ride in and also to sleep in. Then he and the Demoiselle have a meal with several freemen, one of whom is willing to think about change; as a result, he is sent back to Camelot for Clarence to put into training. A little later, The Boss terrifies six armed knights by stoking up a head of smoke with his pipe as they charge at him; the knights halt, amazed, and are willing to surrender. That evening, the evening of the second day out from Camelot, they come upon the castle ruled by Morgan le Fay. Although the wicked le Fay has a quick temper and is willing to kill anyone who crosses her even slightly, she becomes very deferential when she learns that her visitor is The Boss. She allows him his way even after he frees a man accused of killing a deer on the royal preserve and even though he frees nearly all of the prisoners in her dungeons. She casually stabs for a young boy, but she refrains from throwing his grandmother, who curses her for that deed, into the dungeons.
