{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46176/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46176","id":"gutenberg_46176","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46176","summary":null,"tags":["Arthur, King -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Adventure","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Children's stories","Chivalry -- Juvenile fiction","Kings and rulers -- Juvenile fiction","Knights and knighthood -- Juvenile fiction","Secret societies -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Produced by Al Haines.\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"PERCIVALE SAW A SHIP COMING TOWARD THE LAND.\"]\n\n\n\n\n                             THE KNIGHTS OF\n                            THE ROUND TABLE\n\n                        _STORIES OF KING ARTHUR\n                          AND THE HOLY GRAIL_\n\n\n                                   BY\n\n                          WILLIAM HENRY FROST\n\n\n\n                ILLUSTRATED BY SYDNEY RICHMOND BURLEIGH\n\n\n\n                                NEW YORK\n                        CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS\n                                  1897\n\n\n\n\n                          COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY\n                        CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS\n\n\n\n                             TROW DIRECTORY\n                    PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY\n                                NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\n                           BY THE SAME AUTHOR\n\n                Each 1 vol., 12mo, Illustrated by SIDNEY\n                       R. BURLEIGH. Price, $1.50\n\n                     THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE\n                        THE COURT OF KING ARTHUR\n                         THE WAGNER STORY BOOK\n\n                                   To\n                               MY FATHER\n                           John Dudley Frost\n\n\n\n\n                               *CONTENTS*\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER I*\n\nOn Glastonbury Tor\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER II*\n\nHow We Discovered Camelot\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER III*\n\nThe Boy from the Forest\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER IV*\n\nThe Queen's Robing-Room\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER V*\n\n\"Camelot, that is in English Winchester\"\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER VI*\n\nThe Boat on the River\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER VII*\n\nThe Giants' Dance\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER VIII*\n\nOn the Edge of Lyonnesse\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER IX*\n\nThe Siege Perilous\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER X*\n\nGawain\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER XI*\n\nLancelot\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XII*\n\nBors\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XIII*\n\nPercivale\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XIV*\n\nGalahad\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER XV*\n\nThe City of Sarras\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XVI*\n\nStories of Strange Stones\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XVII*\n\n\"And on the Mere the Wailing Died Away\"\n\n\n                            *CHAPTER XVIII*\n\nThe Abbess and the Monk\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XIX*\n\n\"Rexque Futurus\"\n\n\n\n\n                        *LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS*\n\n\n\"Percivale saw a ship coming toward the land.\" . . . _Frontispiece_\n\nGlastonbury Tor\n\n\"As he played a storm began to rise\"\n\nThe abbot's kitchen\n\n\"The city and the fortress of the rabbits\"\n\n\"Kay's horse galloped back alone\" (missing from book)\n\nThe Tower of London\n\nThe Round Table at Winchester\n\nWinchester Cathedral\n\nStonehenge\n\nSt. Michael's Mount\n\nThe Land's End\n\n\"The bright spot on the road grew smaller and smaller\" (missing from\nbook)\n\n\"A pasture where a hundred and fifty bulls were feeding\"\n\n\"Through woods where there were scarcely any paths to follow\"\n\n\"He saw the water before him and a ship\"\n\n\"'Knight,' she said, 'what are you doing here?'\"\n\n\"'It was King Evelake's shield'\"\n\n\"'I cut off my hair and wove it into a girdle'\"\n\nThe Dove with the golden censer\n\nThe Cheesewring\n\nSt. Joseph's Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey\n\n\"The two great waves broke upon each other\"\n\nThe Choir, Glastonbury Abbey\n\n\"On toward the gold and the purple in the west\"\n\n\n\n\n                       *SOME OLDER STORY-TELLERS*\n\n\nThere is really no need, perhaps, for me to tell you that all these\nstories have been told before.  But, though you know it already, I like\nto say it again, because I can never say often enough how grateful I am\nto those who told the world first of Arthur, of Guinevere, of Lancelot,\nand of Gawain; of Galahad, of Percivale, and of Percivale's sister; of\nthe Siege Perilous and of the Holy Grail.  If you do not now count Sir\nThomas Malory a dear friend, as I do, learn to do it, and you will be\nthe better for it. I do not know who made those wonderful tales the\nMabinogion, but I know who gave them to us in our own language--Lady\nCharlotte Guest.  I wish that I knew whom to thank for \"The Romance of\nMerlin\" and for the story of \"Gawain and the Green Knight.\" And there\nwere many other noble story-tellers of the old time who passed away and\nleft us no knowledge of themselves and not even their names to call them\nby.  But they left us their stories, and if anything from us can reach\nthem where they are, surely gratitude can, and that they must have from\nevery one of us who loves a story. And the great poet of our own days,\nLord Tennyson, must have it too, for teaching us how to read their\nstories.\n\nSome time you may read these tales and others as they wrote them, and\nyou cannot read them without thinking what a great and marvellous thing\nit was that they, who lived no longer than other men, could give delight\nto the people of so many centuries.  But some of these stories are not\neasy to find, and some are not easy to read, when you have found them. I\nhave tried to tell a few of them again in my own way, hoping that thus\nsome might have the stories and know them, for whom the older books\nmight be hard to get or hard to understand.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Glastonbury Tor]\n\n\n                    *THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE*\n\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER I*\n\n                          *ON GLASTONBURY TOR*\n\n\nIt was when we were making a journey in the South of England one summer\nthat we found ourselves in the midst of the old tales of King Arthur and\nof the Holy Grail.  \"We\" means Helen, Helen's mother, and me.  We\nwandered about the country, here and there and wherever our fancy led\nus, and everywhere the stories of King Arthur fell in our way.  In this\nplace he was born, in that place he was crowned; here he fought a\nbattle, there he held a tournament.  Everything could remind us, when we\nknew how to be reminded, of the stories of the King and the Queen and\nthe knights of the Round Table.\n\nIt was I who told the stories and it was Helen who listened to them.\nSometimes Helen's mother listened to them too, and sometimes she had\nother things to do that she cared about more.\n\nOne day we had been riding for many hours on the crooked railways of the\nSouthwest, where you change cars so often that after a little while you\ncannot remember at all how many trains you have taken.  And late in the\nafternoon, or perhaps early in the evening, we saw from the window of\nthe carriage a big hill, lifting itself high up against the sky, with a\nlonely tower on the top of it.  And that was Glastonbury Tor.\n\nThere was no time to try to see anything of Glastonbury that night after\ndinner, and we were too tired.  But that big hill looked so inviting\nthat we decided that we would see it the next day and climb up to the\ntop of it, before we did anything else.  I was a little disappointed\nwith Glastonbury, as we walked through the streets on our way to the\nTor. The place looked much too prosperous to please me, and not at all\ntoo neat.\n\nI cheered up a little when we came to the Abbot's Kitchen.  It stands in\nthe middle of a big field, with a fence around it, and we had to borrow\na key from a woman who kept it to lend so that we could go in and see\nit.  We even spared a little time from the Tor to see it in. The Abbot's\nKitchen belonged to the old abbey of Glastonbury.  It is a small, square\nbuilding, with a fireplace in each corner.  It is still in such good\nrepair that it is hardly fair to call it a ruin, but it is a part of old\nGlastonbury, and we carried back the key feeling glad that we had\nborrowed it.\n\nIt was a good, stiff climb up the side of the Tor, and we stopped more\nthan once to look back at the town behind us and below us.  It looked\nprettier from here.  Down there in the streets there was the noise of a\nbusy modern town.  The ways were muddy and there were rather frowsy\nwomen and children about some of the doors.  But up here we were out of\nsight and hearing of all that.  From here the town looked quiet and\npeaceful and beautiful--just its roofs and chimneys and towers showing\nthrough the wide, green masses of the trees, and the sound of a church\nchime, that rang every quarter of an hour, came to us softened and\nmellow.\n\n\"Down there,\" I said, \"we saw nothing but Glastonbury--to-day's\nGlastonbury--but here we can see Avalon.  That is Avalon down there\nbelow us, the Island of Apples, the happy country, the place where there\nwas no sorrow, the place where fairies lived, the place where Joseph\nbrought the Holy Grail and where he built his church.  A wonderful old\nplace it was, and it was a wonderful abbey that grew up where Joseph\nfirst made his little chapel.  Our old friend St. Dunstan, who pinched\nthe devil's nose, was the abbot there once.  So was St. Patrick.  When\nhe came to Glastonbury he climbed up to the top of this hill where we\nare now and found, where this old tower is, the ruins of a church of St.\nMichael.  They used to have a way of building churches to St. Michael on\nthe tops of high hills.  St. Patrick rebuilt this one and afterwards it\nwas thrown down by an earthquake.  I don't know whether St. Patrick\nbuilt this tower that is here now or not.\n\n\"Did I say that fairies used to live here? Another abbot of Glastonbury\nfound that out. He was St. Collen, and he must have lived when there was\nno church of St. Michael here on the top of the Tor.  St. Collen was one\nof those men who think that they cannot serve God and live in comfort at\nthe same time. When he had been abbot of Glastonbury for a time he\nthought that he was leading too easy a life, so he gave up his post and\nwent about preaching.  But even that did not please him, so he came back\nhere and made a cell in the rock on the side of Glastonbury Tor, and\nlived in it as a hermit.\n\n\"One day he heard two men outside his cell talking about Gwyn, the son\nof Nudd.  And one of them said: 'Gwyn, the son of Nudd, is the King of\nthe Fairies.'\n\n\"Then Collen put his head out of the door of his cell and said to the\ntwo men: 'Do not talk of such wicked things.  There are no fairies, or\nif there are they are devils.  And there is no Gwyn, the son of Nudd.\nHold your tongues about him.'\n\n\"'Hold your own tongue about him,' one of the men answered, 'or you will\nhear from him in some unpleasant way.'\n\n\"The men went away, and by and by Collen heard a knock at his door, and\na voice asked if he were in his cell.  'I am here,' he answered; 'who is\nit that asks?'\n\n\"'I am a messenger from Gwyn, the son of Nudd, the King of the Fairies,'\nthe voice said, 'and he has sent me to command you to come and speak\nwith him on the top of the hill at noon.'\n\n\"Collen did not think that he ought to mind what the King of the Fairies\nsaid to him, if there really were any King of the Fairies, so he stayed\nin his cell all day.  The next day the messenger came again and said\njust what he had said before, and again St. Collen stayed in his cell\nall day.  But the third day the messenger came again and said to Collen\nthat he must come and speak with Gwyn, the son of Nudd, the King of the\nFairies, on the top of the hill, at noon, or it would be the worse for\nhim.\n\n\"Then Collen took a flask and filled it with holy water and fastened it\nat his waist, and at noon he went up the hill.  For a long time Collen\nhad been abbot of Glastonbury and for a long time he had been a hermit\nand lived in his cell on the side of this very hill, but never before\nhad he seen the great castle that stood that day on the top of\nGlastonbury Tor.  It did not look heavy, as if it were built for war,\nbut it was wonderfully high and graceful and beautiful. It had tall\ntowers, with banners of every color hung from the tops of them and lower\ndown, and there were battlements where ladies and squires in rich\ndresses stood and looked down at other ladies and squires below.  And\nthose below were dancing and jousting and playing games, and all around\nthere were soldiers, handsomely dressed too, guarding the place.\n\n\"When Collen came near, a dozen of the people met him and said to him:\n'You must come with us to our King, Gwyn, the son of Nudd--he is waiting\nfor you.'\n\n\"And they led him into the castle and into the great hall.  In the\nmiddle of the hall was a table, spread with more delicious things to eat\nthan poor St. Collen, who thought that it was wicked to eat good things,\nhad ever dreamed of.  And at the head of the table, on a gold chair, sat\na man who wore a crown.  'Collen,' he said, 'I am the King of the\nFairies, Gwyn, the son of Nudd.  Do you believe in me now? Sit down and\neat with me, and let us talk together.  You are a learned man, but you\ndid not believe in me.  Perhaps I can tell you of other things that so\nwise a man as you ought to know.'\n\n\"But St. Collen only took the flask of holy water from his side and\nthrew some of it upon Gwyn, the son of Nudd, and sprinkled some of it\naround, and in an instant there was no king there and there was no\ntable.  The hall was gone, and the castle.  The dances and the games\nwere done, and the squires and the ladies and the soldiers all had\nvanished.  The whole of the fairy palace was gone, and Collen was left\nstanding alone on the top of Glastonbury Tor.\n\n\"But Glastonbury has forgotten St. Collen, I suppose.  The old town is\nprouder now of Joseph of Arimathaea than of anybody else--prouder than\nit is of King Arthur, I think, though King Arthur--but I won't tell you\nabout that now.  You know how Joseph of Arimathaea buried the Christ in\nhis tomb after He was taken down from the cross.  After He had risen\nagain the Jews put Joseph in prison, because they said that he had\nstolen the body. But Joseph had with him the Holy Grail, the cup in\nwhich he had caught the blood of the Saviour, when He was on the cross.\nIt was the same cup, too, from which the Saviour had drunk at the Last\nSupper.  It was a wonderful thing, that cup, and there are whole volumes\nof stories about it.  The blood that Joseph had caught in it always\nstayed in it afterwards, and the cup and the blood seemed to have a\nstrange sort of life and knowledge and the power of choosing.  One of\nthe wonderful things about the Holy Grail was that it could always give\nfood to any one whom it chose, and those who were fed by the Holy Grail\nwanted no other food than what it gave them. And so Joseph wanted\nnothing while he was in prison.\n\n\"At last the Emperor had Joseph let out of his prison.  And some one\nasked him how long it had been since he was put there, and he answered:\n'I have been here in this prison for nearly three days.'\n\n\"Then they all stared at one another and whispered and looked at Joseph,\nand then they whispered together again.  'Why do you look at one another\nand at me so,' said Joseph, 'is it not three days, almost, since they\nput me here?'\n\n\"'It is wonderful,' said one of them; 'Joseph, you have been in this\nprison for forty-two years.'\n\n\"'Can it be?' said Joseph; 'it seems to me like only three days, and\nbarely that, and I have never been so happy in my life as I have been\nfor these three days--or these--can it be--forty-two years?'\n\n\"And this was because he had had the Holy Grail in the prison with him.\nAfterwards he came to England.  He brought the Holy Grail here to\nAvalon, and the King of that time gave him some ground to build his\nchurch on.  They say it was really the island of Avalon then, for it was\nall surrounded by marsh and water, and there was an opening, a waterway,\nout to the Bristol Channel.  And since it ceased to be an island the sea\nhas twice at least broken through and made it one again for a little\nwhile.  But the last time was almost two hundred years ago.\n\n\"Well, when Joseph and those who were with him first came here, they\nrested on the hillside and Joseph stuck the staff that he carried into\nthe ground.  It was not this hill where we are, but another, Wearyall\nHill.  And Joseph's staff, where he had set it in the ground, began to\nbud, and then leaves and branches grew on it.  It struck roots into the\nground and became a tree.  It was a thorn-tree, the Holy Thorn they\ncalled it, and always after that it blossomed twice a year, once in the\ntime of other thorn-trees and again at Christmas.  The tree was gone, of\ncourse, long ago, but other trees had grown from slips of it, and they\nsay that descendants of it are still growing in Glastonbury gardens and\nthat they still bloom at Christmas.  I am sorry that we cannot stay here\ntill Christmas to see if it is true.\n\n\"So, in the place that the King gave him, Joseph built his chapel of\nwood and woven twigs, and it was the first Christian church in England.\nSome of the stories say that the Holy Grail, that Joseph brought here\nwith him, was buried at last under one of these Glastonbury hills, but\nthat is not the story that I like the best.  One story says that it was\nnot a cup at all that Joseph brought to Avalon, but two cruets.  It says\nbesides that these two cruets were buried with Joseph when he died, and\nthat when his grave is found, and the two cruets in it, there will never\nagain be any drought in England.  But according to the story that I like\nbest, Joseph did not die at all, as other men die, but was long kept\nalive by the Holy Grail, waiting for the best knight of the world, for\nit was foretold that he should never die till the best knight of the\nworld should come.\n\n\"Since it was here that the Grail was brought, I think it must have been\nnot far from here that King Pelles lived, before Balin gave him the\nwound that was never to heal till the best of all knights should come.\nAnd I fancy it was somewhere near here, too, that he lived after that.\nHe was the keeper of the Grail, and he had a castle called Carbonek.\nWhen we talk of the Grail it seems to me that everything becomes\nmysterious and uncertain, so that it is hard to tell where this Castle\nof Carbonek was. At one time it seems to have been on the seashore and\nat another time it seems to have been inland.  But for that very reason\nI think that Avalon is as likely a place for it as any, for this place\nwas inland, just as it is now, but then the waters of the sea came in\naround it.  Yet the land around King Pelles's old castle was all laid\nwaste, and I have never heard that the land around Avalon was so.  But\nyou see that it is all uncertain and strange, and we cannot be sure of\nanything about it.\n\n\"I think I have told you the story about King Pelles and Balin before,\nbut I will tell you a little of it again, because it fits in so well\njust here.  King Pelles was descended from Joseph of Arimathaea, and, as\nI said, he was the keeper of the Holy Grail.  Once Balin came to his\ncastle, seeking for Garlon, a knight who had the power of riding\ninvisible and who killed other knights, when they could not see him.\nBalin found him there and killed him, and King Pelles tried to avenge\nhis death, because he was his brother.\n\n\"Balin had broken his sword and he fled from King Pelles and ran through\nthe castle till he came to a chamber where Joseph of Arimathaea, who was\nkept alive by the power of the Holy Grail, was lying in a bed.  And\nbeside him was a spear, with drops of blood flowing from the point.  It\nwas the spear with which the Roman soldier wounded the side of the\nChrist when He was on the cross.  Balin seized it and turned upon King\nPelles and wounded him with it in the side.\n\n\"Then the whole castle fell down around them and all the country about\nit became waste and dry and desolate.  Balin lay under the ruins for\nthree days, and then Merlin, the great magician of King Arthur's court,\ncame and woke him and gave him a horse and a sword and sent him on his\nway.  Afterwards Balin met his brother Balan, and they fought, neither\nof them knowing who the other was, till they killed each other.  Then\nMerlin took the sword with which Balin had killed his brother and drove\nit into a great stone, up to the hilt, and set the stone floating on the\nriver.  And he wrote on the stone that no knight should ever draw this\nsword out of the stone except the one to whom it should belong, the best\nknight of the world.\n\n\"I cannot tell you how King Pelles got out of the ruins of his castle,\nbut afterwards he had another castle, the one that was called Carbonek.\nHe was still the keeper of the Grail.  And it was foretold that the\nwound in the side that Balin had given to him with the spear would never\nbe healed till the best knight of all the world should come.  So for\nmany years King Pelles lived in his castle and bore the pain of a wound\nthat always seemed new and fresh, and waited for the coming of the best\nknight of the world.\n\n\"This is getting to be a rather rambling sort of story, and while we are\nrambling perhaps I may as well tell you about the adventure that Sir\nBors had at the Castle of Carbonek.  Bors was a knight of the Round\nTable.  He was one of the best of all of them.  He sat at the table in\nthe next seat but one to the Siege Perilous. The Siege Perilous was the\nseat on the right of the King's.  Merlin had made it when he made the\nRound Table, and he said that no one should ever sit in it without\ncoming to harm, except the best knight of all the world.  So for many\nyears no one had sat in that seat.  And no one sat in the one next to it\neither, but Bors sat in the one next to that.  Next to him sat his\ncousin Lancelot.  They were the sons of two kings who were brothers, Ban\nand Bors, who had helped King Arthur, when he first came to his throne.\n\n\"Lancelot was counted as the best of all King Arthur's knights.  He was\nthe strongest and the bravest of them all, people said, and the best\nfighter, and the King and the Queen loved him more than any of the\nothers.  Nobody could see why he should not sit in the Siege Perilous,\nbut whenever a knight came to the Round Table his name appeared of\nitself, in gold letters, in the seat that he was to have; and nobody\ncould sit in the Siege Perilous till his name came in it.\n\n\"But I set out to tell you about Sir Bors. Once Bors came to the Castle\nof Carbonek.  A wandering knight, in those days, was always welcome in\nevery castle, and so King Pelles welcomed Bors.  The King was brought\ninto the hall and Bors was placed at the table between him and his\ndaughter.  And there in the hall, too, Bors saw a beautiful child, a\nboy, with deep eyes and a bright, sweet face and golden hair. He was the\nson of King Pelles's daughter, and I will tell you more about him\nanother time.\n\n\"It was a strange way of entertaining guests that they had here, Bors\nthought, for, though they were sitting at the table, there was nothing\nto eat on it.  Just as Bors noticed this he saw a white dove fly into\nthe room.  It carried a little golden censer, by a chain which it held\nin its beak.  The thin smoke from the censer spread through the hall and\nfilled it with a strange, sweet odor.  And while the dove flew about the\nhall a girl came in, carrying something covered with white silk, which\nshe held high up in her hands.  Bors could not see what it was that she\ncarried, but all who were in the hall knelt down and looked up toward\nit, and Bors did the same. But though the covering of silk hid the thing\nitself which was under it, there was something about it that it could\nnot hide.  For the white silk was all glowing with a rosy light that\ncame from within it, and it shone through it and shed a rosy brightness\nall through the hall.  The dove flew out of the room again and the girl\nwent away too.  And this was the Holy Grail that had passed, and Bors\nhad not seen it.\n\n\"But when it was gone and Bors looked at the table again it was covered\nwith food, finer and more delicious than Bors had ever tasted or seen\nbefore.  'There are strange things to see in your castle, King Pelles,'\nsaid Bors.\n\n\"'There are stranger things than you have seen yet,' King Pelles\nanswered.  'It is a place of wonders and of danger for knights, and few\nof them leave here without coming to harm.  Only for the best of them is\nit safe to stay all night in my castle.  You, Sir Knight, may stay if\nyou will, but it will be better for you to go, and so I warn you.'\n\n\"'It is not for me to say,' Bors answered, 'that I am better than other\nknights, and indeed I know some who are better than I.  But I am not\nafraid to be in your castle for a night, and here I will stay.'\n\n\"'Do as you please,' said the King, 'but I have warned you.'\n\n\"So, when it was time to go to bed, Bors was led to a chamber and left\nalone in it.  Nothing that the King had said had made him afraid, but he\nthought that it would be better not to take off his armor.  And as soon\nas he had lain down in his armor a great beam of light shone upon him.\nHe could not tell where it came from, but suddenly, along in the beam of\nlight, came a spear, with no hand to hold it, and a little stream of\nblood flowed from the point of the spear. And before Bors could move the\nspear came upon him and went through his armor as if it had been a\ncobweb and made a deep wound in his side.  The spear was drawn away\nagain, but with the pain Bors fell back upon his pillow and did not see\nwhere it went.\n\n\"Then there came a knight, all armed, with his sword drawn, and the\nknight said: 'Sir Bors, arise and fight with me.'\n\n\"Bors was almost fainting, because of the wound in his side, but he\narose and tried to fight. And when he tried he found that he could fight\nbetter than he thought.  He fought the other knight till he gave ground\nbefore him, little by little, and at last Bors forced him out of the\nchamber.  Then Bors lay down again to rest, and all at once the room was\nfull of falling arrows.  He could not see where they came from, any more\nthan he could see where anything else came from, but they fell all\naround him and upon him.  They pierced his armor, just as the spear had\ndone, as if there had been no armor, and they wounded him in many\nplaces.  And these wounds and the wound that the spear had made burned\nand smarted more than before, and Bors felt weaker and fainter.\n\n\"Then a lion came into the chamber and sprang upon Bors and tore off his\nshield.  But again Bors found that he could fight if he tried, and he\nstruck the lion's head with his sword and killed it.\n\n\"And next there came an old man, who had a harp.  He sat down and began\nto play on the harp and to sing, and as he played a storm began to rise\noutside the castle.  At first it was only a rising of the wind that Bors\nheard, but it grew and grew, till it swept through the halls and the\ncorridors of the castle and through the room where Bors lay.  It caught\nat the curtains and the tapestries of the chamber and almost tore them\nfrom their places, and it shook the arms that hung on the walls, till\nthey rattled together with a dull, ghostly clatter.  Bors could hear the\nwind, too, rushing and roaring and screaming up over the towers.  And\nthen the rain came, and the thunder, with noises of splitting and\ncrashing as if the hills around were breaking and rolling down into the\nvalleys, and the very walls shuddered and trembled, and the lightning\nwas so fierce that it seemed to shine through the walls, as if they had\nbeen made of glass.\n\n[Illustration: \"AS HE PLAYED A STORM BEGAN TO RISE.\"]\n\n\"But all through the dreadful noise of the storm Bors could hear the\nsoft voice of the old man who sang, as if there had been no other sound.\nHe sang a song of how Joseph of Arimathaea had come to England and had\nbrought the Holy Grail.  When he had finished it he spoke to Bors, and,\nas he talked and as Bors answered him, the storm grew louder and more\nterrible.  'Bors,' said the old man, 'leave this place.  You have done\nnobly here.  There are few knights in the world who could bear all that\nyou have borne to-night.  Tell your cousin Lancelot all that you have\nseen, and tell him that it is he who should be here and should see these\nthings and more, but that he is not so good a knight as to be allowed to\nsee what you have seen.  These things are only for the best of knights.'\n\n\"'It is well for you,' said Bors, 'that you are old.  I am weary with\nfighting and I am faint and dizzy with many wounds, but in spite of all,\nif you were not old and weak, I would not hear you say such things of my\ncousin Sir Lancelot.  Sir Lancelot is the best knight that lives, and\nwhat any good knight can do or see Lancelot can do or see.'\n\n\"'Bors, Bors,' said the old man again, 'do not think that you can\nfrighten me with loud talk.  In the strength of his arm and the sureness\nof his spear and the power of his sword, Lancelot is the best knight\nthat lives, but, for all that, he is not so good a knight as you, Sir\nBors.  Bors, what did you, and what did Lancelot swear when King Arthur\nmade you knights of his Round Table?'\n\n\"'We swore,' said Bors, 'that we would help the King to guard his\npeople, that we would do right and justice, that in all things we would\nbe true and loyal to God and to the King.'\n\n\"'Yes, Bors,' said the old man, 'that was what you swore, and have you\nkept your oath, both by your deeds and in your heart?'\n\n\"'As far as God has given me power,' Bors answered, 'I have kept it.'\n\n\"'Yes,' said the old man, 'you have kept it well.  But how has Lancelot\nkept it?'\n\n\"'Old man,' said Bors, 'do you dare to say to me, Lancelot's cousin and\nhis friend, that he has not kept his oath?'\n\n\"'Bors, Bors,' said the old man again, 'do not try to frighten me.  I\ndare to tell you anything that it is good for you to know.  In all his\ndeeds Lancelot has kept his oath, but how has he kept it in his heart?\nGo and ask him. Ask him if in his heart he has always been true and\nloyal to the King.  Ask him if he has never grown proud of his strength.\nAsk him if he has not sometimes done his deeds for the Queen's praise,\nand not for the King's love and the King's glory.  Ask him if he has\nnever wished that he himself were such a king, with such a queen.  Ask\nhim if that wish was all true and loyal to the King.  Bors, Bors, out\nthere in the world, where you and Lancelot live, the strongest knight is\nthe best, and Lancelot is the best knight--out there in the world.  But\nthis is the castle of the Holy Grail, and the Holy Grail searches the\nhearts of men.  Here, in this chamber, Sir Bors, Lancelot could not stay\nas you have stayed and see what you have seen and bear what you have\nborne.'\n\n\"As the old man ceased to speak it seemed to Bors that the burning of\nhis wounds grew less.  While he was thinking of this and of what the old\nman had said, the old man was gone, he could not tell where.  Then, he\ncould not tell from where, the white dove flew into the room. It was the\nsame dove that he had seen in the hall, and it held the same little gold\ncenser in its beak, and again there was the sweet odor through the room.\nAnd when the dove came the storm was ended.  There was no more blinding\nlightning and the thunder sounded only a little and far off.  The rain\nceased and all the wind died down.\n\n\"Then Bors saw four children pass through the room, carrying four\nlighted tapers.  With the four children was a figure like an old man. It\nwore a long, white robe, and a hood hung low down over the face, so that\nall that Bors could see of it was the end of a white beard. In the right\nhand was that spear, with the little stream of blood flowing from the\npoint.  There was no one to tell Bors who this was, but somehow he\nseemed to know that it was Joseph of Arimathaea.\n\n\"They passed through the room, but still Bors could see them in the next\nchamber.  The children knelt around the old man and he held high up in\nhis hands that wonderful thing with the covering of white silk.  Again\nthe soft, rosy brightness glowed through the silk, and Bors did not know\nwhy it was that when he saw it he felt so peaceful and glad.  Then he\nheard a loud voice that said: 'Sir Bors, leave this place; it is not yet\ntime for you to be here.'\n\n\"Then all at once the door was shut and Bors could not see the children\nor the old man or what he carried.  The strange, bright light that had\nshone upon him all this time was gone. Outside the storm and the clouds\nwere past, and a clear ray of moonlight shone through the chamber.  All\nthe pain of his wounds was gone and he sank back upon his pillow and\nslept.\n\n\"When he awoke in the morning it seemed to him that he had never felt so\nstrong and fresh.  The wounds that he had had from the spear and the\narrows had left no scar.  And when King Pelles saw him he said: 'Sir\nBors, you have done here what few living knights could do, and I know\nthat you will prove one of the best knights of the world.'\n\n\"Then Bors remembered that the voice had told him that it was not time\nyet for him to be in this place, so he took his horse and rode away\ntoward Camelot, to find Lancelot and to tell him what he had seen.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Abbot's Kitchen]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER II*\n\n                      *HOW WE DISCOVERED CAMELOT*\n\n\nOne of the strangest things about this kind of travel is to find how\nmuch more you know about the country than the people do who live in it.\nBefore we came to England at all I had read in certain books that the\nreal Camelot was in the county of Somerset.  It was at Camelot that King\nArthur lived more than anywhere else and where he had his finest castle.\nSo of course we were anxious to see Camelot.  Our trouble did not seem\nto be that we could not find it; it was that we found it in too many\nplaces.  We had been to Camelford, a poor little village in Cornwall,\nearlier in our journey, and they had told us that that was Camelot.  We\ndid not really believe it, but neither did I feel quite sure that my\nbooks were right about the place in Somerset.  We thought that it would\nbe best to see all the Camelots, so that we could make up our minds\nwhich one we ought to believe in, or whether we ought to believe in any\nof them at all.\n\nI had studied the books and I had studied the maps, till I almost felt\nthat I could go straight to this Camelot, without any help.  It was\nstill called Camelot, it seemed, and it was a fortified hill, near a\nplace called Queen Camel, some dozen miles to the south of Glastonbury.\n\nIt was lucky that I knew all this, because when we asked the people of\nthe hotel in Glastonbury if they could give us a carriage and a driver\nto take us to Camelot they said that they had never heard of any such\nplace.  They had heard of Queen Camel.  They did not know just where\neven that was, but they thought that it might be found.  I felt so sure\nthat the books and the maps and I were right about it that I told them\nthat we would take the carriage and go to Queen Camel, and then we would\nsee if we could find Camelot.  No doubt they thought that we were\ninsane, but that made no difference to us, and as long as we paid for\nthe carriage it made no difference to them.\n\nHelen's mother is one of those dreadfully sensible people who always\nwant you to take umbrellas and things with you.  She was not going with\nus to discover Camelot, but she said that we must take umbrellas and\nmackintoshes with us, because it was going to rain.  It is always hard\nto argue with these people, because they are so often right.  This time\nwe really had no excuse for not taking them, for they would simply be\nput in the bottom of the carriage and they would be no trouble.  So we\ntook them, and we were scarcely outside Glastonbury before we found that\nthis was one of the times when Helen's mother was right.  For then it\nbegan to rain.  The driver had taken the way that he thought was toward\nQueen Camel, and we were riding across a great stretch of low, level\nland.  The wind swept across it, and the rain came at us in sheets. We\ndidn't mind it much, with our mackintoshes on, but I did think that it\nwas fair to ask Helen what she thought of the poet who said that this\nAvalon was a place \"Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow.\"\n\n\"Maybe it is,\" she answered, pulling her water-proof hood down so that\nscarcely a bit of her could be seen, except the tip of her nose; \"this\nrain doesn't fall; it just comes against us sideways.\"  So the poet's\nreputation was saved.\n\nIt could not rain so hard as this very long, and by and by it stopped\naltogether.  Then it began again, and there were showers all day.\nSometimes it looked as if it were going to stop for good, but we could\nscarcely get our waterproofs off before it began all over.\n\n\"Isn't it curious,\" I said, \"that a storm coming up just here should\nremind me of a story? It is about a time when Gawain had to go out in\nbad weather.  This is the right time to tell the story, too, while we\nare looking for this particular Camelot.  For the story begins at\nCamelot, and the learned man who first dug it out of its old manuscript\nand printed it says that Camelot was in Somerset.\n\n\"King Arthur was keeping Christmas at Camelot with his knights.  The\nfeast lasted for many days.  On New Year's Day, as they all sat in the\nhall, the King and the Queen and the knights, there rode in the most\nwonderful-looking man whom they had ever seen.  He was dressed all in\ngreen, and the big horse that he rode was green.  And that was not all,\nfor the hair that hung down upon his shoulders was like long, waving\ngrass, and the beard that spread over his breast was like a green bush.\nHe wore no helmet and he carried no shield or spear.  In one hand he\nheld a branch of holly and in the other a battle-axe.  It was sharp and\npolished so that it shone like silver.  'Who is the chief here?' he\ncried.\n\n\"'I am the chief,' Arthur answered; 'sit down with us and help us keep\nour feast.'\n\n\"'I have not come to eat and drink,' said the man in green.  'I have\ncome to see if it is true that you have brave knights in your court,\nKing Arthur.'\n\n\"'Then sit and eat with us first,' Arthur answered, 'and afterwards you\nshall have as many good knights to joust with you as you can wish, and\nyou shall see whether they are brave.'\n\n\"'It is not for jousting that I have come, either,' said the man in\ngreen.  'Do you see this axe of mine?  I will lend it to any knight in\nthis hall who dares to strike me one blow with it, only he must promise\nthat afterwards I may strike him one blow with it, too.  He shall strike\nme with the axe now, and I will strike him with it a year from this\nday.'\n\n\"This was such a new way of proving whether they were brave or not that\nfor a minute none of the knights answered.  Then the King himself rose\nand went toward the man in green.  'Give me your axe,' he said; 'none of\nus here is afraid of your big talk; I will strike you with the axe\nmyself, and you shall strike me with it whenever you like.'\n\n\"Then Gawain sprang from his seat. Gawain was the King's nephew.  And he\ncried: 'My lord, let me try this game with him!  You are the King, and\nif any harm should come to you it would be the harm of all the country,\nbut one knight more or less will count but little.'\n\n\"Then many other knights begged the King to do as Gawain had said, and\nthe King thought of it a moment, and then gave the axe, which he had\ntaken from the man in green, to Gawain.\n\n\"Sir Knight,' said the man in green, 'will you tell me who you are?'\n\n\"'I am Gawain,' he said, 'the nephew of King Arthur.'\n\n\"'I have heard of you,' said the other, 'and I am glad that I shall\nreceive my blow from so great a knight.  But will you promise that a\nyear from now you will seek me and find me, so that I may give you your\nblow in return?'\n\n\"'I do not know who you are or where you live,' Gawain answered.  'If\nyou will tell me your name and where to find you, I will come to you\nwhen the year is over.'\n\n\"'I will tell you those things,' said the man in green, 'after you have\nstruck me.  If I cannot tell you then, you will be free of your promise\nand you need not seek me.'\n\n\"Then the man in green came down from his horse, knelt on the floor\nbefore Gawain, put his long, green hair aside from his neck, and told\nGawain to strike.  Gawain swung the axe above his head and brought it\ndown upon the neck of the man in green, and his head was cut cleanly off\nand rolled upon the floor.  Instantly the green man sprang after it and\ncaught it in his hands, by the long, green hair.  He sprang upon his\nhorse again and held up the head, with its face toward Gawain.  'Sir\nGawain,' it said 'seek for me till you find me, a year from now, so that\nI may return your good blow.  Bring the axe with you, and ask, wherever\nyou go, for the Knight of the Green Chapel.'  Then he rode out of the\nhall and away, still carrying the head in his hands.\n\n\"Of course Gawain and the King and all the rest thought that this was\nthe strangest adventure that they had ever seen.  They were all sorry\nfor Gawain and they all wondered what would become of him, but there was\nno danger for a year, and that always seems a long time, at the\nbeginning of it.  So, as the time went on, they almost forgot about the\nKnight of the Green Chapel, and even Gawain himself seemed to have no\ndread of him.  And the year went past like other years.  Yet Gawain was\nnot forgetting his promise, and, as the time came near when he must keep\nit, he began to wonder more and more who this Knight of the Green Chapel\ncould be and where he must go to look for him. 'It may take me a long\ntime to find him,' he said to the King at last, 'and so I mean to leave\nthe court and to begin my search on All Saints' Day.'\n\n\"'Yes,' said the King,' that will be best.  And we know all the places\nand nearly all the knights here in the South and in the West of England,\nand over in the East, but we have never heard of this Knight of the\nGreen Chapel, so it will be best for you to seek him in the North.'\n\n\"So, on All Saints' Day, King Arthur made a feast, that all the knights\nof the court might be together and bid Gawain good-by.  They called it a\nfeast, but there was no happiness in it. They were all sad at the\nparting and with the fear that Gawain would never come back.\n\n\"And when the time came they helped Gawain to put on the finest armor\nthat could be found for him and he mounted his horse and left them.  He\nrode slowly at first, and as soon as he came to places that he did not\nknow he began to ask the people whom he met if they could tell him where\nto find the Green Chapel and the Knight of the Green Chapel.  But no one\nhad ever heard of such a place or of such a person.\n\n\"He went farther and farther into the North, and as his time grew\nshorter he tried to travel faster, for he felt that it would be a shame\nto him if he did not find the Knight of the Green Chapel by New Year's\nDay.  Up great hills he went and down into deep valleys, across wide,\nlonely plains, with freezing winds sweeping over them, and through dark\nforests, where the wind cried up among the treetops and the trees\ngroaned and sighed in answer.  Often he met wild beasts, wolves that\nbarked and leaped and sprang about him and tried to pull down his horse.\nBut he killed them or beat them and drove them away.  Then he came to\nplains where for many miles he saw no houses and no people.  Often he\nhad to sleep in his armor, lying on the ground.  Often he had to go so\nlong without food that he was faint with hunger, as well as weary.\n\n\"As the days went by the winter came on rougher and stormier and colder.\nThen the winds that swept across the plains were full of driving rain\nand sleet and snow.  They cut against his face and almost blinded him,\nand his horse could scarcely labor through the drifts and stand against\nthe storm.  The wet sleet found its way into the joints of his armor and\nfroze there, and it froze into the chains of his mail and choked them\nup, so that it was all rigid and hard, and it was as if all that he wore\nwere one solid piece of iron or ice.  So terrible it was that he almost\nforgot why he had come, and all that he wanted was to find some place\nwhere he and his horse could rest and be warm.  But at night he must get\noff his horse, though he could scarcely bend his limbs, in his frozen\narmor, and lie down in it, with no shelter but a tree, or perhaps a high\nrock, and try to sleep till the light came, so that he could go on\nagain.\n\n\"Yet wherever he saw any people he asked them if they knew of the Knight\nof the Green Chapel, and always they answered no.  Then he told them how\nthe knight looked, but they all shook their heads or stared at him or\nlaughed, and they all said that they had never seen such a knight.  Some\nof them thought that he must be mad, to be wandering all by himself and\nasking for a knight with green hair and a green beard, and sometimes\nGawain himself almost thought that he must be mad.  Sometimes he\nthought: 'I will hunt for him only till New Year's Day.  If I have not\nfound him then it is his fault that he did not tell me where to come,\nand I shall be free of my promise.'  And then at other times he thought:\n'I will not count my promise as so small a thing; I will seek this\nknight as long as I live, if I do not find him, for the honor of King\nArthur and the Round Table.'\n\n\"And the cold and the storm and the long, rough journey seemed worst of\nall to Gawain on Christmas Eve, for then he thought most of the King and\nthe Queen and the knights whom he had left at Camelot.  He knew that\nthey were all together in the great hall now, that the fires were\nblazing, that the minstrels were singing, and that a noble feast was\nspread upon the Round Table.  He thought of his own place at that table,\nwhere he had sat a year ago, empty now.  Did the others look at that\nseat and think of him and wonder where he was?  It was a common thing,\nhe knew, for Arthur's knights to be away from the hall seeking\nadventures, and he knew that those who were left behind went on with\ntheir feasting at such times as these, just as if all were there.  No,\nit was a little thing to them that he was gone, he thought.  They were\nlaughing together and eating and drinking, and perhaps some one was\ntelling them some strange old tale, and they were warm and happy; and\nthe light of the fires and the torches was shining on the windows of the\nhall, so that the people of the country miles away could see it and\ncould say: 'King Arthur and his knights are at Camelot to-night keeping\nthe Christmas feast.'  And here was he alone, cold, hungry, weary,\nriding over the rough ways and through the rough night, to find a man\nwho was to kill him.\n\n\"Then there came another thought that made him stronger: 'The honor of\nthe Round Table to-night is not all with those who sit about it; it is\nhere with me too.  I am here because it was I who dared to come, for the\nKing and for all of them.  If I never go back the King and all of them\nwill know that, and they will not forget. And now my time is short and I\nmust not rest any more.  I will ride all night and go as far as I can to\nfind the Knight of the Green Chapel by New Year's Day.'\n\n\"So Gawain rode all night.  In the morning he was in a great forest,\nwhere it would have been too dark for him to ride, but for the snow that\nlay everywhere, so that he could dimly see the black trunks of the trees\nagainst it.  And before the first cold light of the late morning fell\ninto the forest, he saw it touch the top of a high hill before him, and\nthere he saw a castle.  It was one of the greatest castles he had ever\nseen, with strong towers and thick walls and high ramparts.  And as soon\nas he saw it, it seemed to him as if the last strength went out of him\nand his horse too, so that they could scarcely climb the hill to come to\nthe gate and ask if they might come in.\n\n\"But they reached the gate and the porter said: 'Come in, Sir Knight;\nthe lord of the castle will welcome you and you can stay as long as you\nwill.'  And the lord of the castle did welcome him and Gawain let his\nmen lead him to a chamber, where they took off his armor and gave him a\nrich robe to wear.  Then they led him back to the hall and placed him at\nthe table with the lord and his wife and his daughter.\n\n\"They asked him who he was, and he told them that he was Gawain, a\nknight of the Round Table.  'It is a proud day for us,' said the lord,\n'so far away up here in the North, when a knight comes to us from the\ncourt of King Arthur, and now you will stay with us and help us keep our\nChristmas.'\n\n\"'No,' said Gawain, 'I cannot stay, for I must go on and find the Knight\nof the Green Chapel,' and then he told them all that he knew about this\nknight and why he had made this journey.\n\n\"'Then you will stay with us,' said the lord, 'for the Green Chapel is\nonly two miles from here, and on New Year's Day some one of my servants\nshall show you the way there.'\n\n\"So Gawain stayed, and, on the third day after he had come to the\ncastle, the lord told him that on the next day he was going hunting and\nasked Gawain if he would go too. 'No,' Gawain answered, 'it is only four\ndays now before I must go to the Knight of the Green Chapel.  I have no\nmagic, such as he has, to guard myself against him, and he will kill me.\nIt is not a time now for me to think of hunting or of other pleasures.\nI must think of more solemn things.'\n\n\"'Then shall we make a bargain?' said the lord.  'I will go to the hunt\nto-morrow, and you shall stay here at the castle.  When I come home I\nwill give you all that I have got in the hunt, and you shall give me all\nthat you have got by staying here.'\n\n\"'It shall be so, if you wish it,' said Gawain.\n\n\"The next morning the lord and his men were away early at the hunt.\nGawain breakfasted with the lady of the castle and her daughter, and\nafterward they left him and he sat alone in the hall.  Then the lord's\ndaughter came back, without her mother, and sat on the seat beside him.\n'Sir Knight,' she said, 'will you tell me about King Arthur's court?'\n\n\"'What shall I tell you?' he asked.\n\n\"'We are so far away from all the world here!' she said.  'We never see\na town or a court or any people, except those who live here with us.\nBut sometimes we hear strange things and beautiful things about Camelot\nand Caerleon and London and the court of King Arthur.  They say that we\ncannot believe how grand it is, and they say that there are such feasts\nand tournaments, and that all the knights and the ladies are so happy\nthere in King Arthur's court!  And oh! will you tell me one thing!  Is\nit true that every knight of King Arthur's has some lady whom he loves\nmore than anybody else, and is it true that every lady has some knight\nwhom she loves, who fights for her and wears something that she gave\nhim, a sleeve or a chain or a jewel, and tells everybody that she is the\nmost beautiful lady in the world?'\n\n\"'There are many knights,' Gawain answered, 'who have ladies whom they\nlove and who love them, and they do all the things that you have said.'\n\n\"The girl looked at Gawain and was silent for a little while, and then\nshe said: 'Sir Knight, is it too much that I am going to ask? I would\nnot ask you to be my knight, for there must be many ladies in King\nArthur's court more beautiful and more noble than I am. You would have\nto love some one of them, I suppose.  Only do not tell me so, and I will\nnot ask you.  But after you have gone let me remember you and love you,\nand I will try not to think whether you love me or not.'\n\n\"'My child,' said Gawain, 'I am here in your father's castle and he\ntrusts me, and it is not right that I should talk to you of such things\nwithout his leave.  And besides that, it is not right for me to think of\nsuch things now. You know that I am going to find the Knight of the\nGreen Chapel.  Your father has promised that on New Year's Day he will\nsend me to him.  Then the Knight of the Green Chapel will kill me.  I\nhave only three days more to live, and it is no time for me to think of\nlove.'\n\n\"'But why must you find this wicked Knight of the Green Chapel?' she\nasked.  'Go back to Camelot and tell the King and the knights that you\nfought him and that he could not hurt you. Nobody will know but us.  We\nnever go to court and we never would tell anybody what you had done.'\n\n\"'No, no,' said Gawain, 'I promised him that I would find him.  Now I\nmust find him or I never could go back to King Arthur's court or be one\nof his knights again.'\n\n\"Then the girl started to go out of the hall, but when she was at the\ndoor she turned and came back to Gawain.  'Will you let me kiss you just\nonce?' she said.  And Gawain let her kiss him and she went away.\n\n\"At night, when the lord of the castle came home from the hunt, he\nbrought with him a deer that he had killed.  He gave it to Gawain and\nsaid: 'This is what I got in the hunt; now give me what you got by\nstaying behind.'\n\n\"Then Gawain gave him a kiss.  'Indeed,' said the lord, 'I think that\nyou have done better than I.  Where did you get this?'\n\n\"'It was not in our bargain,' said Gawain, 'that I should tell you\nthat.'\n\n\"'Very well, then,' said the lord, 'shall we make the same bargain for\nto-morrow?'\n\n\"'Yes,' said Gawain, 'if you wish it.'\n\n\"So the next day the lord rode to the hunt again and Gawain stayed\nbehind, as he had done before.  And again the lord's daughter came to\nhim as he sat in the hall.  'Sir Knight,' she said, 'is it because you\nhave some other lady whom you love that you will not let me be your\nlady?  I do not ask you to love me, you know, only to let me love you.'\n\n\"'No,' Gawain answered, 'I have no lady, and if I might have any now, I\ncould love you as well as any other, but I have only two more days to\nlive and I must not think of such things.'\n\n\"Then the girl kissed him twice and went away.  When the lord came back\nthat evening he brought the head and the sides of a wild boar that he\nhad killed.  He gave these to Gawain and Gawain gave him two kisses.\n'You always have better luck than I,' said the lord.\n\n\"Then they made the same bargain for the third day, and in the morning\nthe lord rode to the hunt and Gawain stayed behind.  As he sat in the\nhall the lord's daughter came to him again.  'Sir Knight,' she said,\n'since you will do nothing else, will you not wear something of mine, as\nthe knights at King Arthur's court do for their ladies?  See, this is\nit, my girdle of green lace.  And it is good for a knight to wear, for\nwhile you have this around your body you can never be wounded.'\n\n\"Then Gawain thought that such a girdle as this would indeed be of use\nto him, when the time came for the Knight of the Green Chapel to strike\nhim with his axe.  So he took the girdle and thanked her for it, and she\nkissed him three times and went away.\n\n\"That night the lord of the castle brought home the skin of a fox.  He\ngave it to Gawain and Gawain gave him three kisses.  'Your luck grows\nbetter every day,' said the lord.\n\n\"Early the next morning Gawain rose and called for his armor and his\nhorse.  One of the lord's servants was to show him the way to the Green\nChapel.  The snow was falling again and there was a fierce, cold wind.\nIt was not daylight yet.  They rode over rough hills and through deep\nvalleys for a long time, and at last, when it had grown as light as it\nwould be at all on such a dull, dreary day, the servant stopped.  'You\nare not far now,' he said, 'from the Green Chapel.  I can go with you no\nfarther.  Ride on into this valley. When you are at the bottom of it\nlook to your left and you will see the chapel.'\n\n\"Then the servant turned back and left Gawain alone.  He rode to the\nbottom of the valley and looked about, but nothing like a chapel did he\nsee.  But at last he saw a hole in a great rock, a cave, with vines,\nloaded down with snow, almost hiding its mouth.  Then it seemed to\nGawain that he heard a sound inside the cave, and he called aloud: 'Is\nthe Knight of the Green Chapel here?  Gawain has come to keep his\npromise to him.  He has brought his axe, so that he may pay back the\nblow that he received a year ago.  Is the Knight of the Green Chapel\nhere?'\n\n\"Then a voice from the cave said: 'I am here, Sir Gawain, and I am\nwaiting for you. You have kept your time well.'\n\n\"And then out of the cave came the Green Knight.  It seemed to Gawain\nthat he looked stronger and fiercer than when he was at Arthur's court,\nand that his hair and beard were longer and of a brighter green.  'Give\nme my axe,' he cried, 'and take off your helmet and be ready for my\nstroke.  Let us not delay!'\n\n\"'I want no delay,' said Gawain, and he took off his helmet, knelt down\non the snow and bent his neck, ready for the knight to strike.  The\nGreen Knight raised his axe, and then, in spite of himself, Gawain drew\na little away from him.\n\n\"'How is this?' said the Green Knight; 'are you afraid?  I did not\nflinch when you struck me, a year ago.'\n\n\"'I shall not flinch again,' said Gawain; 'strike quickly.'\n\n\"Then the knight raised his axe a second time and Gawain was as still as\na stone.  But this time the axe did not fall.  'Now I must strike you,'\nsaid the Green Knight.\n\n\"'Strike, then, and do not talk about it,' said Gawain; 'I believe you\nyourself are losing heart.'\n\n\"This time the knight swung the axe quickly up over his head and brought\nit down with a mighty force upon Gawain's neck, and it made only a\nlittle scratch.  The girdle of green lace would not let him be wounded.\nThen he sprang up and drew his sword and cried: 'Now, Knight of the\nGreen Chapel, take care of yourself.  I have kept my promise and let you\nstrike me once, but I warn you that if you strike again I shall resist\nyou.'\n\n\"'Put up your sword,' the Knight of the Green Chapel answered; 'I do not\nwant to harm you.  I could have used you much worse than I have, if I\nhad wished.  I tried only to prove you, and you are the bravest and the\ntruest knight that I have ever found.  I am the lord of the castle where\nyou have stayed for this last week.  I knew where you got your kisses,\nfor I myself sent my daughter to you to try you, and you would not do\nwhat you thought would not be right toward me, and you would not let any\nthoughts of love turn you aside from your promise to the Knight of the\nGreen Chapel. You were well tried and you proved most true. It was\nbecause of that and because you kept your word to me on the first two\ndays that I went to the hunt, that I did not strike you the first or the\nsecond time that I raised my axe. But the third time I did strike you,\nbecause you were untrue to me in one little thing.  For you said that\nyou would give me all that you got by staying in the castle, yet you did\nnot give me the girdle of green lace.  It was I who sent that to you by\nmy daughter, too.  But you kept it only to save your life, and so I\nforgive you, and to show you that I forgive you, you may keep it now\nalways.'\n\n\"But Gawain tore off the girdle and threw it at the feet of the Knight\nof the Green Chapel. 'Take it back!' he cried, 'I do not deserve ever to\nbe called an honorable knight again!  I came here for the honor of the\nRound Table, and then I broke my promise to you.  Tell me why you came\nto our court and why you brought me to this shame, and then I will go\nback to King Arthur and tell him that I am not worthy any longer to be\none of his knights.  He will ask me why you did this, so tell me and let\nme go away, for now I have lied to you and I cannot look you in the\nface.'\n\n\"'I did it,' said the Knight of the Green Chapel, 'because the great\nenchantress, Queen Morgan-le-Fay, King Arthur's sister, who hates him,\ntold me that all his knights were cowards. She said that all who praised\nthem lied or were themselves deceived and that some good knight ought to\ngo and prove them to be the cowards that they were.  So I went to try\nwhether they were brave or not, and it was by the magic of Queen\nMorgan-le-Fay that I was not killed when you cut off my head.  But now I\nsee that what I did was wrong.  It was Morgan-le-Fay, I see now, who\nhoped to bring shame on King Arthur's court, because she hated him.  And\nyou have shown me that Arthur's knights are brave and true, for you took\nmy challenge and came up here into the North to find me and to let me\nkill you.  Now come back with me to my castle and help us to keep the\nfestival of the New Year.  Take up your girdle and come.'\n\n\"But Gawain was still filled with shame and horror at what he had done.\n'I will not go back with you,' he said, 'but I will keep the girdle to\nremind me of this time.  If I ever feel that I am doing better things\nand if I ever begin to grow proud of them, I will look at this girdle\nand it will make me remember how I broke my word.'\n\n\"And Gawain would not listen to anything more that the knight said, but\nhe mounted his horse and turned him toward the south and rode away.\nGawain never knew what happened to him on that journey back to Camelot.\nPerhaps the nights were as cold and the ways as rough as they had been\nbefore.  Perhaps the wild beasts came against him again.  Perhaps the\nstorms still drove the snow and the sleet against him, so that they cut\nhim in the face and froze into his armor.  He cared for none of these\nthings and he remembered none of them afterwards.  His one thought was\nto get back to Camelot and tell the King that he was no longer worthy to\nbe his knight, and then to go where no one who had known him should ever\nsee him again.\n\n\"And so he rode on, as fast as he could, for he did not know how many\ndays, and at last, in the early winter evening, he saw the glow in the\nwindows of the castle at Camelot.  Once more he hurried his horse till\nhe reached the gate.  He threw himself down from the saddle and hastened\nto the hall, where a great shout went up: 'Gawain is alive and he has\ncome back!' and the knights and the ladies crowded around him to ask him\nwhere he had been and what he had seen and done.  He pushed his way\nthrough them all and threw himself down upon the floor before the King.\nHe told all of his story, how he had gone out for the honor of the Round\nTable and how he had broken his word and been shamed, and at the end he\nheld up the girdle of green lace and said: 'My lord, I shall leave you\nnow and I shall never see you again, for I am not worthy to be your\nknight, but I shall carry this with me, and shall always wear it, so\nthat I never can forget my shame.\"\n\n\"And the King answered: 'Gawain, you are still among the best of my\nknights.  You failed a little at last, but it was no coward and no false\nknight who went up there to seek his death and to keep a promise that he\nneed not have kept.  Wear your girdle, but it shall be no shame to you.\nAnd that it may be none all my knights shall wear girdles of green lace\nlike it.\n\n\"So the story says that all of King Arthur's knights wore green lace\ngirdles in honor of Gawain.  I don't know what became of the girdles\nafterwards, but they cannot have worn them always, or at least Gawain\ncannot have worn his.  For you know he could never be wounded while he\nhad it on, and he certainly was wounded afterwards.  But I will tell you\nabout that when I get to it.\"\n\nAbout the time that we got to the end of this story we came to a place\nwhich the driver said was as far from Glastonbury as he had ever been in\nthis direction.  We stopped at a little inn by the road, and the driver\nasked the way to Queen Camel.  We also asked the man who told him if he\nhad ever heard of a hill or of any sort of place about here called\nCamelot, but he never had.  So we went on to find it for ourselves.\nAfter more riding and more asking of the way and more showers, we came\nto Queen Camel.  It was past luncheon-time then, and, what was more to\nthe point, it was past the horse's luncheon-time.  So we decided that we\nwould not go any farther till we had all had something to eat.\n\nThe Bell looked like the best hotel in the place, so we went there and\nastonished the proprietor and all the servants by asking for something\nto eat.  But we got it, and while we were at luncheon the driver put the\nhorse in the stable and then talked with the proprietor, to find out\nwhether he knew anything about Camelot. Now the keeper of this bit of an\nhotel must have been a remarkably intelligent man, for he really did\nknow something about it.  He came in to see us and he said that he\nthought that it must be Cadbury Castle that we were looking for.  Then a\ngreat light shone upon me and I remembered what I ought to have\nremembered before, that one of my books at home had said that it was\ncalled Cadbury Castle now.  \"But do they not call it Camelot too?\" I\nasked him. I did not like to give up that name.\n\n\"Oh, yes, sir,\" he said, \"they call it Camelot too.\"\n\n\"And do they say that King Arthur lived there?\"\n\n\"No, sir, he didn't live there; he placed his army there.\"\n\nThen the landlord went away and came back with a big book, a history of\nSomersetshire, or something of that sort, to show us what it had to say\nabout Cadbury Castle.  It did not say much that I did not know before,\nbut it said enough to prove what I wanted to know most of all.  And that\nwas that this Cadbury Castle was without any doubt the place that we\nwere looking for.  We finished our luncheon, the landlord showed us our\nway, and we went on again.\n\nIt was only a little way now.  We were to find a steep road that led up\nthe side of the hill to Cadbury Castle.  It was too steep, we were told,\nto take our carriage up, and we should have to leave it at the bottom\nand walk.  And so it proved.  We found the hill and the steep little\ntrack up its side.  We got down from the carriage, and, while we waited\nfor the driver to find a safe place to leave the horse, we gazed up the\nhill, along the rough little road, and knew that at last we were before\nthe gates of Camelot.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"The city and the fortress of the rabbits\"]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER III*\n\n                       *THE BOY FROM THE FOREST*\n\n\nWe walked up the steep road, and just before we came to the top of the\nhill the rain began again.  There was one little house near the top and\nwe decided to let Camelot wait for a few minutes longer and go into the\nhouse and stay till the rain stopped.\n\nThe woman of the house seemed to be glad to see us, and she asked us to\nwrite our names in her visitors' book.  The names and the dates in the\nbook showed that Camelot had some six or eight visitors a year.  Of\ncourse we tried to get the woman to tell us something about the place,\nand of course we failed.  She knew that it was called Cadbury Castle and\nsometimes Camelot and sometimes the Camp.  She knew that the well close\nby her house was called King Arthur's Well, but she did not know why.\nThe water in it was not good to drink, and in dry times they could not\nget water from it at all. She got drinking-water and in dry times all\nthe water that she used from St. Anne's Wishing Well, a quarter of a\nmile around the hill.  She did not know what that name meant either. She\nused to have a book that told all about the place, but she couldn't show\nit to us, because it had been lent to somebody and had never been\nreturned.  The vicar had studied a good deal about the place too, and he\nknew all about it. Could we find the vicar and get him to tell us about\nit?  Oh, no, it wasn't the present vicar, it was the old vicar, and he\nwas dead.\n\nSo we gave up learning anything and waited for the rain to stop, and\nthen went out to see as much as we could for ourselves.  The hilltop was\nbroad and level.  I can't tell just how broad, because I am no judge of\nacres, but I believe it was several.  It had a low wall of earth around\nit, covered with grass, of course, like all the rest of the place.  When\nwe stood on the top of this wall and looked down, we saw that the ground\nsloped away from us till it made a sort of ditch, and then rose again\nand made another earth wall, a little way down the hillside.  Then it\ndid the same thing again, and yet once more.  So in its time this\nhilltop must have had four strong walls around it.  It really looked\nmuch more like a fort or camp than like a city.  It seemed too small for\na city, though it might have been a pretty big camp.  If we had been\nlooking for hard facts, I think we should have believed what the\nhotel-keeper had said, that this was not where King Arthur lived, but\nwhere he placed his army.\n\nI remembered reading somewhere that the Britons and the Romans and the\nSaxons had all held this place at different times.  I had read, too, I\nwas sure, that parts of old walls, of a dusky blue stone, and old coins\nhad been found here.  It was a fine place for a camp or a castle. It was\nso high and breezy and we could see for so many miles across the\ncountry, that we could understand how useful and pleasant it must have\nbeen for either or for both.  It was pleasant enough now, this broad,\ngrassy hilltop, with its four grassy walls and the woodland sloping away\nfrom it all around.  But nobody lived here now to enjoy it--nobody, that\nis to say, but the rabbits.  For the place is theirs now, and they dig\nholes in the ground and make their houses where King Arthur's castle\nstood, where he and his knights sat in the hall about the Round Table,\nand where all the greatest of the world came to see all that was richest\nand noblest and best for kings and knights to be and to enjoy.\n\nThe rabbits scuttled across our way, as we walked about, and leaped into\ntheir holes, when we came near, and then looked timidly out again, when\nwe had gone past, and wondered what we were doing and what right we had\nhere in their Camelot.  There were only these holes now, where once\nthere were palaces and churches, and no traces of old glories, but the\nwalls of earth and turf.  Yet it seemed better to me that Camelot should\nbe left alone and forgotten, like this, the city and the fortress of the\nrabbits, but still high and open and fresh and free, than that it should\nbe a poor little town, full of poor little people, like Camelford.\nHelen said that she thought so too, when I asked her, and she was\nwilling that this should be Camelot, if I thought that it really was.\n\n\"Really and truly and honestly,\" I said, \"I think that this is as likely\nto have been Camelot as any place that we have seen or shall see. It is\nlucky for us that we know more about it than the people who live about\nhere do.  If we did not I am afraid it would not interest us much.  I\nthink that I have read somewhere that the King and his knights were\nstill here on the hilltop, kept here and made invisible by some\nenchantment, that at certain times they could be seen, and that some\npeople had really seen them.  I don't believe this story, but while we\nare here let us believe at least, with all our might, that we are really\nand truly in Camelot.\n\n\"Now here is a story, with Camelot in it, that you ought to hear.  You\nmust not mind if it makes you think of a story that we saw once in the\nfire.  There are different ways of telling the same story, you know, and\nthis is a different way of telling that same story.\n\n\"Once, when Arthur was first King of England, he had a good knight\ncalled Sir Percivale.  He was killed in a tournament by a knight whom no\none knew.  Some who saw the fight said that it was not a fair one and\nthat Sir Percivale was as good as murdered.  The knight who killed him\nwore red armor, and once, when his visor was up, Arthur saw his face.\nNo one knew where the knight went afterward and Arthur could never find\nhim to make him answer for the death of Sir Percivale.\n\n\"Now this Sir Percivale had seven sons and a daughter, and six of his\nsons were killed also, in tournaments or battles.  But the youngest of\nthe sons was not old enough yet to be a knight, and when his mother had\nlost her husband and all her sons but him, she resolved that he should\nnever be a knight.  His name was Percivale, like his father's.  It was\nright, she thought, for her to keep this last son that she had safe and\nnot to let him fight and be killed, as his father and his brother's had\nbeen.  And she feared so much that when he grew up he would want to be a\nknight, like the others, that she resolved that he should never know\nanything about knights or tournaments or wars or arms.\n\n\"She took him far away from the place where they had lived, and made a\nhome in the woods.  It was far from the towns and the tournaments and\nthe courts, and it was even away from the roads that led through the\ncountry.  It was a lonely place that the mother chose, and she hoped\nthat no one would ever come to it from the world that she had left. She\nbrought her daughter with her, I suppose, though the story says nothing\nabout her just here, and she brought nobody else but servants--women and\nboys and old men.  Nobody in her house was ever allowed to speak of\nknights or arms or battles or anything that had to do with them.  She\nwould not even have any big, strong horses kept about the place, because\nthey reminded her of the war horses that knights rode.  She tried to\nbring up her boy so that he should know only of peaceful things. He\nshould know the trees and the flowers of the woods, she thought; he\nshould know the goats and the sheep and the cows that they kept, how the\nfruits grew in the orchard, how the birds lived in the trees and the\nbees in their hive; but he should never know the cruel ways of men out\nin the world.  He should see the axe of the woodman, not the battle-axe;\nthe scythe, not the sword; the crook of the shepherd, not the spear.\n\n\"So the boy grew up in the forest and ran about wherever he would and\nclimbed the trees and followed the squirrels and studied the nests of\nthe birds and knew all the plants that grew and all the animals that\nlived about him. If it had not been for many things that his mother\ntaught him he would have been almost like one of the animals of the wood\nhimself. He could run almost as fast as the deer and he could climb\nalmost as well as the squirrel, and he could sing as well as some of the\nbirds.\n\n\"When he grew a little older his mother let him have a bow and arrows to\nplay with and shoot at marks, but nobody told him that men used bows and\narrows to shoot at one another or that men ever wanted to harm one\nanother.  But he began to shoot at the birds with his arrows, and at\nlast he hit one of them and killed it.  Then he looked at the dead bird\nlying at his feet and he heard the other birds singing all around him.\nAnd he thought: 'I have done a dreadful thing; a little while ago this\nbird was singing too, and was as happy as the rest of them, and now it\ncan never sing any more or be happy any more, because I have killed it.'\nAnd he broke his bow and threw it away and he threw himself down on the\nground beside the little dead bird and cried at what he had done.  And\nwhen his mother saw how grieved he was she said that all the birds\nshould be driven away, so that they should not trouble him.  But\nPercivale begged her to let them stay.  He liked to hear them sing, and\nto drive them off would be a crueler thing than he had done already.\nAnd his mother thought: 'The boy is right; I brought him here to find\npeace and safety for both of us, and why should I not let the poor birds\nstay in peace and safety too?'\n\n\"But it was foolish for the poor woman to think that she could keep her\nboy so that he would never know anything of the world.  The world was\nall around him, no matter how far off, and it was sure some time to come\nwhere he was.  And so, one day, as he was wandering in the wood, he saw\nthree horses coming, larger and stronger and finer than any horses he\nhad ever seen before.  And on their backs, he thought, were three men,\nbut he could not feel sure, for they did not look like any men whom he\nhad ever seen.  They seemed to be all covered with iron, which was\npolished so that it glistened where the light touched it, and they wore\nmany gay and beautiful colors besides. He stood and looked at them till\nthey came close to him, and then one of them said: 'My boy, have you\nseen a knight pass this way?'\n\n\"'I do not know what a knight is,' Percivale answered.\n\n\"'We are knights,' the man on the horse said; 'have you seen anyone like\nus?'\n\n\"But Percivale was wondering so much at what he saw that he could not\nanswer.  'What is this?' he asked, touching the knight's shield.\n\n\"'That?' the knight answered, 'that is my shield.'\n\n\"'And what is it for?'\n\n\"'To keep other knights from hitting me with their spears or their\nswords.'\n\n\"'Spears?  What are they?'\n\n\"'This is a spear,' the knight answered, showing him one.\n\n\"'And what is this?'\n\n\"'That is a saddle.'\n\n\"'And what is this?'\n\n\"'A sword.'\n\n\"And so Percivale asked the knights about everything that they wore and\neverything that they carried and all that was on their horses.  'And\nwhere did you get these things?' he asked.  'Did you always wear them?'\n\n\"'No,' the knight answered; 'King Arthur gave me these arms when he made\nme a knight.'\n\n\"'Then you were not always a knight?' Percivale asked again.\n\n\"'Why, no, I was a squire, a young man, like you, and King Arthur made\nme a Knight and gave me these arms.'\n\n\"'Who is King Arthur, and where is he?'\n\n\"'He is the King of the country, and he lives at Camelot.'\n\n\"Then Percivale ran home as fast as he could and said to his mother:\n'Mother, I saw some knights in the forest, and one of them told me that\nhe was not a knight always, but King Arthur made him one, and before\nthat he was a young man like me.  And now I want to go to King Arthur,\ntoo, and ask him to make me a knight, so that I can wear bright iron\nthings like them and ride on a big horse.'\n\n\"The instant that she heard the word 'knights' the mother knew that all\nher care was lost.  The boy was a man now.  He had seen what other men\nwere like and she knew that he would never be happy again till he was\nlike the rest of them.  Before her mind, all at once, everything came\nback--the court, the field of the tournament, the men all dressed in\nsteel, with their sharp, cruel spears, the gleaming lines charging\nagainst each other, the knights falling from their horses and rolling on\nthe ground.  Her brain whirled around as she thought of all this, and\nher one last son in the midst of it, to be killed, perhaps, as the rest\nhad been.  But she knew that he must go--that he would go--nothing could\nkeep him with her now.\n\n\"'My son,' she said, 'if you will leave me and be a knight, like those\nthat you have seen, go to King Arthur.  His are the best of knights and\namong them you will learn all that you ought to know.  Before you are a\nknight the King will make you swear that you will be always loyal and\nupright, that you will be faithful, gentle, and merciful, and that you\nwill fight for the right of the poor and the weak. Percivale, some\nknights forget these things, after they have sworn them, but you will\nnot forget. Remember them the more because I tell them to you now.  Be\nready always to help those who need help most, the poor and the weak and\nthe old and children and women.  Keep yourself in the company of wise\nmen and talk with them and learn of them.  Percivale, the King will make\nyou swear, too, that you will fear shame more than death.  And I tell\nyou that.  I have lost your father and your brothers, but I would rather\nlose you, too, than not to know that you feared shame more than death.'\n\n\"Then, from the horses that his mother had, Percivale chose the one he\nthought the best. It was not a war horse, of course, and it was not even\na good saddle horse, but it would carry him.  He put some old pieces of\ncloth on the horse's back, for a saddle, and with more of these, and\nbits of cord and woven twigs he tried to make something to look like the\ntrappings that he had seen on the horses of the knights. Then he found a\nlong pole and sharpened the end of it, to make it look like a spear.\nWhen he had done all that he could he got on the back of the horse, bade\nhis mother good-by, and rode away to find the court of King Arthur.\n\n\"The King and the Queen and their knights were in the great hall of the\ncastle at Camelot, when a strange knight, dressed in red armor, came in\nand walked straight to where the King and the Queen sat.  A page was\njust offering to the Queen a gold goblet of wine.  The red knight seized\nthe goblet and threw the wine in the Queen's face.  Then he said: 'If\nthere is any one here who is bold enough to avenge this insult to the\nQueen and to bring back this goblet, let him follow me and I will wait\nfor him in the meadow near the castle!'  Then he left the hall, took his\nhorse, which he had left at the door, and went to the meadow.\n\n\"In the hall all the knights jumped from their places.  But for an\ninstant they only stood and stared at one another.  They remembered the\nGreen Knight, and they thought that this other knight would never dare\nto do what he had done, unless he had some magic to guard him against\nthem.  I am sure that in a moment some one of them would have gone after\nhim, but just in that moment a strange-looking young man rode straight\ninto the hall, on a poor, old, boney horse.  He looked so queer, with\nhis simple dress and the saddle and trappings that he had made himself,\nand his rough pole for a spear, that the knights almost forgot the\ninsult to the Queen in looking at him, and some of them laughed as they\nsaw him ride through the hall toward the King, with no more thought of\nfear than if he had been a king himself.  He came to where Kay, King\nArthur's seneschal, stood, and said to him: 'Tall man, is that King\nArthur who sits there?'\n\n\"'What do you want with King Arthur?' said Kay.\n\n\"'My mother told me,' the young man answered, 'to come to King Arthur\nand be made a knight by him.'\n\n\"'You are not fit to be a knight,' said Kay; 'go back to your cows and\nyour goats.'  Kay was a rough sort of fellow and he was always saying\nunpleasant things without waiting to find out what he was talking about.\n\n\"Then a dwarf came close to the boy and cried out: 'Percivale, you are\nwelcome here! I know that you will be one of the best of knights, for I\nknew your father and your brothers, and they were all good knights!'\n\n\"And Kay was so angry with the dwarf for speaking in this way that he\nstruck him and knocked him down.  Now when Arthur had seen the red\nknight come into the hall and insult the Queen and then go away again,\nhe had been as much astonished as any of the knights, and he had\nthought, just as they had, that he must have some charm to protect him.\nBut he had had another thought, and it was: 'Where have I seen the face\nof that knight before?'  And when the young man had come into the hall\nhe had thought again: 'I have seen that face, too, before.' But when he\nheard the dwarf call him by name he remembered it all. 'Young man,' he\nsaid, 'are you the son of my old knight, Sir Percivale?  I know that you\nare, because you are so much like him, and the man who killed your\nfather was here just now and insulted the Queen and all of us.'\n\n\"'Yes, yes,' Kay shouted, 'go after him, boy, and avenge your father and\navenge the Queen and bring back her golden goblet!  And when you have\nkilled him you can have his horse and his armor, and then you will look\nfit to be made a knight.'\n\n\"'I will do what you say,' the boy answered, and he turned his horse and\nrode out of the hall again.  When he came to the meadow the red knight\nwas there, riding up and down. 'Boy,' he said, 'do you know if anyone is\ncoming from the hall to take this gold cup from me?'\n\n\"'I have come from the hall,' Percivale answered, 'to take that gold cup\nfrom you.'\n\n\"'Go back and tell the King,' said the red knight, 'to send a man, a\nknight, to take it. And tell him that I will not wait much longer.'\n\n\"'I mean to take it from you myself,' said Percivale again, 'so be ready\nfor me.'\n\n\"Then Percivale made his poor old horse go as fast as it could, and he\ncame against the red knight with his pointed pole.  The knight tried to\nstrike the pole aside with his spear, but Percivale hit him fairly with\nit and knocked him off his horse.  And in falling he managed somehow to\nbreak his neck.\n\n\"All that had passed in the hall since the red knight had appeared there\nhad passed so quickly that the King and the knights had scarcely had\ntime to know what was going on at all till it was all over.  But when\nPercivale had gone to find the red knight, Uwain, King Arthur's nephew,\nsaid: 'Kay, it was not right for you to send such a boy as that after a\nknight who is no doubt a hard fighter.  The knight will kill him, and\nthen a double disgrace will fall upon the court, that of letting the boy\nbe killed and that of sending no good man to avenge the insult to the\nQueen.  Now I will go and see if I am in time to save the boy and punish\nthe knight.'\n\n\"So Uwain went to the meadow and there he found Percivale trying to take\noff the dead knight's armor.  He could not do it, because he knew\nnothing about armor and did not know how it was fastened.  So Uwain\nshowed him how to take it off and then how to dress himself in it.  'And\nnow,' said Uwain, 'come to King Arthur and I know that he will gladly\nmake you a knight, for you have shown that you are worthy to be one.'\n\n\"'No, 'said Percivale, 'I will not go back now.  But tell me, what is\nthe name of the tall man who told me to follow this knight?'\n\n\"'He is Sir Kay,' Uwain answered, 'King Arthur's seneschal.'\n\n\"Then Percivale said: 'Take this gold cup back to the Queen and tell her\nthat I have avenged the insult to her.  Tell King Arthur that wherever I\ngo I will be his servant and will try to do him what honor I can, but\ntell Sir Kay that I will never come back to King Arthur's court till I\nhave met him and punished him for striking the dwarf who greeted me when\nI came into the hall.  My mother told me to fight for the poor and the\nweak, and I am sure that dwarf is weak and I ought to fight for him.'\n\n\"When Uwain went back to the hall with these messages Kay laughed, but I\nam not sure that he felt quite comfortable.  He had had bad luck before\nin making fun of young men who turned out well in spite of their simple\nlooks. Perhaps you may like to know how the dwarf knew who Percivale\nwas.  It was very simple. He used to live in Percivale's father's house,\nand he knew him because he was so much like his father.\n\n\"And Percivale was riding away from the court and did not know or care\nwhere he was going.  But after awhile he met a knight who asked him\nwhence he came.  'I come from the court of King Arthur,' he answered.\n\n\"And the knight said: 'I am the enemy of King Arthur and of all his men,\nand when I meet any of them I kill them, if I can, and so I will kill\nyou now, if I can.'\n\n\"So they took their places and charged against each other with their\nspears.  Percivale had a real spear now.  And Percivale threw the knight\noff his horse and he begged for mercy.  'You shall have mercy,'\nPercivale said, 'if you will go to the court of King Arthur and tell him\nthat Percivale sent you and that Percivale will never come to his court\nagain till he has punished Sir Kay for striking the dwarf.'\n\n\"The knight did as Percivale bade him, and the story says that within a\nweek he overcame sixteen knights and made every one of them go to the\ncourt and tell King Arthur that Percivale had sent him and that\nPercivale would never come back till he had met Sir Kay and punished him\nfor striking the dwarf.  Now you can imagine that, when these knights\ncame into the hall, two or three of them a day, and brought always this\nsame message, Kay kept getting more and more uncomfortable.  Every new\none who came proved over again what a tough fighter Percivale was and\nevery one of them told the King and the court that Percivale was waiting\nfor a chance to fight with Kay.  And then the other knights began to\nblame Kay for making such a fine young man leave the court.  For it was\nclear, they said, that he would some time be one of the best knights\namong them all.  At last King Arthur said that he himself, with some of\nhis best knights, would go to search for Percivale.  And Kay, who was\nreally no coward, went with them.\n\n\"And Percivale kept on his way.  And one evening, when it was time for\nhim to find a place to stay for the night, he saw a great castle before\nhim.  He knocked on the gate and a young man with a thin, pale face put\nhis head through an opening in the battlement and looked at him.  Then\nthe young man came and opened the gate for Percivale and led him to the\nhall.  There were eighteen young men there, all thin and with pale\nfaces, like the first.  They took off Percivale's armor and they all sat\ndown together.  Then five young women came into the hall, and Percivale\nthought that one of them, who was the lady of the castle, was the most\nbeautiful he had ever seen.  Mind, I don't say that I think so; I say\nthat Percivale thought so.  For, as one of the beautiful, wonderful\nbooks that tells this story says, 'whiter was her skin than the bloom of\ncrystal, and her hair and her two eyebrows were blacker than jet, and on\nher cheeks were two red spots, redder than whatever is reddest.'  She\nwas dressed in satin, but it was old and faded and worn.\n\n\"Afterwards two nuns came into the hall. One of them carried a flask of\nwine and the other had six loaves of bread.  'Lady,' said one of the\nnuns, 'there is not so much bread and wine left in our convent as we\nhave brought you here.'  Then they all sat at a table, and Percivale saw\nthat the lady of the castle was giving more of the bread and the wine to\nhim than to any of the others.  So he took all the bread and wine and\ndivided them equally among all who were at the table.  And when it was\ntime they led Percivale to his chamber.\n\n\"And the rest still sat in the hall.  Then one of the young men said to\nthe lady of the castle: 'Sister, go to this young man and tell him that\nyou will be his wife, if he will rescue you and the rest of us from our\nenemies.'\n\n\"'I cannot do that,' she answered.  'He may not want me for his wife; if\nhe did he would ask me.'\n\n\"'Sister,' said the young man again, 'we have no more food and we cannot\nhold the castle any longer.  This is the only hope we have. You must do\nthis or we will leave you, and your enemies may do what they like with\nyou and your castle.'\n\n\"So she left them and went to the door of Percivale's chamber and opened\nit.  It was dark and he was asleep, but he heard her weeping and awoke.\n'Who are you,' he asked, 'and why are you weeping?  Can I help you?'\n\n\"'My lord,' she answered, 'if you do not help me nothing can ever help\nme.  I am the lady of the castle.  My father owned this castle and all\nthe lands around it.  There was a wicked knight, named Sir Mordred, who\nwanted me to be his wife, but I would not, and so, after my father died\nand left me the castle and the lands, Sir Mordred made war upon me.  I\nhad not men enough to fight with him, and so he has taken everything I\nhad except this castle.  But this castle is so strong that the few men\nwhom you have seen were able to hold it as long as we had food.  They\nare my foster brothers. Mordred and his men always watch the castle to\nsee that no one goes out from it to bring food, and so at last all that\nwe had was gone.  Then the nuns, who are permitted to go wherever they\nlike, brought us food, but now they have no more.  And Mordred watches\nus so closely that he will know that we have no more food, and he will\ncome against us at once and take the castle, unless you can help us.  So\nthe young men told me that I must come to you and tell you that I would\nbe your wife if you would save us, for there was no other way.  Forgive\nme, Sir Knight, for doing what I must do, and help me and my brothers,\nif you can.'\n\n\"Then Percivale answered: 'I know that you do not say this because you\nwant to be my wife, and so I will not ask it of you.  Marry whomever you\nwill.  To-morrow, if this Sir Mordred comes, I will do my best to help\nyou.'\n\n\"And so we have come to Mordred.  I am almost sorry that I have to tell\nyou about him, but I should have to tell you, some time, and it may as\nwell be now.  Mordred was the brother of Gawain, and so he was King\nArthur's nephew.  He was a knight of the Round Table, and he was the\nwickedest and most treacherous man who was ever in Arthur's court. When\npeople tell you that they do not like King Arthur because he was too\ngood--and somebody is sure to tell you that some time--ask them what\nthey think of his letting such a creature as Mordred be a knight of his\nRound Table.  Still, I suppose Arthur did not know how bad Mordred was.\nGood people are often slow to believe that there are any bad people, and\nArthur was so.\n\n\"Well, in the morning, surely enough, there were Mordred's men all\naround the castle. There were tents set up and knights were riding up\nand down on horses, and banners were flying, and it all looked as if\nthey had come to fight against a city, instead of against five women and\neighteen starved young men. Breakfast did not take long that morning,\nbecause there was nothing in the castle to eat. So, as soon as he was\nup, Percivale put on his armor and called for his horse and rode out of\nthe castle.  He came near to some of the knights who were riding about\nand seemed to be so ready to fight, and called out that he wanted to see\nSir Mordred and to talk with him.\n\n\"When Sir Mordred came, Percivale said to him: 'I challenge you alone,\nSir Mordred to fight with me alone for the right of the lady of this\ncastle.  If you beat me you shall keep all that you have taken from her\nand you shall have the castle too.  If I beat you she shall keep the\ncastle and you shall give her back all that she had before.  Do you\nagree to this?'\n\n\"And Mordred said: 'I agree.'\n\n\"It was a short battle.  They charged against each other once, and\nMordred's spear was broken against Percivale's shield, but Percivale's\nspear went through Mordred's shield and through his shoulder.  Mordred\ncould not fight any more after that, so he promised to give back to the\nlady of the castle all the lands and everything else that he had taken\nfrom her, if Percivale would not kill him.  Percivale made him promise,\ntoo, that his men should take to the castle that very day enough food\nand drink for a hundred men and their horses.  Then he sent Mordred\nhimself to Camelot, to say to the King and the court that Percivale\nwould never come back there till he had punished Sir Kay for striking\nthe dwarf.  But when Mordred got to Camelot the King and Kay and a good\nmany of the other knights had gone to hunt for Percivale, and there were\nnot many left to hear the message.\n\n\"Then Percivale took his leave of the people of the castle and rode on\nhis way.  He rode all day, and in the evening he came to the cell of a\nhermit, who made him welcome, and he stayed with him all night.  In the\nmorning he left the cell to go on his way, but just in front of the door\nhe saw something that made him stop to look at it.  There had been a\nfall of snow in the night, and a little way from the hermit's cell a\nhawk had killed a wild fowl and the snow was stained with its blood.\nSomething had frightened the hawk away and now a raven had lighted on\nthe snow near the wild fowl.  It was this that made Percivale stop to\nlook, for the blackness of the raven and the whiteness of the snow and\nthe red of the blood made him think of the black hair of the lady of the\ncastle where he had stayed, and of her white skin, and of the red in her\ncheeks.  This must have been a pleasant thought, for Percivale stood\nthere thinking it and gazing at the blood on the snow for a long time.\n\n\"Now it happened that King Arthur's tent had been pitched for the night\nnear this very place.  And Arthur came out of his tent and saw some one\nleaning on a spear and looking upon the ground.  And he told one of his\nyoung men to go and see who it was.  So the young man rode to where\nPercivale stood and said: 'Who are you, and what are you doing here?'\n\n\"But Percivale was thinking so much of the raven and the snow and the\nblood and the lady of the castle that he gave no answer, and then the\nyoung man thrust at him with his spear. Then Percivale turned and struck\nthe young man with his own spear and knocked him off his horse, and he\nwent back to tell the King how he had fared.  And Kay said: 'I will go\nand make him tell me who he is.'\n\n\"So Kay came and said and did very much as the young man had done, and\nPercivale knocked him off his horse too, and in the fall he broke his\narm.  Kay's horse galloped back alone to where the King and the knights\nwere and Kay had to walk back.  'Now, I will go,' said Gawain.  'It is\nlikely, Kay, that you spoke to him rudely, for you do speak rudely\nsometimes.  The knight may be deep in some thoughts in which he does not\nlike to be disturbed, but I will try to bring him back.'\n\n\n           *[Illustration: \"Kay's horse galloped back alone\"\n                         (missing from book)]*\n\n\n\"It used to be said that Gawain could speak so well that nobody could\never refuse him anything that he asked.  He went to Percivale and stood\nstill beside him for a moment and then said to him: 'If I thought that\nit would be pleasant to you to hear it, I would give you a message from\nKing Arthur.  He wishes that you would come to his tent.  Two others\nhave come here before me to speak to you.'\n\n\"'Yes,' said Percivale, 'and they spoke to me rudely and attacked me.\nAnd it annoyed me, because I was looking at the snow and the raven and\nthe blood, and I was thinking of the face and the hair and the cheeks of\nthe lady whom I fought for yesterday.  But tell me, is Sir Kay with King\nArthur?'\n\n\"'Yes,' said Gawain, 'and he was the second of the men who came to speak\nto you, and the fall from his horse that you gave him broke his arm.'\n\n\"'Ah, then I am glad,' said Percivale, 'for now I have punished him for\nstriking the dwarf.'\n\n\"'For striking the dwarf?' Gawain repeated, 'then you are Percivale!\nThis is good news! Come back with me to the King, for he and all of us\nhave left Camelot to seek for you.'\n\n\"'Yes,' Percivale answered, 'I can come back with you now, for I have\nmet Sir Kay and have punished him for striking the dwarf.'\n\n\"So Gawain led Percivale back to the King, and Arthur and his knights\nwelcomed him as one of the best among them all.  Then they all went back\nto Camelot together, and as soon as they were there King Arthur made\nPercivale a knight.  And he said to him, when he had touched his\nshoulders with his sword: 'Rise, Sir Percivale, and may God make you a\ngood knight.  I know that He will, Sir Percivale, for no young man who\nhas ever come to my court has done so soon such noble things as you have\ndone.  For before you were a knight at all you fought many battles for\nright and justice, and you are worthy to be called God's own knight. And\nyou are worthy, too, to be a knight of the Round Table.  Kneel again,\nSir Percivale, and take the oath of the Round Table.'\n\n\"Then Percivale knelt before the King again and the King said to him:\n'Do you swear that you will help the King to guard his people and to\nkeep peace and justice in his land; that you will be faithful to your\nfellows; that you will do right to poor and rich alike?  Do you swear\nthat in all things you will be true and loyal to God and to the King?'\n\n\"And Percivale answered: 'I swear it.'\n\n\"The King took Percivale's hand and turned toward the Round Table.  All\nthe knights looked eagerly to see where his place would be, for they\nthought: 'No man of us has ever done such deeds as his while he was\nstill so young, and who knows but he may be that best knight of all the\nworld, who is to sit in the Siege Perilous?'\n\n\"The King thought of that too, and he paused beside the Siege Perilous,\nto see if there were any letters in it, but there were not.  But in the\nnext seat to it, where no one had ever sat since Arthur had been King,\nhe saw new letters of gold, and the letters said: 'This is the seat of\nPercivale, God's knight.'\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Tower of London]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER IV*\n\n                       *THE QUEEN'S ROBING-ROOM*\n\n\nWhen we got back to the hotel at Glastonbury that night there was a\nsurprise awaiting us.  Helen's mother had a letter and she said: \"We are\ngoing to London by the first train to-morrow morning, and then we are\ngoing straight to Paris.\"\n\nNow you must know that before we started on this journey Helen's mother\nhad said that she did not care in the least where we went, except that\nwe must go to Paris.  So it was agreed between us that she should be\nallowed to go to Paris just whenever she pleased and that I should\narrange everything else just as I pleased.  And so, when she said that\nwe were going to Paris at once, she made exactly the one announcement\nthat she had a perfect right to make, without asking me anything about\nit at all.  Still, just at first, I was not at all pleased.\n\nI said that of course we should do just as she liked about it, still we\nhad thought that we were to have plenty of time in Glastonbury, and so\nwe had not gone to see the ruins of the abbey yet, and it seemed a pity\nto have to leave Glastonbury without seeing them.  Helen knew nothing\nabout the ruins of the abbey, but she agreed with me.  That made no\ndifference to Helen's mother.  She had a letter from somebody whom she\nknew, who was in Paris.  That somebody was to be there only for a week,\nand she must be there at the same time.  We really had no right to\nobject, and so I gave up objecting and tried to think of the best way\nout of it. \"Couldn't we come back here again afterwards?\" Helen\nsuggested.\n\nNow the notion of going to a little place like Glastonbury, so far off\nthe usual lines of travel, twice in the same journey, is one that would\nnever come into the head of any ordinary traveller.  But Helen is not an\nordinary traveller. And when I came to think of it I could not see the\nslightest reason in the world why we should not come back to Glastonbury\nafter we had been to Paris.  I looked at Helen's mother and said: \"May\nwe?\"\n\n\"You know very well,\" she said, \"that you can go and come wherever you\nlike, as long as you let me go to Paris.\"\n\nHere was another notion.  \"As long as I let you go to Paris,\" I\nrepeated.  \"That is just what I will do.  What do you want of me in\nParis?  All the time that you are there you women will be running about\nthe city, seeing things that I don't care about and doing things that I\ndon't care about, such as shopping, and I should only be in the way.\nYou would get on better without me, and so why should I go to Paris at\nall?  I will go to London with you to-morrow, and then I will wait there\nfor you till you come back.\"\n\nHelen's mother liked my plan so much that I almost felt hurt.  \"I don't\nsee,\" she said, \"how you could be of the least use in Paris.  You will\nhave a much better time in London, and I shall have you off my mind, and\ncan do just what I like.\"\n\nThis almost took my breath away, but, as the plan was my own, of course\nI had to pretend that I liked it.  I said that there were several things\nin London that I wanted to see again, and I wanted to look up two or\nthree places not far from London that had stories about them.  I was\nafraid I should not have time to go to them if I went to Paris too.\nWhen I said that Helen began to take an interest, as I had thought that\nperhaps she might.  \"Are there more stories in London?\" she asked.\n\n\"If you and I,\" I said, \"were to stay in London and find a story every\nday, we should not live long enough to find half of them.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said Helen.\n\n\"Now do you think?\" I said, \"when you come to think of it a second time,\nthat you really need Helen in Paris any more than you do me?  When she\nis a little older she will want to go there just as much as you do now,\nand then she can go.  But now, don't you think that you should like to\nhave her off your mind as well as me, and don't you think that she could\ndo a good deal toward cheering me up there in London, while you are\ngone?\"\n\nHelen looked at her mother to see what she was going to say.  She said\nnothing at all, but she looked at Helen in a way that meant that she\nmight do just as she pleased about it, and Helen said: \"If you don't\nmind very much, I think I will stay in London.\"\n\nHelen's mother did not mind very much, so I said: \"Very well, then; this\nis what we will do.  We will go all the way to Dover with you, and then\nwe will come back to London and have as good a time as we can, till you\ncome back from having the best time that ever was in the world, in\nParis.  And when you are with us again we will come back here to\nGlastonbury and go to some other good places.\"\n\nNobody could make the least objection to that.  And so the next day but\none Helen and I found that we were left quite to ourselves in London.\nWe found plenty of things to amuse us.  We went to see the Tower of\nLondon, as Americans do.  We found the old armor and weapons that were\nthere most interesting, and Helen made a discovery.  \"Did King Arthur's\nknights wear armors like those?\" she asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, \"about like those.\"\n\n\"With all those chains and iron things?\"\n\n\"Yes, to be sure.\"\n\n\"Then I know what became of the green lace girdles that Gawain and the\nrest of them had.\"\n\n\"Very well; what did become of them?\"\n\n\"Why, don't you see?  They all wore out. They wouldn't last a week, if\nthey put them round their waists, with all those iron things on.\"\n\nThere was really no need of any better explanation than this, and so I\ngave up ever finding any.\n\n\"There is one curious little thing about this Tower,\" I said, \"that is\nnot in most of the books about it.  It was here, you know, long before\nKing Arthur's time.  One of the old kings was called Bran the Blessed.\nAnd once he told his men that when he was dead they must cut off his\nhead and bury it under the White Tower, in London, with the face toward\nFrance, and that as long as it stayed there England could never be\nharmed by any foe from abroad. Now I have never heard of any White Tower\nin London, except this big square one in the middle of the Tower of\nLondon, so that I have no doubt that it was here that the head of Bran\nthe Blessed was buried, with the face toward France, to guard England\nfrom her foreign foes.  But when Arthur came to be King he had the head\ndug up, for he said that it would be better for England to be guarded by\nthe strength and the courage of Englishmen than by magic.  You can look\naround you at the England of to-day and judge for yourself whether\nArthur was right.\"\n\nI had heard that there were pictures of some of the King Arthur stories\nin the Queen's robing-room, at the Palace of Westminster, and of course\nwe wanted to see them.  Now anybody who looks moderately respectable can\nwalk through the Palace of Westminster any Saturday.  The trouble is\nthat the policemen who are posted in the rooms will not let you stay in\nany one of them long enough to do more than take a glance at it and pass\non to the next room.  Of course this would not do for us, when there\nwere pictures of King Arthur to be looked at.  But we were very lucky.\nWe knew somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody else, and I rather\nthink that this last somebody was the secretary of the Lord Great\nChamberlain.  At any rate, there were some letters written about us, and\nwe were told to go to the Palace of Westminster and ask for the\ninspector of police.  So we went there when Saturday came around and saw\nthe inspector and told him that we were the ones whom the letters had\nbeen written about.  He was very glad to see us and he introduced us to\nsomebody else.  Once more I think that it was the secretary of the Lord\nGreat Chamberlain, but I am not sure.  Whoever he was, he was most\npolite, and when we told him what friends of King Arthur's we were he\nordered the policemen on duty to let us stay in the Queen's robing-room\nas long as we liked.\n\nHaving all the time we wanted, we did not hurry, but stood for a few\nminutes at the windows, looking out across the Thames.  \"It was\nsomewhere over there,\" I said, \"not very far on the other side of the\nriver, that there used to live one of the wickedest knights that were\never in King Arthur's court.  His name was Meliagraunce.  I don't know\nwhat made him so wicked, but I suppose he was so to start with. It\noccurred to him once that there could be no better way for him to make\ntrouble than by stealing the Queen and carrying her off to his castle,\nover there across the Thames.  King Arthur was holding his court just\nhere at Westminster then, for it seems that there was a palace here as\nlong ago as that.\n\n\"Meliagraunce had to watch a long time for his chance, for there were\nusually a good many people about the Queen, and Lancelot was likely to\nbe among them, and somehow, wicked as he was, he did not care about\ndoing anything to harm the Queen while Lancelot was with her.  But one\nday he heard that the Queen was going maying, with some knights and\nladies, and that Lancelot was not going.  That, he thought, would be\njust his chance.  Now, as the Queen did not mean to go far from\nWestminster, there was no thought of any danger.  So the knights who\nrode with her wore swords at their sides, as they did almost everywhere,\nbut they carried no spears or shields, and they wore no armor.  There\nwere only ten of them, with ten ladies and a few squires and pages.  But\nMeliagraunce got ready twenty knights, fully armed, and a hundred\narchers on foot.\n\n\"Westminster and the country about it looked very different then from\nwhat they do now. Now there is nothing but city for miles around, but\nthen there were fields, and a little farther off there were woods.  So\nthe Queen and her knights and ladies rode to the woods and gathered\nflowers and green branches, and decked themselves and their horses with\nthem and started back toward Westminster.  Then Meliagraunce and his\narmed men fell upon them. The Queen's knights fought for her as well as\nthey could, but they were so few and so poorly armed that they were no\nmatch for their enemies.  In a little while they were all of them\nwounded, and the Queen saw that they would all be killed if the fight\nwent on.  So she called to Meliagraunce and begged him to stop the fight\nand promised that she would go with him to his castle, if he would let\nall her knights go too, for they were wounded and she must have them\nwith her, so that she could take care of them.\n\n\"Meliagraunce agreed to this and they all set off toward his castle.\nBut on the way the Queen whispered to a page who was on a swift horse,\nand told him to ride back to Westminster and tell Lancelot that she was\na prisoner in the castle of Meliagraunce.  So the page watched till\nnobody was looking, and then turned his horse suddenly and rode back.\nOf course Meliagraunce and his men saw in a moment what he was doing and\nwhat it was for, and they shot at him with arrows, but they missed him\nand he was soon beyond their reach.\n\n\"Now Meliagraunce and all those who were with him had to go slowly,\nbecause of the wounded knights, but the page who went to tell Lancelot\nrode fast.  And when Lancelot heard what the page had to tell he rode\nfast too, so that he came to the castle of Meliagraunce not long after\nthe others arrived there.  And as soon as Meliagraunce heard that\nLancelot had come he began to see what a silly thing he had done and to\nwish that he were well out of it.  So he went to the Queen and begged\nher not to let Lancelot kill him.  If she would promise that, he said,\nthey would all go back to Westminster the next morning.  So the Queen\nsent for Lancelot and told him that it would be better to do as\nMeliagraunce had said, for Meliagraunce was a knight of King Arthur's\nand it would be better that it should not be known what he had done as\nit would have to be if Lancelot fought with him and killed him.  And of\ncourse Lancelot said that it should be as the Queen wished.\n\n\"But Meliagraunce had still other mischief in his mind.  Now that he had\nfound that he must send the Queen back to Westminster, he decided that\nhe would charge her with treason to the King.  That was as easy a charge\nto make against her as any, and it was as easy a way to harm her as any,\nsince that was what he wanted to do.  You know anybody could charge\nanybody else with anything, as long as he was ready to fight and risk\nhis life to prove it.  of course it did not take a minute for Lancelot\nto say that the charge that Meliagraunce made was a lie and that he\nwould fight with him to prove that the Queen was not a traitor to the\nKing, whenever and wherever Meliagraunce liked.  And Meliagraunce said\nthat it should be eight days from that day, at Westminster, before King\nArthur.\n\n\"Now you may be sure that Meliagraunce would never have said a word\nagainst the Queen if he had thought that he should really have to fight\nwith Lancelot about it.  But he had still another trick to play, which\nhe thought was a good one.  He pretended to be very friendly with\nLancelot and asked him if he should like to see his castle.  Then he led\nhim about from room to room and at last he led him over a trap door.  It\ngave way and Lancelot fell down into a dungeon and struck on a heap of\nstraw.  And there Meliagraunce meant to keep him till after the time for\nthe fight.  And so, as he expected, it would all be decided his way,\nbecause Lancelot would not be there to defend the Queen, or, at the\nworst, he would have to fight with some knight who was not so good as\nLancelot.\n\n\"I suppose I ought to tell you just here that King Arthur himself could\nnot fight for the Queen in such a case as this, because he had to sit\nand be the judge in all such fights.  And Arthur always did justice to\nrich and poor and to great and small alike, and he would do the same\njustice, or he would try to, to the one whom he loved best of all the\nworld as to the meanest man or woman who could be brought before him.\n\n\"When the rest were ready to go back to Westminster they were surprised,\nof course, that Lancelot was not with them.  But they did not think that\nit was so very strange, for Lancelot often went away suddenly in search\nof adventures and told nobody that he was going.  So they went back and\ntold the King that Meliagraunce had charged the Queen with treason and\nthat Lancelot was to defend her.  And the King was not alarmed at all,\nfor he knew that the Queen could not be guilty of such a thing, and he\nfelt sure that Lancelot would be at hand when the time came to prove it.\n\n\"But the King felt more sure of Lancelot than Lancelot felt of himself,\nfor all that week he was in prison.  And on the eighth day Meliagraunce\ncame to Westminster ready for the fight and called upon the King to give\njudgment against the Queen, because Lancelot was not there to defend\nher.  Then Arthur said that he was sure that Lancelot must be dead or\nsick or else in prison, for he never failed to keep his promise before,\nand he asked if there was any other knight who would fight in his place\nto defend the Queen.  Then a knight of the Round Table said that he was\nsure, too, that it was as the King had said and he would fight for the\nQueen instead of Lancelot.\n\n\"But Meliagraunce, as clever people sometimes do, had made a mistake.\nHe did not know, perhaps, that there was a woman in his castle who was\nin love with Lancelot.  But there were a good many such women scattered\nover England and he ought to have been careful about it.  On the very\nmorning when the battle was to be she came to Lancelot and told him that\nshe would let him out of his prison if he would give her one kiss.\nLancelot thought that this was not a large price to pay and he paid it.\nThen the woman let him out and found his armor for him and helped him to\nget a horse from the stable and he set off, as fast as he could go, for\nWestminster.  And he arrived just as the knight who had promised to\nfight for him had taken his place ready to begin the battle.\n\n\"Lancelot rode straight up before the King and told him how Meliagraunce\nhad trapped him and kept him in prison, and then he took the place of\nthe other knight and was ready for the fight.  Nobody had any doubt how\nthe fight would go.  Everybody felt that the right would win and that\nthe right meant Lancelot.  The King felt so sure of it that he had the\nQueen come and sit in her place beside him, though she was accused of\ntreason.  The heralds gave the signal, the knights charged together, and\nMeliagraunce was thrown from his horse. Lancelot dismounted then and\nthey fought with swords, but it was only a few moments before\nMeliagraunce was disarmed and helpless and begging for mercy.\n\n\"Then Lancelot had a hard question to decide.  In any ordinary fight it\nwould be unknightly to refuse mercy to any knight who asked it, but\nLancelot felt that such a cowardly, lying wretch as this had no right to\nlive and that he had no right to let him live.  He thought for a moment\nand then he said: 'Meliagraunce, take up your sword and let us go on\nwith this fight to the end.'\n\n\"'I will not fight any more,' said Meliagraunce; 'you have beaten me and\nI ask your mercy, and you must give it, as you are a knight of the Round\nTable.'\n\n\"'Meliagraunce,' said Lancelot, 'I will take off my helmet and all the\narmor that I can from the left side of my body, and my left hand shall\nbe tied behind me, and then I will fight with you.'\n\n\"Then Meliagraunce ran toward the King. 'My lord,' he cried, 'have you\nheard what he has said?  I call upon you to make him keep his promise\nand fight me with his head and his left side uncovered.'\n\n\"'Meliagraunce,' said Lancelot, 'come back! I am not a liar, like you,\nand I need no one to make me keep my promises, even to traitors and\ncowards.'\n\n\"Then Lancelot's armor was taken off his left side, as much of it as\ncould be, and his helmet was taken off.  And his left hand was tied\nbehind him, so that he could not use his shield. And in this way he\nstood ready for the fight again.  Meliagraunce aimed a blow at his head,\nbut Lancelot caught it with his sword and put it aside.  Then he struck\none great stroke and split Meliagraunce's helmet and laid him dead on\nthe field.  And everybody felt that the Round Table was better by the\nloss of Meliagraunce than it would be by the gain of three good knights.\nAnd now I think that it is about time for us to look at these pictures\nthat we came to see.\"\n\nThe pictures were painted on the walls of two sides of the room.  On the\nthird side was a throne, with a canopy over it, and on the fourth side\nwere the windows.  The artist had painted scenes from the stories of\nKing Arthur and he had made them represent the virtues that he thought\nought to belong to a good knight.  One of his pictures he called\n\"Mercy,\" and it showed Sir Gawain kneeling before Queen Guinevere and\nswearing always to be merciful and never to be against ladies.  The one\nnext to this was \"Hospitality,\" and in it King Arthur was receiving Sir\nTristram as a knight of the Round Table.  Another picture was\n\"Courtesy,\" and there Tristram was playing his harp to Isolt.  For\n\"Religion\" there was \"The Vision of Sir Galahad and his Company.\"  Then\nthere was one of \"Generosity,\" with King Arthur thrown from his horse in\nbattle and his life spared by Lancelot.  \"That seems a strange picture\nto you, no doubt,\" I said, \"but some time I will tell you the story that\nit belongs to, and then it will not seem so strange.\"\n\nAll around under these pictures and on the side of the room where the\nthrone was, there were carvings: \"Arthur Delivered unto Merlin,\" \"Arthur\nCrowned King,\" \"How Arthur Gate His Sword Excalibur,\" \"King Arthur\nWedded to Guinevere,\" and many more.\n\n\"But of all these pictures,\" I said, \"the one that reminds me of a story\nthat I want to tell you just now is this one of 'The Admission of Sir\nTristram to the Fellowship of the Round Table.'  Tristram had been known\nas the best knight of the world, next to Lancelot, for a long time\nbefore he was a knight of the Round Table.  King Arthur had long wished\nthat Tristram might be one of his knights, and Lancelot had heard so\nmuch about him that he wanted to know him and to be his friend.  So at\nlast Lancelot and some of the other knights set out to hunt for Tristram\nand to try to bring him to the court.\n\n\"You remember that Tristram was in love with Isolt, the Princess of\nIreland.  There was another knight, Sir Palamides, who was in love with\nher too.  I must tell you about this Palamides, for there never was a\nknight who belonged more to that dear, silly old time or fitted into it\nbetter than he did.  He was a good and strong and brave knight, but\nIsolt did not care two straws for him and never would, and he knew it.\nBut do you suppose that made any difference to him?  Not a bit.  He made\nit half of his business to love her year after year, though he knew that\nit would never do him or anybody else any good.  It never came into his\nhead that there were just as good fish in the sea as ever came out of\nit.  No, all he cared for was to sit on the shore of the sea, never\ntrying to catch or even thinking of any other good fish, but only\nwishing and wishing that he might catch the one that he knew he never\ncould.  It was just like a good knight of those days.\n\n\"I said that he made it half of his business to love Isolt.  The other\nhalf of his business was to hunt the questing beast.  It was called the\nquesting beast because of the questing or barking noise that came out of\nit.  It was a wonderful animal altogether.  It had a body like a leopard\nin front and like a lion behind, but its head was like a serpent's and\nits feet were like those of a deer.  And it did not make this barking\nnoise with its mouth, but the noise was inside the beast, and it was not\nlike the barking of one dog, but of sixty dogs.  I don't know why\nPalamides hunted it or what he was going to do with it if he ever caught\nit, but this again was just like a knight of those days.\n\n\"Now Palamides used often to feel very unfriendly toward Tristram,\nbecause Tristram loved Isolt.  By nature I believe that he was a good\nfellow, but he was hot-tempered, and, like other hot-tempered people, he\nsometimes did things that he was afterward sorry for.  And so, when he\nmet Tristram, he often felt angry and wanted to fight with him.  And\nTristram beat him usually, but not always, for Palamides was such a good\nknight that he could give Tristram, or even Lancelot, a pretty hard\nbattle.  Then Palamides would be Tristram's friend for awhile, and then\nhe would think more about Isolt and would grow to be his enemy again,\nand so would be ready for another fight.\n\n\"And once Tristram and Palamides had set a time and a place to fight\ntogether and settle everything between them.  But when the day came\nPalamides was held in prison by some enemy and could not come.  But\nTristram was at the place, and as he waited he saw a knight riding\ntoward him, with a closed helmet and a covered shield.  Of course he\nthought that this was Palamides, ready for the fight, so he put his\nspear in rest and faced him, and the other knight, seeing him do that,\ngot ready to defend himself.  Now this other knight was Lancelot, and\nwhen the two had been fighting for a few minutes each began to wonder\nwho the other could be.  Tristram knew very well that he was fighting\nwith a better knight than Palamides, and Lancelot knew that he had never\nfought with so good a knight before.\n\n\"And after a long time it came into their heads to stop fighting for a\nmoment and ask each other who they were.  And when each had told the\nother his name they saw what a mistake they had made in fighting at all.\nIt was then that Lancelot made Tristram come to the court with him, and\nit was then that King Arthur welcomed him and gave him his seat at the\nRound Table, as the picture shows.\n\n\"And now, after all this bother, we have come to the story.  Tristram\nhad not been long a knight of the Round Table when King Arthur made a\ngreat tournament in his honor.  It was at the Castle of Lonazep.  I\ndon't know just where that was, but it was somewhere up in the other end\nof England.  As Tristram was on his way to the tournament he met\nPalamides, and they fought, as usual.  And Tristram won, as usual, and\nthen Palamides begged him to let him ride to the tournament with him and\nfight for him and do him service.\n\n\"So they rode together till they came to the River Humber, and there\nthey saw a boat, all covered with canopies of purple silk, coming up the\nstream.  It came to the shore close to them and lay there still.  Then\nTristram and Palamides went down into the boat and saw a strange sight.\nIn the middle of it was a couch, all covered with silk and cloth of\ngold, and on the couch lay a dead knight, armed all but his head.  As\nTristram stood gazing and wondering at this he saw that there was a\nletter in the dead knight's hand.  He took the letter and opened and\nread it, and this is what it said: 'To the knights of King Arthur: I who\nbring this letter was Hermance, King of the Red City.  I was killed by\ntwo traitors, for my lands and my crown.  Now I pray that some one of\nKing Arthur's knights will avenge my death and will take my city and my\ncastles and my crown for his reward.'\n\n\"Then Palamides said: 'Sir Tristram, you must be at this tournament, for\nKing Arthur has made it in your honor, and he and many others will wish\nto see you here.  So let me go to avenge the death of this King, and\nwhatever I do shall be done for you and in your name.'\n\n\"'You are right,' said Tristram, 'and you may go, but come back, if you\ncan, for the tournament.'\n\n\"'If I live,' said Palamides, 'and the work that I find to do will let\nme, I will be with you again at the tournament.'\n\n\"Then Tristram went ashore from the boat and Palamides stayed in it, and\nthe men turned the boat and it went away down the river.  The men in the\nboat knew why Palamides stayed in it.  He did not speak to them and they\ndid not speak to him.  He knew that they would take him where he ought\nto go, so he stood at the prow and watched the fields that they passed\nand the woods and the river, and waited to see and to know who these\ntraitors were whom he must punish and what sort of task it was to be to\navenge this dead King.  And after a time the boat came to where the\nriver widened out toward the sea, and the men steered it toward a castle\nthat stood on the shore.  Then they gave Palamides a horn and told him\nto blow it.  And the people of the castle knew the sound of the horn,\nand when they heard it they came down to where the boat had landed and\nwelcomed Palamides and led him up into the hall.  There the lord of the\ncastle met him and made him sit at the table and they brought him food\nand wine. And Palamides saw that the lord of the castle and all the\nothers in it were dressed in black, and after he had eaten and drunk he\nasked why this was.\n\n\"'It is for the death of our King,' the lord of the castle answered.\n'He was Hermance, the King of the Red City, and no truer king ever\nlived.  He had two foster sons, whom he had brought up since they were\nchildren.  He loved them as if they had been his own sons, but they were\nfalse and wicked.  He meant when he died to give them everything he had,\nbut they could not wait.  So they watched their chance, and one day,\nwhen he had been hunting and had stopped to drink at a spring, they came\nbehind him and stabbed him in the back.  There, beside the spring, I\nfound him, not yet dead.  He made me put him in a boat and he made me\nwrite a letter and put it in his hand before he died. The boatmen were\ntold to go up the Humber toward Lonazep, where all King Arthur's knights\nwere soon to be, and the letter asked that some one of them would come\nto avenge the death of our good King.  And you, Sir Knight--since you\nhave come in this boat--I suppose that you have read this letter and\nhave come to help us.'\n\n\"'One of the best knights of the world, Sir Tristram, read that letter,'\nPalamides said, 'and I have come for him and in his name to avenge the\ndeath of your King.  So tell me where I shall find these men.'\n\n\"'You must take your boat again,' said the lord, 'and go to the\nDelectable Isle.  There is the Red City, and there you will find these\ntwo brothers, Helius and Helake.  Go and conquer them and we shall pray\nfor you and wait to hear what you have done.'\n\n\"Then Palamides went back to his boat, and just as he came to it he met\na knight who said: 'Sir Knight, tell me who you are and where you are\ngoing.'\n\n\"'By what right,' said Palamides, 'do you command me so?'\n\n\"'If you are going to the Red City,' said the knight, 'to avenge the\ndeath of King Hermance, turn back and go no farther.  It is for me, not\nfor you, to avenge him.  I am the brother of King Hermance.'\n\n\"'That may be true,' Palamides answered, 'but when the letter was taken\nout of the dead King's hand we did not know that there was any knight to\navenge him.  I promised then that I would do it, and I must do it now or\nI shall be false to my promise.'\n\n\"'That is true,' said the other knight, 'but now let us try a few\nstrokes together, to see which of us is the better knight, and then that\none shall avenge the King my brother.'\n\n\"So they drew their swords and struck a few strokes, and then the\nbrother of the King said: 'You are the better; the adventure is yours.\nBut I will go to the Red City too, so that I can fight with these\ntraitors if they kill you.\n\n\"'Come with me, then,' said Palamides, 'but if they kill me go to my\nlord, Sir Tristram, and tell him of it, and I am sure that he or Sir\nLancelot will come to avenge me and the King your brother.'\n\n\"So they both went on in the boat till they came to the Delectable Isle\nand the Red City. And there all the people welcomed them, for they all\nloved their King who was dead and hated the traitors who had killed him.\nAnd they sent messengers to the brothers to tell them that one of King\nArthur's knights had come to fight with them, to avenge King Hermance.\nAnd the brothers sent back word that they would be ready for the fight\nthe next morning.\n\n\"In the morning Palamides was ready in the lists and the people of the\ncity came to see the battle.  And when they saw what a bold and\nstrong-looking man Palamides was they began to hope that they should be\nfree of their tyrants and have another King as good as Hermance. Then\nthe brothers came and took their places at the other end of the lists,\nand when the people looked at them they began to fear again that the one\nknight from King Arthur's court could never beat them.\n\n\"It was Helake who came first against Palamides, and Palamides ran him\nthrough with his spear at the first charge and he fell dead upon the\nfield.  But the battle with Helius was not so easy.  At the first charge\nPalamides was thrown from his saddle, and as he lay on the ground,\nbefore he could get up, Helius tried to drive his horse over him, to\ncrush him.  But Palamides sprang up and caught the bridle and cried:\n'Come down and fight me fairly on foot or I will kill your horse and\nmake you do it.'\n\n\"Then Helius got off his horse and they began to fight again with their\nswords.  It was a fight for life and death, and it was a hard one.  It\nlasted for a long time, with no rest, and Helius seemed never to lose\nany ground or any strength, but Palamides grew weaker and fainter and he\nwas forced back and back across the field.  The people saw it and a low,\nsad murmur ran through the crowd.  And Palamides heard it, and for an\ninstant he glanced away from his enemy and saw the anxious faces of the\npeople and the tears in the eyes of some and the fear in the looks of\nmany.  Then he said to himself: 'Palamides, you are a knight of the\nRound Table.  Will you let the news go back to King Arthur that you were\nbeaten in a fight by a traitor and a murderer?  And you are here for\nTristram.  Will you lose his battle for him?'\n\n\"And with that thought he gathered all his strength and struck Helius\nthree great blows with his sword, one upon the other, and with the third\nhe cut through his helmet and laid him dead upon the field with his\nbrother.\n\n\"Then a great shout went up from all the people and some of them ran\naway to tell those who had not seen the fight how it had gone, and they\nbuilt bonfires and set all the bells of the city ringing, and others\ncrowded around the knight and cheered and shouted: 'Long live King\nPalamides!'\n\n\"But when they would let him speak to them Palamides said: 'You must not\ncall me so; all that I have done was for my lord, Sir Tristram. If he\ncould have come he would have fought this battle better than I.  If you\nhave any new king it is he, and now I must go back to him. But I leave\nhere this good knight, the brother of your old King Hermance, and he\nshall rule you till Sir Tristram sends to tell you what else to do.'\n\n\"Then Palamides went on board his boat again and it took him away toward\nthe Humber and toward Lonazep to find Sir Tristram.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Round Table at Winchester]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER V*\n\n               *\"CAMELOT, THAT IS IN ENGLISH WINCHESTER\"*\n\n\nEven while we were at Camelford, and again while we were at Cadbury\nCastle, I had not forgotten the words of my favorite book, \"Camelot,\nthat is in English Winchester.\"  If we were talking about hard history,\nI suppose that I should have to say that, if there ever was a real\nCamelot at all, it was probably that pleasant hill-top that we had seen\nin Somerset. Yet, when a story-teller whom I love as much as I do good\nold Sir Thomas says that Winchester was Camelot, it shall be Camelot for\nme, at least while I am there.  So we went down from London to see if\nthis third Camelot pleased us as much as the two that we had seen.\n\nFirst we walked about the streets and aimed at nothing in particular.\nThat is a good thing to do on the first day when you are in a strange\ncity.  \"If I were to try to tell you,\" I said, \"all the interesting and\nuseful and delightful things that there are to tell about Winchester, I\nshould have to go first and learn the most of them for myself.  And then\nyou would get tired of listening to them, for there would be enough of\nthem to make a book as big as a dictionary.  We are supposing, you know,\nwhile we stay, that King Arthur lived here, and, whether he did or not,\nother kings of England lived here more or less for I don't know how many\nhundred years.  King Alfred lived here and King Canute lived here and\nWilliam the Conqueror built a castle here, on the very spot, we will let\nourselves believe, where King Arthur's castle stood.\"\n\nIf the first thing to be done in a town newly visited is to walk about\nthe streets, the second is to go to the cathedral, if there is one.  So\nthe next thing that we did was to go to Winchester Cathedral.  It is not\nmuch to look at from the outside, though it is pretty enough, with the\ntrees and grass around it.  It has only the lowest of towers.  It had a\nhigher one once, but when King William Rufus was killed, they buried him\nin the cathedral and seven years afterward the tower fell down.  They\nthought that it must be because they had buried such a wicked man in the\nchurch.  But I think that there are kings as bad as William Rufus buried\nunder some English towers that have not fallen down.  There are kings\nand kings, good and bad, lying here in this cathedral. Canute is here,\nand it was here that he brought his crown and put it up over the cross,\nafter he had found, down yonder at Southampton, that he could not rule\nthe waves, as England has since been supposed to do.  To be fair to the\ncathedral, I ought to say that, though it is unpromising outside, it is\nsurely very beautiful inside.  After that I think I do not need to say\nanything more about it at all, because there are so many people who can\ntell you about this cathedral and others so much better than I can.\n\nWe left it and walked up the street to find the castle.  I think I\nforgot to say at the proper place that the whole town of Winchester that\nday was in a state of breathless excitement about a cricket match.  The\nboys of Winchester College were playing against the boys from Eton, and\npretty nearly everybody in town had gone to see the game. When we got to\nthe castle, the man who ought to have been there to show it to us had\ngone to see the cricket match, like the rest.  But his wife, who was a\nvery pleasant elderly lady, said that she would show it to us.\n\nThey hold court in the castle still.  Not the sort of court that King\nArthur used to hold, but courts of justice for the County of Hants. The\nold woman took us into one room after another and told us about the\ntrials that had taken place in them.  We pretended to be greatly\ninterested, but we were not a bit.  But by and by she took us to a place\nwhere we were interested.  It was the great hall of the castle.  I\nshould feel sorry for anybody who was not interested in the great hall\nof Winchester Castle.  It belonged to the old castle that William the\nConqueror built, where more kings and queens lived or were born or died\nor did other fascinating things than I should dare to try to remember.\nAnd this was the hall of Parliament for almost four hundred years.  \"And\nwe may as well believe,\" I said, \"that now we are standing in King\nArthur's hall.  If Winchester was Camelot there is no reason to suppose\nthat his castle was not on this very spot, and there is no reason to\nsuppose, either, that the great hall was not on this very spot.  Henry\nVII. believed it, when his son was born here and he named him Arthur.\"\n\nIt is a beautiful room as it stands to-day.  It is long and wide and\nhigh.  It has fine arches and cluster columns and windows of stained\nglass.  But what we gazed at most hung high up on the wall at the west\nend of the hall.  The old woman told us that it was King Arthur's Round\nTable.  Well, there was no doubt that it was round, and she said that\nthere was no doubt that it had been a table once, because there were\nplaces at the back of it to fasten legs.  We found a picture of the back\nof it afterwards in a book about Winchester, and it showed that she was\nright.  The table is eighteen feet across, if you insist on my being\nexact. The table is painted in quite an elaborate style.  There is a big\nrose in the middle of it, and then there is a border, and in the border\nare the words: \"This is the round table of King Arthur and his\ntwenty-four Knights.\"  This did not make us believe in the table any the\nmore, because we knew very well that twenty-four knights would not make\nany show at all in King Arthur's hall.  Above the rose, as the table\nhangs now, and with his feet resting on it, is a picture of King Arthur\nhimself. The rest of the table, except the outer edge, is painted with\nbroad stripes of dark and light, which run from the border around the\nrose to the larger border of the whole table.  The old woman asked us to\nnotice that the names of the knights were around the edge of the table.\n\nWe tried to make out the names and we did make out some of them.  There\nwere Lancelot and Lionel and Tristram and Gareth and Bedivere and\nPalamides and Bors and Kay and Mordred and others that we could not\nread. The old woman said that there were some of them that nobody had\never been able to read, and we were not so proud as to try to read what\nwe were told that nobody could.  It was King Henry VIII. who had this\ntable painted in such a gorgeous way, and it seemed to us that the\npicture of King Arthur did not look quite unlike Henry.  No, we could\nnot quite believe in the table after all.  King Arthur's Round Table had\nplaces, as we knew, for a hundred and fifty knights, and this had places\nfor only twenty-four.  Still we could not help being uncommonly\ninterested in anything that had even been called King Arthur's Round\nTable for four hundred years at the very least, and probably for six\nhundred.\n\n\"You see,\" said the old woman, \"the three pictures on the windows over\nthe Round Table are King Arthur and King Alfred and King Canute, a\nBriton and a Saxon and a Dane.\"\n\nWe looked up at the three kings on the stained glass windows, and it was\nthen that I made a dreadful mistake.  It came into my mind that it would\nbe a good plan to show off to this good lady who had so kindly shown us\nthe hall, how much we knew about these three kings.  Pride does\nsometimes go before a fall. \"Helen,\" I said, \"tell this lady something\nabout King Arthur, just to show her how much we have learned.\"\n\n\"I don't want to tell about him,\" Helen answered, \"I would rather you\nwould tell a story about him.\"\n\n\"But I am not going to tell any story now,\" I said, \"I want you to tell\none--any one you like, just to show that you can do it.\"\n\n\"But I don't want to show that I can do it.\"\n\n\"Helen, if you do not tell us something about King Arthur at once, I\nwill not tell you another story for a week.\"\n\nAnd then what did this horrible child do but stand there and recite:\n\n    \"When good King Arthur ruled this land\n      He was a goodly King;\n    He stole three pecks of barley meal\n      To make a bag-pudding.\n    A bag-pudding the king did make,\n      And stuffed it well with plums;\n    And in it put great lumps of fat,\n      As big as my two thumbs.\n    The King and Queen did eat thereof,\n      And noblemen beside;\n    And what they could not eat that night,\n      The Queen next morning fried.\"\n\nI tried to look as sorrowful as I could. \"You know very well,\" I said,\n\"that that is not true at all.  That was written by some enemy of King\nArthur.  There are plenty of good things that you know and might have\ntold us; and so, to punish you for telling that, you shall tell us now\nabout King Canute and his courtiers.\"\n\nNow Helen did not like this any more than she liked telling about King\nArthur, but she must have seen how very determined I looked, and she\ngave a little gasp and said: \"King Canute's courtiers told him that he\nwas the greatest King in the world, and that the sea would obey him if\nhe told it to do anything. So he had his chair put on the sand and he\nordered the tide not to come up and wet him, and it did come up and wet\nhim.  And he told his courtiers not to flatter him any more, and he\nnever smiled again.\"\n\n\"You get worse every minute,\" I said. \"You know very well that it was\nnot Canute who never smiled again, and for telling that story wrong you\nshall tell us now about King Alfred and the cakes.\"\n\nBy this time Helen saw that it was getting serious and that it would not\ndo any good to make any more mistakes, so she said: \"King Alfred was\nhiding from his enemies, and he was in the house of a cowherd.  And the\ncowherd's wife was baking some cakes, and King Alfred was sitting by the\nfire.  And the cakes burned and he was so busy mending his bows and\narrows that he didn't know it, so the cowherd's wife said: 'Can't you\nlook at the cakes and not let them burn?  You'll be ready to eat them\nfast enough when the time comes.'  And she didn't know that he was the\nKing.\"\n\n\"I can't say,\" I said, \"that you have told that quite as well as you\nmight, but it will do. And now, who was it that never smiled again?\n\n\"Henry I.\"\n\n\"And why?\"\n\n\"Because his son William was drowned when the White Ship was lost.\"\n\n\"Very well.  The first class in English history could sit down, if there\nwas anything to sit on.\"\n\nThe old woman was quite speechless with astonishment by this time.  I\ndon't suppose anybody had ever come into this hall and tried to tell her\nso many things about the kings who used to live in Winchester before.\nWe thanked her for her trouble and said good-by, and she just managed to\nget back enough of her senses to say that we were welcome and to bid us\ngood-by in turn.  \"And now,\" I said, \"suppose we do what everybody else\nin town is doing and go and see the cricket match.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Winchester Cathedral]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER VI*\n\n                        *THE BOAT ON THE RIVER*\n\n\nNeither Helen nor I knew enough about cricket to tell a wicket-keeper\nfrom a maiden over.  But, whether we understood what was going on or\nnot, the Winchester cricket-field that day was a pretty sight.  The\ngrass all over it was fresh and green, and around it were crowds of\ngayly dressed people, watching the game and talking and laughing and\nenjoying the warm, soft air and the bright sunshine.  For a little while\nwe walked around the edge of the field and looked at the people and the\nboys who were playing, running about and doing such absurd things as the\nplayers of a game you do not understand always do.  Then we found a\nquiet place across the field from where the most of the people were, and\nthere we sat down on the grass to rest and to try to make something out\nof the game.  But that was hopeless, and we soon gave it up.\n\n\"Just suppose,\" I said, \"that instead of these boys, with their harmless\nbats and balls and wickets, this field was filled with armored knights\non horses, with long spears and great swords.  Suppose that they were\nplaying their own rough game of the tournament, charging together and\nthrowing one another off their horses and not caring any too much,\nsometimes, whether they killed one another or not. Suppose that the\npeople from the town had all come out to see the tournament, just as\nthey have come out to-day to see the game of cricket, and that we had\ncome, too, just as we really have.  And suppose that King Arthur was\nsitting over there in his high seat to judge the knights.  If we can\nsuppose all this, I think that wee shall see pretty clearly how one of\nKing Arthur's tournaments looked when Winchester was Camelot.  There is\na story, very pretty and very sad, about a tournament that was held at\nthis very Camelot, and for all I know it may have been on this very\nfield.\n\n\"The court was at Westminster just then but the King had given out that\nthis tournament was to be at Camelot, so, when the time came, he and his\nknights set out to ride here. The Queen was sick and said that she would\nnot come with them, and Lancelot said that a wound that he had was not\nyet well and so he would stay behind too and would not fight in this\ntournament.  Now, although Lancelot was usually honest, I am sorry to\nsay that just now he was saying what was not quite true.  The truth was\nthat Lancelot wanted to be at the tournament without King Arthur or any\nof the knights knowing that he was there.  He had won in so many\ntournaments and all the knights knew so well that he was sure to win if\nhe fought, that none of them liked to fight against him, and tournaments\nwhere Lancelot was had come to be rather one-sided affairs.  So he\nthought that he would wait till the others were gone and then come to\nCamelot by himself, in armor that they did not know and carrying some\nstrange shield, and join in the tournament and fight with whom he\npleased.\n\n\"It was early morning when the others went away.  Lancelot waited till\nnoon, so that he should not overtake them on the way, and then he\nmounted his horse and rode toward Camelot. Late in the day he came to a\nplace called Astolat.  There was a castle, and Lancelot thought it best\nto stay there for the night.  The lord of the castle was an old knight,\nSir Bernard of Astolat.  He welcomed Lancelot and asked him who he was,\nbut Lancelot said: 'If you will pardon me, I do not wish to tell my\nname. I am going to the tournament at Camelot, to try what I can do\nagainst the knights who will be there, and I do not wish that any of\nthem shall know who I am.'\n\n\"When it was time for supper Lancelot sat at the table with Sir Bernard\nand his two sons, and Sir Bernard's daughter served them.  Her name was\nElaine.  And wherever Elaine went and whatever she did, she was always\nlooking at Lancelot.  It seemed to her that there was something about\nhim that was wonderful and new.  She thought that she had never seen a\nman who looked so noble, and, as he talked with her father, she thought\nthat she had never heard a man who spoke so well.  They lived a quiet\nlife there at Astolat, and this knight was telling her father about the\ncourt and about battles and tournaments.  He told things that were\nstrange to her about many of the knights, and she listened to hear him\nsay something about himself, but he did not say anything. 'Still,' she\nthought, 'when I look at him I know that he is the best of them all.'\nAnd she knew so little about knights that this was really a very good\nguess for her to make.\n\n\"But Lancelot scarcely saw Elaine at all. He knew that she was there, of\ncourse, and he knew that she was young and beautiful, and he knew that\nshe was serving them, as they sat there.  But Lancelot had seen many\nyoung girls serving at many tables--yes, and a good many of them had\nfallen in love with him, too, before this one, with or without his\nknowing it. And Lancelot asked the old man: 'Have you any plain shield\nhere that you could lend to me for this tournament?  I have told you\nthat I do not want to be known at Camelot, but every knight would know\nmy shield, if I should carry my own.'  And when she heard that, Elaine\nthought: 'He is some famous knight, I knew he was!'\n\n\"And the old man answered: 'Here are my two sons, Torre and Lavaine;\nthey are both new knights and their shields are plain and blank.  It may\nbe that Lavaine will like to go and see this tournament, but Torre\ncannot go, for he has a wound that is not well yet.  You can have his\nshield.'\n\n\"'And may I leave my own shield here,' said Lancelot, 'till I come\nback?'\n\n\"'Surely,' said the old man, 'Elaine will take good care of it for you.'\n\n\"And when she heard that, Elaine blushed from her forehead down to her\nthroat, and she stood still and gazed at Lancelot, and he looked up at\nher and said: 'If she will do that for me I shall be very grateful.'\n\n\"Lavaine had been listening to all that Lancelot said, almost as much as\nhis sister, and now he said: 'Father, if this knight will let me, might\nI not ride with him to the tournament and see the knights, and perhaps\ntry a joust with one of them?'\n\n\"'No, no,\" said his father, 'it would trouble the knight too much to\nhave such a boy with him.'\n\n\"'It would not trouble me at all,' said Lancelot; 'let him come.  He\nshall see everything, and if he wants to joust I will advise him and\nhelp him all I can.  It would be a poor return for your kindness to me\nto do less than that.'\n\n\"Then Elaine, although she scarcely dared to speak to Lancelot, said:\n'Sir Knight, if I am to keep your shield, could you not wear some token\nof mine at the tournament?'\n\n\"'My child,' said Lancelot, 'I have never done that for any lady, and it\nis against my rule.'  And then he thought again: 'All my friends know\nthat I never wear a token of any lady, and, if I do it now, it will be\nall the harder for them to know me.' So he said: 'Very well, then, I\nwill wear something for you; what is it?'\n\n\"And Elaine blushed again with happiness, and she went away and brought\nhim a sleeve of red silk, all embroidered over with pearls. And Lancelot\nbound it on his helmet.  Then they all went to bed, and in the morning\nLancelot and Lavaine rode away from Astolat together and came here to\nCamelot.  And Elaine took Lancelot's shield to her own chamber, and from\nthe tower of the castle she watched Lancelot and her brother till they\nwere out of sight.\n\n\"I don't see why I should tell you about the tournament.  I have told\nyou about such things so many times that you know how the knights\nfought, and I am sure you do not care to hear it again.  But I will tell\nyou that Lancelot came to the tournament and nobody knew him, that he\ndid better than any other knight there, that Lavaine did well, too, for\nso new a knight, and that Lancelot at last got a dreadful wound.\n\n\"Then he called to Lavaine to follow him and they rode away.  Lancelot\ncould scarcely sit on his horse, but they rode a little way from Camelot\nto a place that Lancelot knew, where a hermit lived.  The hermit had\nbeen a knight of the Round Table long ago, and when he saw Lancelot he\nknew him, and he took him into his cell and took off his armor and\ndressed his wound and did all that he could to help him. And Lancelot\nwas there with the hermit for a long time, and Lavaine stayed with him.\n\n\"Now when the tournament was over the King and all the knights wondered\nwhat had become of the knight who had worn the red sleeve, with the\npearls, on his helmet.  He had done better than any of them and the King\nwanted to find him, so that he could give him the prize.  Some of the\nknights had seen that he was wounded, but none of them had seen which\nway he went.  Then Gawain said that he would hunt for him, but he rode\nall around Camelot and could not find him, and then he went back to the\nKing' and told him that he feared that the knight who wore the red\nsleeve was dead.\n\n\"So they all went back to Westminster.  And at night Gawain came to\nAstolat and to the castle of old Sir Bernard.  And as soon as he and his\nson and his daughter heard that Gawain had come from the tournament at\nCamelot, they asked him to tell them all about it and what had been done\nthere and who had won the prize.  'The prize was won,' he said, 'by a\nknight whom nobody knew, and he carried a plain shield and wore a red\nsleeve, with pearls, on his helmet.  I never saw a knight joust better,\nbut he went away before the tournament was over and afterwards he could\nnot be found.'\n\n\"Elaine was trembling with happiness that her knight had proved the best\nof them all. 'We know him,' she cried; 'he was here with us; it was my\nsleeve that he wore, and he is the knight that I love.  I knew that he\nwas the best of knights!'\n\n\"'You know him?' said Gawain.  'Then tell me who he was, so that I may\ntell the King.'\n\n\"Then Elaine told him that she did not know his name, and she told him\nall that she did know about him, how he had come there and how he had\npromised to wear her sleeve, and how he had taken her brother's shield\nand had left his own with her.\n\n\"'Will you let me see his shield, then?' Gawain asked.  'I know so many\nshields that I might tell who he was by that.'\n\n\"So Elaine brought the shield and showed it to Gawain, and said: 'do you\nknow the knight by this?'\n\n\"'Yes, yes,' said Gawain, 'indeed, indeed, I know him; I have known him\nfor many years, and he is the best knight of the world.  He is Sir\nLancelot of the Lake.'\n\n\"And when she heard this, Elaine could not say anything, but could only\nstand before Gawain, blushing and trembling again, that the great Sir\nLancelot had worn her token at the tournament.\n\n\"'But I fear,' said Gawain, 'that we must all be sad for this, for the\nknight who wore that red sleeve with the pearls got a dreadful wound,\nand now he may be dead or dying.'\n\n\"Then Elaine begged her father to let her go to find Lancelot.  And he\nsaw that she loved him so much that it would be better for her to go and\ntry to find him and help him, if he needed her, than to stay at home and\nfret about him, not knowing whether he was alive or dead. And so Elaine\nleft Astolat to seek for Lancelot. She went first toward Camelot, and\nbefore she reached the city she met her brother, Lavaine. He did not see\nher at first, but she called to him, and she was in such haste that she\nwould not wait to tell him how their father was, or why she had come,\nbut asked him at once where Sir Lancelot was.\n\n\"'How do you know,' he said, 'that he is Sir Lancelot?'\n\n\"'It was Sir Gawain that told us,' she answered; 'he came to Astolat and\nsaw his shield and knew it.  Where is he?'\n\n\"'In a hermitage, not far from here.'\n\n\"'Then he is not dead?'\n\n\"'No,' said Lavaine, 'he was wounded and almost killed, but the hermit\nis a skilful man and knows what to do with wounds, and he hopes that he\nwill live.'\n\n\"'Take me to him, then,' said Elaine.\n\n\"So Lavaine led her to the hermit's cell. And when she saw Lancelot\nlying there, with his face thin and white, his eyes large and dark, and\nall his strength gone from him, she ran to him and fell upon her knees\nbeside his bed and hid her face in the pillow, and for a few moments she\ncould not see or speak or move. Then she rose and looked at him again\nand put her hand on his forehead, and then she went and spoke to the\nhermit and at last she came and sat down beside Lancelot.  And after\nthat she scarcely left the cell till he was well, and in all the weary\ndays that passed no one ever saw her tremble or shed a tear, and she\nnever slept when Lancelot needed her, but she was always there to nurse\nhim and care for him and help the hermit to cure him, and if he ever\nsmiled at her or called her by her name or reached out his hand and\ntouched hers she was happy.\n\n\"But Gawain had gone back to the court and had told the King and all the\nrest that the knight who wore the red sleeve was Lancelot. And then Bors\nhad set off to find him too. And Lancelot knew that Bors would come to\nfind him and he told Lavaine to watch for him in the town, and so he was\nsoon brought to the cell.  And when he and Lancelot had talked for a\nlittle while and Lancelot had asked him about the King and the Queen and\nall who were at court, Bors said: 'Is this girl whom I see about you the\none whom they call Elaine of Astolat?'\n\n\"'Yes,' said Lancelot, 'and I cannot make her go away.  I tell her that\nshe keeps herself here too close, but she will not rest or leave me.'\n\n\"'Why should she leave you?' said Bors. 'She loves you, they say, and\nhere she proves it; why can you not love her too?'\n\n\"'No,' Lancelot answered, 'I wish that it could be, but it never can.  I\nshall be grateful to her always, she has done so much for me, and I\nshall always be her knight, but I can do no more.'\n\n\"'It is for you alone to say,' said Bors, 'but I am sorry for her and\nfor you too.'\n\n\"They had spoken low, but Elaine was near and she could not help hearing\na part of what they said.  When Bors stole a glance at her he saw that\nher face was white, but there were no tears in her eyes, and when there\nwas anything for her to do for Lancelot she did it just as before, and,\njust as before, she never wanted to sleep or to be away from him.\n\n\"So Lancelot grew slowly stronger, and after a long time he could sit\nupon a horse again, and at last the hermit told him that he needed no\nmore of his care.  Then it was agreed that Lancelot and Bors and Elaine\nand Lavaine should ride together to Astolat.  There Lancelot was to rest\nand get his shield, which was still there, and then go on with Bors and\nLavaine to Westminster.  So they came to Astolat and spent the night,\nand in the morning Lancelot, Bors, and Lavaine were ready to ride on\ntheir way.  Then Lancelot said to Elaine: 'You have done more for me\nthan I can ever repay.  I shall never forget you and always and\neverywhere that I go I shall be your knight, and anything that I can\never do for you I will do gladly.'  And Elaine knew that Lancelot could\nnever do the one thing that she wished him to do for her--to love her.\n\n\"And after they were gone her father saw that she grew paler and\nthinner, day by day. Her father and her brother Torre tried to amuse her\nand cheer her and make her think less of Lancelot, but she thought of\nhim all day, and when she slept she dreamed of him.  She did not sleep\nmuch.  Every morning, before the sun rose, she was up and was looking\nout from the tower.  Sometimes she looked away toward London, where\nLancelot was, or where she thought that he was, and sometimes she would\nlook away toward Camelot, where she had been with him.  But at last she\ncould not get up to look out from her tower any more. She could not\nleave her bed, but she lay there awake all day and much of the night;\nshe talked with her father or her brother a little, and for the rest of\nthe time she thought and dreamed of Lancelot.  And one day she told her\nfather that she knew that she should live for only a little while more.\n'And now,' she said, 'you must write a letter, just as I shall tell you.\nAnd when I am dead, dress me the best you can and lay me on a couch and\nput this letter in my hand.  Then put the couch, and me upon it, into a\nboat, and let the boat be rowed down the river to Westminster, where\nLancelot and the King and the Queen are.'\n\n\"All this she made her father promise to do.  Then she told him what to\nwrite for her in the letter, and a little while after that she died.\nAnd her father did all that he had promised.\n\n\"One day King Arthur and Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot stood at a\nwindow of the palace at Westminster, looking out upon the Thames.  And\nthere they saw a little boat, all covered over with black and purple\nsilk, and with only one man to row it.  And the boat came straight on\ntill it touched the shore near the palace.  'It is a strange-looking\nboat,' said the King; 'let us go down and see what it is.'\n\n\"So they all went down and looked into the boat, and there they saw the\ndead Elaine, lying on a couch covered with silk and cloth of gold. Then\nthe Queen saw the letter in her hand and took it and opened it and saw\nthat it was to Lancelot.  But when she gave it to him Lancelot gave it\nto the King and asked him to read it.  And the letter said?  'To the\nbest knight of the world, Sir Lancelot of the Lake: I who bring you this\nletter was Elaine of Astolat.  I have died, Sir Lancelot, because you\ncould not love me.  Now I beg that you will pray for my soul and will\nbury me as I ought to be buried.'\n\n\"When the King had read this letter none of them spoke at first.  Then\nthe Queen said: 'Lancelot, could you not do her some little kindness, to\nmake her sorrow less, so that she might live?'\n\n\"'She would have nothing but my love,' said Lancelot.  'I could not give\nher that if I would, for true love, such as she should have had, must\ncome of itself, and cannot be compelled.'\n\n\"So the next day Elaine was buried as if she had been a queen, and\nLancelot and the King and the Queen and the knights of the Round Table\nwere there to see it done.  And the boat that had brought her down the\nriver went back up the river toward Astolat.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Stonehenge]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER VII*\n\n                          *THE GIANTS' DANCE*\n\n\nInstead of going from Winchester straight back to London, we took a\nlittle run across to Salisbury.  It was not so much that we wanted to\nsee Salisbury, though it is a pretty place and has a fine cathedral, but\nI wanted to go to Stonehenge.  To look at Stonehenge, I think, brings\none nearer to the history and the legend of ancient Britain than\nanything else that I have ever seen.  And if Stonehenge were nothing at\nall it would still be worth going to, for the ride to it from Salisbury\nis one of the prettiest in all England.  There is no such remarkable\nscenery, perhaps, as is to be found in many another place, but on that\nday when we rode out there the fields were fairly blazing with flowers,\nred and yellow and purple, and the little gardens were almost too full\nof them to hold them all without spilling.  It was just a free, open,\ncountry ride, with everything around looking peaceful and sweet and\nbeautiful and happy.\n\nAnd when you take that ride, if you trust to a driver who knows the way\nand where you ought to go, he will bring you soon to Old Sarum.  It is a\nhill, with a thick double wall of earth and a ditch around it, and it\nwas a Roman town once.  Perhaps it was a British town or stronghold\nbefore that.  It reminded us a little of Cadbury Castle, but it is a\ngood deal bigger.  It had a cathedral in it once, but for some reason or\nother the people began to get tired of living in it and moved down and\nmade the town of Salisbury, and there a new cathedral was built, and Old\nSarum came to be nothing at all any more but a great hilltop, with its\nwalls and its ditch around it.\n\nFrom Old Sarum we went on to Amesbury. I told the driver that I wanted\nto stay there for a little while.  I think he meant to make a little\nstay, whether I had mentioned it or not, for he got ready to do it with\nless explanation than it usually takes to get a driver to do anything he\nis not used to.  He stopped at the little hotel and gave the horse a\ndrink, and we gave him enough to get something to drink for himself.\nThen we walked on toward the church and told him to follow us in a\nlittle while.\n\nWe had walked about in the churchyard for only a minute when we saw a\nman coming toward us.  He proved to be the vicar, who had seen us and\nwas coming to show us the church. He did show it to us and told us a\ngreat many interesting things about it which I cannot remember well\nenough to repeat them here.  But I do remember that it was so old that I\ndecided that there must have been a church here in King Arthur's time,\nand that perhaps some part of this very one was standing then.\n\n\"But where is the old abbey?\" I asked. \"Are there not some ruins of that\nleft?\"\n\nWe were outside the church now and were looking about at the fields and\nthe trees.  \"Oh, no,\" the vicar said, \"there is nothing left of the\nabbey now.  It was very near where that large house is now.  That is the\nhouse of Sir Edmund Antrobus.  We can come nearer and look at it, if you\nlike.\"  So we went nearer and looked at it, and it was a handsome house,\nand then we went and stood on a little bridge across the Avon.  It was a\nshady place and the water was clear, so that we could see the trout\nswimming in it, and we looked down the river under a green arch of trees\nthat grew on the sides of the stream and sent their branches to meet\nabove it.  \"I should like you to remember this place,\" I said, \"because\nQueen Guinevere lived here for a long time.  It is not time yet for me\nto tell you how or why, but I will tell you when the time comes, and\ntill then I want you to remember how the place looks.  Remember these\nfields and this river and these trees.  I don't know, of course, whether\nthey looked the same then, but they may have been not so very different.\nSo think of Queen Guinevere sometimes standing on a bridge, just as we\nare now, or on the bank of the river, and looking down into just such\nclear water and up at just such cool, green, spreading trees.  Remember\nthat she lived over there where Sir Edmund Antrobus lives now, and that\nshe walked many a morning, it is likely, across these very fields, to a\nchurch that stood where the church is now. That is all.  Remember it\ntill we come to the story about it.\"\n\nBy the time we came out to the road the driver was waiting for us and\nwondering what we had found to keep us so long.  We got into the\ncarriage and went on again, and nothing happened till we got to\nStonehenge.  Now I know that you don't want me to describe Stonehenge to\nyou.  If you want to know a great deal more than you do about it, you\ncan find it in a good many big and learned books.  What I wish I could\ndo would be to make you see it, and I cannot do that.  It is not much to\ntell about, but it is a wonderful thing to see.  It seems to me to mean\nso much, standing there, so lonely, in the middle of Salisbury\nPlain--that great circle of half-smoothed stones--grand, sad, silent,\nolder than history--a solid, real, noble thing, left to us from a time\nout of which we have little else but fairy tales.  It was a huge circle\nof stones once, square pillars set on end and big blocks laid across\nthem.  Now many of them are lying on the ground, where they fell so long\nago that some of them are half buried in it. Some way off from the\ncircle is another tall stone, that they say the devil once threw at a\nmonk.  He was such a good man that the devil could not hurt him, but it\nstruck his foot and took the print of his heel, and the print is there\nnow, to prove the story.  In the morning of the day of the summer when\nthe sun goes highest in the sky, people come here to see it rise.  I\nhave never been here then, but they say that on that morning, if you\nstand over across the circle and look through one of the great stone\ngateways, you will see the sun rise exactly over the point of this stone\nthat the devil threw at the monk.\n\n\"I am sorry,\" I said, \"that I cannot tell you the history of Stonehenge,\nbut I can tell you the story of it, if you care to hear it.\"\n\nTo be sure Helen cared to hear it.\n\n\"We shall have to go back, then,\" I said, \"to a time long before King\nArthur was born.  Lud was the King of England.  It was for him that\nLondon was named.  Perhaps the two names do not sound very much alike to\nyou, but you know names will get a good deal twisted, the best you can\ndo.  Lud had a brother named Levelys, who had gone over to France and\nmarried a princess and had become King of France.  And about that time\nKing Lud and his people began to have a great deal of trouble.  There\nwere three things that troubled them especially.  The first was a race\nof people called the Coranians.  I don't know where these Coranians came\nfrom or what they did to make themselves so troublesome, but there is no\ndoubt that, for some reason or other, they did not get on well with\nLud's people.  And the worst of it was that there seemed to be no way to\nget rid of them.  The reason was that they had such good ears.  For they\ncould hear anything that was said anywhere on the island, no matter how\nsoftly it was spoken, if the wind was the right way.  And so no plan\nagainst them could ever be talked over without their finding out all\nabout it.\n\n\"And the second trouble was a noise, a horrible scream, that was heard\nin every house in England on the eve of every May Day.  It was so loud\nand so fearful that it frightened people half to death, and it went\nthrough them like a knife, and it chilled their blood and filled them\nwith horror, and some of them went mad because of it.\n\n\"And the third trouble was that the King never could keep anything to\neat in the house. No matter how much provision there was at night, it\nwas all gone the next morning, and nobody could find out what became of\nit.\n\n\"Now, it occurred to King Lud that his brother Levelys was a very wise\nman, and that it would be worth while to go to France and see him and\nask him if he could tell what ought to be done about all these troubles.\nSo he got ready a fleet, very quietly, so that the Coranians should know\nas little as possible about it, and sailed toward France.  And when his\nbrother heard that he was coming he got ready a fleet too, and sailed\nfrom France to meet him. When they met they were very glad to see each\nother, and they got ready to talk about King Lud's troubles.  Levelys\nwas so wise that he knew just what Lud had come for, without being told,\nso he tried to find a way for them to talk without the Coranians hearing\nthem.  And he had a horn made of brass, and he thought that if they\ntalked through that they could not be heard even by such ears as the\nCoranians had.\n\n\"But when they began to talk through it they found that whatever either\nof them said into it nothing would come out but angry and hostile words.\nThen Levelys knew that a demon had got into the horn.  So he poured wine\nthrough the horn and drove the demon out.  Then they found that they\ncould hear through the horn much better.  Levelys talked through the\nhorn and told Lud that he would give him some insects that would kill\nthe Coranians.  He must put them in water and then he must call all the\npeople of the island together and scatter the water over them.  It would\nkill all the Coranians, he said, and it would not harm Lud's own people.\n\n\"As for the second trouble, that of the dreadful noise, Levelys said\nthat it was caused by two dragons, that were fighting.  'When you go\nhome,' he said, 'you must measure your island and find the exact middle\nof it.  There you must dig a pit, and in the pit you must put a cauldron\nof the best mead, and you must cover the top of the cauldron with satin.\nThen you must watch till you see the two dragons flying in the air and\nfighting together.  After a time they will grow weary with fighting and\nthey will drop down upon the satin and sink into the cauldron.  Then\nthey will drink all the mead that there is in it and go to sleep. After\nthat you must fold the covering of satin around them and bury them in\nthe strongest place that you have.\n\n\"'And the third trouble,' Levelys went on, 'the disappearing of all your\nfood, is caused by a great enchanter, who comes and carries it away.\nAnd the reason that nobody who watches ever sees him is that he casts\nspells over all of them and makes them sleep.  But you yourself must\nwatch, and you must have a cauldron filled with cold water beside you,\nand when you feel like sleeping you must get into the cauldron and the\ncold water will keep you awake.'\n\n\"When he had heard all this Lud went home. And the first thing that he\ndid was to call all the people together, as his brother had told him.\nThen he sprinkled the water with the insects in it over all the people\nand it killed all the Coranians and did no harm to his own people.\n\n\"Then he measured the island and found that the very middle of it was in\nOxford.  You can measure it yourself, on the map, if you want to find\nout whether the middle of it is really in Oxford.  I don't say that it\nis, only that that was what Lud found.  But I suppose he must have been\nright about it, for the rest of the experiment worked perfectly.  That\nis to say, he dug the pit and put the cauldron in the pit and the mead\nin the cauldron, and the satin over the cauldron, and waited to see the\nfight of the dragons.  And the dragons came and fought and fell down\ninto the cauldron and drank up the mead and slept, and Lud covered them\nwith the satin and buried them in Snowdon, which is a great mountain in\nWales.  I am sorry that we cannot go to Snowdon at present, for I know\nthat it must be worth seeing.\n\n\"And finally Lud made such a great feast that there was sure to be a\ngood deal of it left, and then he sat up to see what would become of it.\nHe put on his armor and sat down and waited, and by and by he began to\nhear such sweet music that he could scarcely help going to sleep.  But\nhe got into the cauldron of cold water which he had ready, and that kept\nhim awake.  And at last there came a great man, dressed all in armor and\ncarrying a big basket. He began to put the food into the basket and Lud\nbegan to wonder how he could do it, for it seemed to him that there was\na great deal more of it than the basket could ever hold. But the man put\nit all in and then started to go away with it.  Then Lud stopped him and\nmade him fight with him.  And Lud beat him and would not grant him mercy\ntill he promised to be Lud's servant and to restore the value of all\nthat he had ever taken from him.\n\n\"Now we come to the second part of the story.  To get to it we have to\ncome down a good many years, to the time when Merlin, the great magician\nand wise man of King Arthur's court, was a boy.  We almost always think\nof him as an old man, with white hair and a long, white beard.  But he\nwas a boy once, just like anybody else.  And a wonderful thing about it\nwas that he knew just as much more than anybody else in the world when\nhe was a boy as he did when he was an old man.\n\n\"There was a King of England named Vortigern. He had no right to be King\nof England, but he was.  King Constantine had died not long ago, and had\nleft three sons.  They were Constans, Pendragon, and Uther.  Vortigern,\nbeing very powerful at that time, had had Constans made King and he\nhimself had become his chief adviser.  Then he had contrived to get\nConstans killed and had been crowned as King himself.  Pendragon and\nUther were too young then to rule, and those who had the care of them\nhad fled with them to France, because they knew that Vortigern would\nkill them too, if they stayed in England.  And in France the princes\nlived and grew up to be young men.\n\n\"While they were doing that, Vortigern was having a good deal of trouble\nin trying to govern the kingdom that did not belong to him.  He did it\nso badly that the people turned against him, and he had many enemies\nfrom abroad besides.  At last he called his wise men together and they\ntold him that there was nothing left for him to do but to build the\nstrongest tower he could, in the safest place he could, and then stay in\nit and try to keep himself from his enemies.\n\n\"So Vortigern hunted all over the island to find the best place to build\nhis tower, and he decided that the best place was Snowdon.  But when his\nworkmen began to build there was more trouble.  No matter how much they\nbuilt in a day, it all fell down in the night, and the next day they had\nto begin all over again. When that had gone on for awhile Vortigern\ncalled his wise men together again and asked them what was the matter.\n\n\"The wise men did not know in the least, but they tried to look wiser\nthan they had ever looked before in their lives, and they said that in a\nfew days they would find out.  Then they got together, away from the\nKing, and talked it all over and tried to make up their minds why the\nKing's tower would not stand.  I don't know all the absurd ways that\nthey had of thinking that they found out things, but the one that they\nbelieved in the most was studying the stars. So they studied the stars\nas hard as ever they could, but not a thing could they find out from\nthem about the King's tower and why it would not stand.  But they were\ndreadfully scared by something else that they thought they saw in the\nstars.  This was that every one of them would finally be brought to his\ndeath by a child who never had a father.  Then one of them, who was a\nlittle brighter than the others, said: 'If we cannot do anything for the\nKing, perhaps we can do something for ourselves.  Let us try to kill\nthis child who never had a father, before he kills us.  Let us tell the\nKing that we have found out from the stars that his tower will stand, if\nhe mixes the mortar with the blood of a child who never had a father.\nThen he will find the child and kill him and we shall be safe.\"\n\n\"They all thought that this was a good plan, so they went and told the\nKing that he must find a child who never had a father and mix his blood\ninto the mortar.  So the King sent out messengers in every direction to\nhunt for a child who never had a father.  As I told you at first, Merlin\nwas a child then, and perhaps you remember that I told you a long time\nago that nobody ever knew who Merlin's father was, unless, as some\npeople said, he was the son of a devil.  Well, one day two of\nVortigern's messengers came to the town where Merlin lived, and Merlin\nand some other children were playing in the street.\n\n\"Just as the messengers came along Merlin struck one of his playmates.\nThe boy cried out and asked Merlin how he dared to strike him, when he\nwas the son of a great man and when Merlin never had any father.  When\nthe messengers heard that, of course they were interested at once.  They\nasked about Merlin and they found that the story was indeed that this\nboy never had any father, so they told him that the King wanted him and\nthat he must come with them.  'I am ready to go with you,' Merlin said,\n'and I am not afraid, though I know that the King means to kill me.  You\ncould never have found me if I had not been willing that you should.  I\nknew that you were looking for me and I struck the other boy so that he\nwould say just what he did, to tell you that I was the child that the\nKing wanted.  I shall not let the King kill me and I shall tell him what\nmakes his tower fall down.'\n\n\"Then the messengers went back to the King and took Merlin with them.\nWhen he came before the King Merlin said: 'My lord, you mean to kill me\nbecause your wise men have told you that my blood will make your tower\nstand.  But they know nothing about it.  Call them and let me question\nthem and prove to you that they know nothing about it.'\n\n\"So the King called his wise men and Merlin said to them: 'What is under\nthe place where the King wants to build his tower?'\n\n\"The wise men studied and whispered together and tried to look wiser\nthan ever, but at last they had to say that they did not know what was\nunder the place.  'Then I will tell you,' said Merlin; 'there is water\nunder it; my lord, have your workmen dig down and see.\n\n\"So the workmen were set to digging and after awhile they came to the\nwater.  'Now what is under that?' said Merlin to the wise men.\n\n\"And again they could not tell.  'There are two great stones under it,'\nsaid Merlin; 'draw the water off and see.'\n\n\"So they drew off the water and there were the stones, just as Merlin\nsaid.  'Now,' said Merlin to the wise men, 'tell the King what is under\nthese stones.'\n\n\"And the wise men, who were getting pretty well scared by this time,\ncould not tell.  'There are two dragons under the stones,' said Merlin;\n'one of them is red and the other is white; when the stones are lifted\nthey will fight and the red dragon will kill the white one.'\n\n\"The wise men had not another word to say and the King told the workmen\nto take up the stones.  They took them up and, surely enough, there were\nthe dragons.  And, just as Merlin had said, they began to fight.  People\nwere fond of fights in those days and there surely never was a better\none of its kind than this.  But everybody who saw it felt that it could\nbe seen better a little way off.  They were a good deal relieved when\nMerlin told them that the dragons would not hurt any of them and would\nonly kill each other.  And no doubt it was a fine fight to look at.  The\ndragons were horrible creatures, with snaky bodies and wings like bats\nand long, sharp teeth and claws.  And they flew above the heads of the\npeople and struck at each other with their claws and twisted about each\nother and tore with their teeth and breathed fire out of their mouths,\nand roared and shrieked till the air shook.  And at last the red dragon\nkilled the white one, and then he fell down to the ground, and in a\nlittle while he died too.\n\n\"'Now,' said Merlin, 'you can build your tower and it will stand.  But\nwhat is to be done,' he went on, 'with these men who tried to make you\nkill me?  Is it not fair, my lord, that you should give them to me and\nlet me do whatever I like with them?'\n\n\"'That is fair,' said the King; 'take them and do with them what you\nlike.'\n\n\"Of course the wise men were all begging Merlin for mercy now, and\ntelling him that all they did was only because the stars had told them\nthat he was to cause their death.  'That is true,' said Merlin; 'I know\nthat you really thought that you saw that in the stars, but I know too\nthat it was only because an evil spirit was deceiving you.  He is a\nspirit who hates me and he made you see what you saw in the stars in the\nhope of destroying me.  So it was not so much your fault, and I forgive\nyou.'\n\n\"After that Vortigern built his tower and it stood.  But he was not\nhappy or safe in it long. The sons of the old King Constantine,\nPendragon and Uther, who had been taken to France, were grown up by this\ntime and they came over to England with an army, to get back from\nVortigern the kingdom which belonged to them.  To make a short story of\nit, they captured Vortigern's strong tower and killed him, and then\nPendragon was King of England.  But the country was not peaceful yet.\nThe Saxons, who had come many times before, came still and tried to\nconquer the Britons.  Then Merlin foretold that there would be a great\nbattle on Salisbury Plain.  There, he said, Pendragon and Uther and\ntheir army would fight with the Saxons and would beat them, but one of\nthe brothers would be killed.  He would not say which one, but he said\nthat the one who lived must take his brother's name, besides his own,\nand be King of England, and he must build a monument to his brother on\nSalisbury Plain that should last forever.\n\n\"So the great battle was fought on Salisbury Plain, all around where we\nare now, and the Saxons were beaten.  But when it was over, they found\nthat many of the Britons had been killed, and that the King, Pendragon,\nwas among them.  So his brother Uther was made King and took his name\nand was called Uther Pendragon.  Then the new King sent for Merlin and\nsaid to him: 'How shall I build the monument to my brother on Salisbury\nPlain, so that it shall last forever?'\n\n\"And Merlin answered: 'Send to Ireland and get the Giants' Dance, and\nset it up for a monument to your brother.'\n\n\"'What is the Giants' Dance?' the King asked.\n\n\"'It is a circle of great stones,' Merlin answered.  'The giants brought\nthem long ago from Africa and set them up in Ireland.'\n\n\"'And how shall I bring them here?' the King asked.\n\n\"'Send ships and men to get them,' Merlin answered, 'and I will go to\nshow them how.'\n\n\"So the ships were got ready and Merlin crossed over with the men into\nIreland.  He knew the place to go, and there stood the Giants' Dance, a\ngreat circle of upright stones, with other great stones lying across the\ntops of them.  'Now see if you can take them down,' said Merlin.  And\nthey tried.  They brought timbers and ropes and made levers and pulled\nand pushed and did everything that they could think of.  And they could\nno more move even one of the stones than they could move the mountain\nthat they stood on.  'Now rest a little while,' said Merlin.\n\n\"Then Merlin, all alone, walked about the stones and in and out among\nthem, and he seemed to be saying something or singing something, but\nnobody could understand what it was.  'Try again to move them,' he said.\n\n\"They tried again and this time it was as easy as if the stones had been\nbags filled with air.  They put them on board the ships and they sailed\nback to England, and Merlin set them up, just as they had been in\nIreland, here on Salisbury Plain, where Pendragon had been killed.  And\nafterward, when Uther Pendragon died, he was buried here at Stonehenge,\ntoo.\n\n\"That is all of the story and here is Stonehenge to prove that it is\ntrue.  If anybody cares to say that this story is not true, let him tell\nme how else these stones came here.  Let him try to tell me how else\nthey could come here.  Merlin told King Uther Pendragon that he would\nbuild a monument that should stand forever.  Forever is a long time.\nMany of the stones have fallen now, you see, but still many of them\nstand, and it is not for us to say that Merlin was wrong and that this\nmonument will not be here always.  All that we can know is that the\nstones, fallen or standing, are here where Merlin put them, that they\nstill show us the place where the battle was and where Pendragon fell,\nand that the sun, on the longest day of the summer, still rises over the\none stone away down there and looks through the gate that Merlin built,\ninto the wonderful, old, mysterious, magic circle, where the two kings,\nPendragon and Uther, are buried.  And after all, I think that I would\nrather not know any more about Stonehenge than that.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: St. Michael's Mount]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER VIII*\n\n                       *ON THE EDGE OF LYONNESSE*\n\n\nWe had meant, when Helen's mother should come from Paris, to go back to\nGlastonbury and begin our journey again where we had left off.  But when\nshe came we thought better of it.  We decided that, since we were going\nto the Southwest of England again, we might as well go all the way and\nsee the Land's End. Then, we thought, we could go to Glastonbury just as\nwell on the way back.\n\nSo it happened that when Helen's mother was with us again, we took the\nlongest railway ride that we had taken yet, and at the end of it we\nfound ourselves in Penzance.  Penzance is the place where the pirates\nwere, you know. We had always supposed that that was a made-up story and\nthat there never were really any pirates of Penzance.  But we found that\nthe pirates were there still.  Only now they do not scuttle ships any\nmore, if they ever did; they keep hotels.  But that is an unpleasant\nsubject.\n\nWe set off the next morning for a long drive--which was to be partly a\nwalk--to the Land's End.  There were many things that were worth seeing\nbefore we got to the Land's End, or anywhere near it.  First there was\nthe harbor of Penzance, one of the prettiest that I ever looked out\nupon.  And over on the other side of it, stately and beautiful against\nthe summer morning sky, stood St. Michael's Mount. St. Michael's Mount\nis a cone-shaped hill, rising high out of the water, with a castle on\nthe top of it.  It is one of those things that are so picturesque that\nthey surprise you when you see them in a real scene, because they look\ntoo perfect to belong outside a painted picture.\n\n\"And who do you suppose used to live on the top of that hill?\" I said.\n\"Why, the old giant Cormoran, the one whom Jack the Giant-Killer knocked\non the head with his pickaxe, the very first giant whom he killed.  Of\ncourse I should not think of telling you that story, at your time of\nlife; I only tell you that there is the place. But I might tell you\nabout another giant, and let you try to straighten out his story, if you\nlike, better than I can.  Over across the channel from here, in France,\nthere is another St. Michael's Mount.  I have never seen it, but the\npicture of it looks as much like this one as if it were its own brother.\nI think that I have told you before that the people of old days used to\nthink that high hills belonged somehow to St. Michael.  Well, over there\non the other St. Michael's Mount lived another giant with whom King\nArthur himself once had a little tussle. The giant's name was Ryence,\nand he had a mantle trimmed with kings' beards.  You remember something,\nperhaps, that I told you once about a King named Ryence, who had a\nmantle trimmed with kings' beards.  It is rather curious that there\nshould be two of them.\n\n\"It was when King Arthur went over to France on his way to fight the\nEmperor of Rome that he heard of this giant.  He was a terror to the\nwhole country, for he killed hundreds of people and spoiled crops, and\nhis favorite food was little boys.  I don't know why he liked little\nboys so much better than little girls, but I suppose he knew more about\nwhich were the better to eat than I do.\n\n\"When Arthur heard about the giant he took Sir Kay and Sir Bedivere with\nhim and went to the foot of the hill.  There he told them to wait for\nhim, and went up the hill alone.  He found the giant sitting before a\nfire cooking a man for his supper.  Arthur got close to him and wounded\nhim with his sword before the giant knew that he was there.  Then he\nsprang up and caught hold of Arthur, and they both fell and rolled over\nand over each other clear to the bottom of the hill, and Arthur managed\nto give the giant two or three more wounds on the way. Kay and Bedivere\nran to see if the King was killed, and they found that he was scarcely\nhurt at all and that the giant was dead.\n\n\"I don't say that there is anything so very remarkable about that.  It\nis just a plain sort of every-day giant story.  But here are the strange\npoints, I think.  Here were two hills looking wonderfully alike and with\nthe same name, and a giant lived and was killed on each of them. And\nhere were two giants, both named Ryence, for King Ryence was a giant,\ntoo, and they both had mantles trimmed with kings' beards, and Arthur\nkilled one and beat the other.  It looks to me as if two stories, at\nleast, had got a little mixed, or else one story twisted in two.  How\ndoes it look to you?\"\n\nThere is no reason, that I can see, why I should try to tell you all\nabout the way from Penzance to the Land's End.  It will not do you much\ngood to know that it was grand and beautiful, as long as you were not\nthere to see its grandeur and its beauty.  We stopped at St. Buryan, and\na very old woman showed us the church.  It is a curious old place, and\nit has some fine carvings.  But the old woman, who showed us everything\nand explained it to us, could not understand what there was about it\nthat we found interesting.  She had been showing this church to people,\nshe said, for more than fifty years, and she had never been able to make\nout yet why they wanted to see it.\n\nThen we went on to see the Logan Rock, and got a guide to find it for\nus.  We could never have found it for ourselves, because it is so mixed\nup with so many other rocks.  It is a huge rocking stone.  It weighs I\ndon't know how many tons, but a strong man can move it a little, if he\nknows just how and where to take hold of it and push.  The guide rocked\nit for us, and he said that we did it ourselves when we tried, but I\nthink he flattered us.  He helped us to climb on the top of it--not an\neasy thing to do at all--and then he rocked it with us sitting on it.\nAs he led the way back he took us through a narrow passage between two\ngreat rocks and told us that we must each of us make a wish as we passed\nthrough and never tell what it was, and then it would come true. \"But we\ndon't need to ask what the young ladies wish,\" he said, \"they all wish\nthe same thing.\"  We wondered how many years he had been making that\nsame joke over and over again.  No doubt he must have got some pretty\ntips by it, when there were young women and young men both in the party.\n\nWe were going to walk from here to the Land's End, five miles, for it\nwas one of the places where we had been told that we must walk, so as to\nsee the scenery.  We had already told the driver to go on to the Land's\nEnd and wait there for us.  The guide showed us how to go and offered to\ngo with us, but we thought that we did not need him.  \"You won't be able\nto see the Scillys to-day,\" he said.  \"Sometimes you can see them from\nthe Land's End, but it isn't clear enough to-day.  But you can be sure\nof a fine day to-morrow.  When it is clear enough to see the Scillys it\nalmost always rains the next day.\"\n\nSo we felt cheered at missing a sight that we had hoped to see, and went\non our way.  All the way the walk was up headlands and down ravines,\nwith many grand and beautiful pictures--great crags and domes and\npinnacles of rock and deep valleys and gorges and caves, and the sea\nalways crashing and roaring down below us.\n\nAnd when we came to the Land's End, of course that was the best of all.\nFor there the sea seemed rougher than anywhere else, though it was not a\nrough day.  It was no new thing for us to stand on a point of rock, with\nall the land behind us and nothing but boundless ocean before us.  We\ndid not need to come to the Land's End or to England for that.  But\nthere was something awful and solemn about these towers of stone that\nstood here to keep the sea from washing England away, and about the sea\nthat was working at them while we looked, dashing up against them and\nslipping back and dashing up again, as it had been doing for thousands\nof years before we had come to look, and as it would do for thousands of\nyears after we were gone.  And after all these ages of work and struggle\nthe waves seemed to be still angry, still fierce and full of wrath that\nthe land should resist them so long.  \"Old rocks,\" they seemed to say,\n\"you think that you are firm and steady and strong.  But wait--and\nwait--there is much time before both of us still. Stand against us as\nyou will; we shall still clash and beat upon you, and at last, in spite\nof all your firmness, we shall wear and wash you away, and we shall\ncover you sometime as we covered old Lyonnesse.\"\n\nLyonnesse!  That, after all, I believe, is the wonderful thing to think\nof at the Land's End. \"Yes, now,\" I said, \"we are looking straight out\nover Lyonnesse--Tristram's country, the country that is lost.  This is\nwhere it began, and it stretched away out there where there is nothing\nnow but ocean, away out to the Scilly Islands, which we are not to see\nto-day.  For thirty miles old Lyonnesse reached out from here, and even\nnow, they say, for all that way, the bottom of the ocean lies at an even\ndepth, and not like the bottom in other places.  And they say, too, that\nwhen the water had covered Lyonnesse for so long that people had almost\nforgotten that there ever was any land there, the fishermen used to\nthink of it again, because they sometimes drew up their hooks with\npieces of doors and windows caught upon them.  And nothing more than\nthese ever came back of a country that had its towns and its fields and\nits forests and its people, which were all lost under the water\ntogether.\n\n\"And I remember an old book which says that more than Lyonnesse was\ntaken away from Cornwall by the sea.  For the old book says that St.\nMichael's Mount, which we saw this morning, used to have another name,\nthat meant 'the rock in the wood.'  And from this it was thought that\nSt. Michael's Mount stood in a forest once, and not in the sea, as it\ndoes now. And the book, which was written about three hundred years ago,\nsays that even then, when the tides were low around St. Michael's Mount,\nthe stumps and roots of great trees were sometimes seen half buried in\nthe sand.\"\n\nPerhaps this is all nothing but old fable, but the land of Cornwall and\nthe sea of Cornwall look as if it were true.  How could these terrible\nwaves and tempests tear and beat and surge upon this country, even with\nits walls of rock, without taking something away?  You can laugh at the\nold wives' tales--if it is your way to laugh at such things--it is not\nours--while you are at home, but when you stand at the Land's End and\nlook out to sea, if you have a bit of the love of a story in you, you\nmust and you will believe in Lyonnesse.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Land's End]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER IX*\n\n                          *THE SIEGE PERILOUS*\n\n\nIt does not matter just where we were when we told and heard these next\nfew stories. Neither do I need to use quotation marks all through them.\nYou will understand that we did tell them and hear them somewhere. They\nbelong to no place.  When King Arthur's knights set out from Camelot to\nseek the Holy Grail everything seemed at once to grow mysterious and\nmarvellous and magical.  Place and time were unknown and almost\nunthought of. Knights rode about without knowing or caring where they\nwent.  Sometimes they found more wonderful adventures than had ever been\nthought of before, and sometimes they rode for days and saw no house and\nno living thing. Friends met friends and did not know them; fathers\nfought with sons, and brothers with brothers.  New knights won glory and\nknights who were old and tried were put to shame. Common men became\nprophets, and so prophets became common.  The worst of men gave counsel\nto the best of knights, and the knights could scarcely tell whether the\nthings that they were told to do were the best and the wisest or the\nmost foolish and the worst.  There were signs and omens and visions, and\nthere were hard trials of courage and of faithfulness.\n\nThere are a hundred stories of what was seen and said and done.  They\nare all different, and among them all much seems confused and dim and\nuncertain.  But everywhere and through everything is seen, like a clear\nflash of fleeting flame, one perfect knight, the strongest, noblest,\ngreatest knight who ever came to Arthur's court, the one best knight of\nall the world. Others wander and stray and are tempted and overcome and\ndisheartened, and then there is a gleam of a fire-colored armor, and\nthere is a swift stroke of a spear that never missed its aim, the wicked\nare overthrown, the helpless are rescued, and the knight has passed on\ntoward his goal of the Holy Grail.\n\nIt all began on the night before the feast of Pentecost, when so many\nstrange things happened.  The King and the Queen and the knights were in\nthe great hall at Camelot, and a woman, whom no one knew, rode into the\nhall on horseback.  She dismounted and came before the King and said:\n\"My lord, tell me which is Sir Lancelot.\"\n\n\"That is Sir Lancelot,\" said the King, pointing to where he sat.\n\n\"Sir Lancelot,\" she said, \"I am sent to you by King Pelles.  He asks you\nto come with me to an abbey in a forest not far from here.\"\n\n\"And what am I to do there?\" Lancelot asked.\n\n\"I am not to tell you that,\" she said; \"I am only to bring you to the\nabbey.\"\n\n\"I will go with you, then,\" said Lancelot, \"if it is to please King\nPelles.\"\n\n\"Lancelot,\" said the Queen, \"to-morrow is the feast of Pentecost; shall\nyou not be with us then?\"\n\n\"Madame,\" said the woman, \"he shall be back here by dinner-time\nto-morrow.\"\n\nSo Lancelot put on his armor and rode with the woman till they came to\nthe abbey in the forest.  There, when he was unarmed, some nuns came to\nhim, leading a young man.  \"Sir Lancelot,\" one of them said, \"this young\nsquire is the grandson of King Pelles.  He is strong and brave and\nnoble.  He has learned much and it is time now for him to be made a\nknight. He asks you, and so does King Pelles and so do we, that you will\nmake him a knight.\"\n\nThen Lancelot looked at the young man. He was scarcely more than a boy\nin his years but he was tall and strong.  Lancelot thought that he had\nnever seen so beautiful a face besides its beauty there was courage in\nit, and freedom and hope and all the rich flush and glow of a bright,\nnew manhood.  And a strange feeling came to Lancelot as he looked, and a\nvoice seemed to be saying in his ears: \"He has come!  He has come!\"\nLancelot could not have told what it meant.  He only felt that there was\nsomething in this young man that made him different from any other he\nhad ever seen, something without a name, by which he knew that he was\ngreater and finer and truer than the rest.  \"To-night, then,\" said\nLancelot, \"let him watch his arms in your chapel, and to-morrow I will\nmake him a knight.\"\n\nAnd so it was done.  The young man watched his arms in the chapel while\nthe others slept, and in the morning Lancelot made him a knight. Then\nLancelot begged the new knight to come to the court with him, but he\nanswered: \"No, it is not time for me to go to the court, but I shall be\nthere with you soon.\"\n\n\"So Lancelot rode back to Camelot alone. And then began the most\nwonderful day of all King Arthur's reign.  When Lancelot had come and\nall the knights were sitting in the hall a squire ran in and went to the\nKing and said: 'My lord, I have just come up from the river, and down\nthere a great stone is floating on the water and there is a sword\nsticking in it.'\n\n\"That is a wonderful thing, truly,\" said the King; \"we will go and see\nit.\"\n\nSo the King and the Queen and all the knights left the hall and went\ndown to the river.  And there, truly enough, was the stone, floating on\nthe river, and there was the sword sticking in it, as the squire had\nsaid.  And the King saw letters on the stone and he came near and read\nthem: \"No one shall ever draw this sword out of this stone except the\none to whom it belongs, the best knight of the world.\"\n\n\"Surely,\" said the King, \"I think that the best knights of the world are\nin my court; who will try to draw this sword?\" and he looked toward\nLancelot.\n\n\"I do not think,\" said Lancelot, \"that the sword is mine, and I will not\ntry to draw it.\"\n\nBut many of the other knights tried to draw the sword and could not, and\nthe King looked at Lancelot again and said: \"Will you not try to take\nthis sword?  Surely there is no better knight in the world than you.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Lancelot, \"it is not for me. Remember, my lord, all the\nwonderful things that Merlin told long ago.  The best knight of the\nworld is not among us yet, but I believe that he is coming soon.  Let us\nall go back to the hall, my lord, and keep our feast and wait for him.\"\n\nAnd back they went to the hall, and they were scarcely in their places\nwhen there came another wonder.  An old man came into the hall, leading\na young man by the hand.  They saw that he was an old man only by his\nfigure and by his step and by the end of a white beard which they could\nsee.  For he wore a long, white robe, and a hood hung low down over his\nface, so that they could not see it.  The young man was dressed all in\nflame-colored armor, and he had no shield or sword, but an empty\nscabbard hung by his side.  They came and stood close to the throne and\ncloser to the Siege Perilous.  Bors sat near them, and it seemed to him\nthat he knew, just as it had seemed to him once before, long ago, at the\nCastle of Carbonek, that this old man was Joseph of Arimathaea, who\nwould have died hundreds of years ago, but that the power of the Holy\nGrail kept him alive.  And he knew, too, that the young man was the\nbeautiful child with the deep eyes and the bright, sweet face and the\nhair like gold, whom he had seen at the Castle of Carbonek.  Percivale\nsat next to Bors, and it seemed to him too that he knew the old man,\nthough how he could not tell. Next to Bors on the other side was\nLancelot, and what he knew was that the young man was the one whom he\nhad made a knight that morning at the abbey.\n\n\"King Arthur,\" said the old man, \"I have brought you a new knight, Sir\nGalahad.  You have waited for him long, for you were told of him before\nhe was born, and his place at your Round Table was waiting for him\nbefore you yourself were born.\"\n\n\"He is welcome here,\" said the King, \"and you are welcome too.\"  But\nalmost before he had spoken the old man was gone from the hall and the\nyoung knight in the flame-colored armor stood before him alone.  Yes,\nthere at last he stood, Galahad, whose name had been spoken with wonder\nor with hope or with doubt so many times.  Only the best knight of the\nworld, Merlin had said, should sit in the Siege Perilous, and the best\nknight of the world should be Galahad.  How many times Arthur had looked\nat that seat and wondered why his best knight, Lancelot, could not sit\nthere, and what the knight could be like who should be better than\nLancelot.  And now here he stood--Galahad.\n\nBut there was something else for the best knight of the world to do.\nThe knights who filled the hall were not thinking then of the Siege\nPerilous.  They were thinking of the stone floating on the river, and\nthe sword sticking in it.  The King saw them whispering together and\npointing that way and he said to the young man: \"If you are indeed that\nGalahad whom we have waited for so long, you are more welcome than any\nother who has come here since Lancelot, my best knight till now, the son\nof my old friend King Ban.  It you are that true Galahad who was\npromised, then you will be the best of all my knights--better than\nLancelot.  Will you come and prove to us whether you are so?\"\n\nThen the King took the young man's hand and led him down to the river\nand all the rest followed them to see.  And the King said: \"Try if you\ncan draw that sword, for none of my other knights can draw it.\"\n\n\"See, my lord,\" said the young man, \"I have brought no sword, only this\nempty scabbard, for I knew that I should find my sword here.\"  And he\ntook hold of the sword that stuck in the stone and drew it out and put\nit in his scabbard.\n\nThere was no doubt of it now; the knight whom they had waited for had\ncome.  Yet the King's face was sad as he led the way back to the hall,\nfor it seemed to him that now there could be little to wait for and the\ndays of the Round Table would not be many more.  But other thoughts came\nto him a moment later, when the new knight knelt before him to take the\noath that would make him a knight of the Round Table.  For then, just\nfor an instant, it seemed to him that the time had gone back to the\nbeginning of his reign.  There was a look in the young man's eyes that\nbrought back the day when Lancelot had knelt before him like this and\nhad sworn this oath and when he had believed that Lancelot would surely\nbe the one perfect knight.  Yes, it was the same clear light that he had\nseen for an instant that day in Lancelot's eyes, the glow of something\ngreat and wonderful, he knew not what.  But there was more in the face\nof this new knight.  There was something which told Arthur that, though\nhe swore that in all things he would be true and loyal to God and to the\nKing, yet, without the oath, he could never have a thought that would\nnot be true and loyal.\n\nAnd the King scarcely knew whether it was great joy or great sorrow that\nmade him almost tremble before this boy.  And when he took his hand\nagain they all saw that his face was white as he turned toward the seat\nthat was next the throne.  And there at last in that Siege Perilous were\nthe letters, more of fire than of gold, as they seemed: \"This is the\nseat of Galahad.\"\n\nThose who could see whispered to those who could not and the word ran\ndown the hall and then in an instant everyone was still.  After all\nthese years of waiting, after the wonders and the prophecies, would any\none, even Galahad, dare to sit in that seat?  They had feared that seat\nand had seen it empty so long that they could not believe it, and they\nall stood up in their places and strained their eyes and held their\nbreaths in wonder and dread.  And of all who were there Galahad alone\nhad no fear and no dread.  Only for an instant he stood there, with the\neyes of all the rest upon him and his own upon the King's, and then he\nsat in the Siege Perilous.\n\nEvery seat at the Round Table was filled. For the first time since\nMerlin made that table for Uther Pendragon there were a hundred and\nfifty knights around it and no seat was empty. Then of a sudden the hall\ngrew dark.  Thick clouds seemed to have come over the sun and they heard\na great wind outside.  Then there was thunder that shook the castle and\nalmost deafened them.  It was over in a moment and through an upper\nwindow there shone one broad beam of sunlight.  It slanted down from the\ntop of the hall to near where Galahad sat, and still the rest of the\nhall was dark.  And then came the strangest thing of all.  They saw a\nsoft, red glow of light, through the darkness of the hall, and it moved\ntoward the place where the sunlight fell.  They could not see what it\nwas clearly, for it had a covering of white silk, and the red glow shone\nthrough this and filled the room.  And the thing that shone was in the\nform of a goblet.  It moved, as if someone were carrying it, but they\ncould not see anyone.  It moved till it came where the sun shone upon\nit, and then the hall was bright and the knights could see one another.\nAnd it seemed to each of them that the others looked greater and\nstronger and more beautiful than he had ever seen them look before.\nThey knew, all of them, that this that they almost saw, but could not\nsee, was the Holy Grail.  It passed on again, away from the sunlight and\nacross the hall, and the red glow was gone.  The sunlight was gone too,\nand then the old light came slowly back and they all saw that the table\nhad been covered with food.\n\nAt first they were all so full of wonder at the sight that none of them\ncould speak.  Then Gawain, who sat on King Arthur's left, rose and held\nup the cross-shaped hilt of his sword. \"My lord,\" he said, \"we know that\nit was the Holy Grail that passed before us just now. But we did not see\nit.  So now I make this vow, my lord, that I will leave this court and\nseek the Holy Grail, that I may see it more openly than we have all seen\nit to-day.  I will seek it for a year and a day, if I do not find it\nsooner, and if I have not found it then I will come back, believing that\nGod does not wish that I should see it.\"\n\nThen the knight who was next to Gawain held up the cross-shaped hilt of\nhis sword, as Gawain had done, and made the same vow, that he would seek\nthe Holy Grail for a year and a day, unless he found it sooner.  And so\nit went around the table, and they all made the vow, and last of all\nLancelot and Bors and Percivale and Galahad.\n\nAnd Arthur had listened to them all and had spoken no word, but his face\nwas pale and troubled.  For he knew that if his knights went away upon\nthis quest many of them would not come back, and he should never see all\nthe places at the Round Table full again, as he saw them now.  And when\nthey had all made the vow he said in a low voice to Gawain: \"When will\nyou leave us to go upon this quest?\"\n\n\"At once, my lord,\" said Gawain; \"to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Not so soon as that,\" said the King.  \"Let me see all my knights\ntogether for one more day.  We will have a tournament to-morrow. You\nshall all meet before me once more in one fine field of combat and then\nyou may go.\"\n\nAnd the knights all saw how sad the King was at their leaving him, and\nthey were all glad to do as he wished.  But the King had another reason\nfor the tournament that was to be the next day.  He did want to see all\nhis knights together for one last time, but there was more than that.\nFor here on his right, in the Siege Perilous, sat Galahad.  He was the\nbest knight of all the world, or he could not sit in that seat. Arthur\nknew--he could not tell how, but he knew--that when Galahad left the\ncourt to seek the Holy Grail he would never come back.  The best knight\nof the Round Table, the best knight who had ever been in his court,\nwould go away forever, and he had never seen him in one knightly combat\nand would never know how he could fight, how he could ride, or how he\nbore his arms.  And this was the reason, more than the other, why Arthur\nwished to see one great tournament of all his knights.\n\nSo in the morning the meadow at Camelot was thronged again with the\npeople who came out to see the tournament, all the more eager because\nthey had heard of the wonders of the day before and of Galahad, and\nbecause they knew that he would be there in the field.  The King sat in\nthe highest place, with the Queen beside him, and it was with sad faces,\nthough they were proud too, that they looked down upon their knights\nstriving together in the tournament.  They could scarcely have told\nafterward what any other knight did, for it seemed to them all that day\nthat they saw only one knight.  Wherever they looked they saw those\nflame-colored arms of Galahad flashing up and down the field.  His horse\nnever faltered, his spear never failed, his arm never grew weary.  He\nbore no shield, but every spear that touched his armor was shattered,\nand when he pointed his own spear at any other knight and charged\nagainst him that knight went down.  But the King and the Queen saw that,\nwhile the others were all falling before him, he never came near to\nLancelot or to Bors or to Percivale.  He would not joust with them and\nso they all three did nobly in the tournament too.  And the King was so\nfilled with the wonder of all that he saw Galahad do that when it was\nover he could scarcely speak to him. But he held his hand and looked\nlong at him and said, in a voice that sounded strange and uncertain:\n\"Galahad, I have seen the best that a knight can do.\"\n\nThat was their last night all together in the great hall at Camelot.\nAfter it came a sad morning.  The knights were ready early and the King\nwas ready to see them go, though he could scarcely take the hand of each\nand say good-by, so great was his grief at their going. The knights all\nmounted together and rode through the streets of Camelot, between the\nlines of people who had come out of their houses to see them go, and so\nout through the gate and away from the city.  And the King and the Queen\nstood on a tower of the castle to watch them as long as they could.  At\nfirst they could pick out here an armor and there a banner and know that\nthis was Galahad, this Lancelot, and that Gawain.  But when they were\nfarther off they could not do this any more; they could only see the\nbig, bright spot upon the road where the morning sunlight struck upon\nthe armors, and then their eyes were tired with looking and something\ncame across them so that for a moment they could not see at all.  The\nbright spot on the road grew smaller and smaller.  It flashed and\ntwinkled and shivered.  Was it a cloud of dust that rose now behind the\nknights and hid the glimmer of their arms, or was there something in the\nKing's eyes again so that he could not see it?  Once more he saw the\nfar-off flash, fainter now, and yet again, and then the dust rose and\nthere was no more to see.  And so the noble fellowship of the Round\nTable passed away from King Arthur and out of his sight like a setting\nstar.\n\n\n *[Illustration: \"The bright spot on the road grew smaller and smaller\"\n                         (missing from book)]*\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"A pasture where a hundred and fifty bulls were feeding\"]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER X*\n\n                                *GAWAIN*\n\n\nAll that day the knights of the Round Table rode together, and in the\nevening they came to a city where they all lodged for the night.  The\nnext morning they parted and rode different ways.  In the days and the\nweeks and the months that followed some of them had many and strange\nadventures and some of them had but few.  I could not possibly tell you,\nor even remember for myself, all the wonderful things that happened to\nall of them, but I can tell you a part of the things that happened to a\npart of them.\n\nGawain rode for a long time alone, till at last, at an abbey where he\nstopped to spend the night, he found his brother Gareth and his cousin\nUwain.  The next day they went on their way together, and as they rode\nso they met seven knights, who called to them to stop and to tell who\nthey were.\n\n\"We are knights of King Arthur's court,\" they answered, \"and we are\nseeking for the Holy Grail.\"\n\n\"Then it is well that we have met you,\" said one of the seven knights.\n\"We are from the Castle of Maidens.  A knight of King Arthur's court\ndrove us out of our castle and we have sworn to kill all of King\nArthur's knights whom we meet.  We will begin with you.\"\n\nThen all seven of them put their spears in rest and charged against\nGawain and Uwain and Gareth.  But the three knights of the Round Table\nfought so well that they soon beat their seven enemies and wounded them\nand drove them away.  The three knights parted then and rode different\nways.  And in the evening Gawain came to the cell of a hermit and asked\nhim to let him stay for the night.  They talked together and Gawain told\nthe hermit who he was and that he was seeking the Holy Grail. The hermit\nknew, as everybody knew, all that Arthur's famous knights had done, and\nhe said: \"It is useless for you, Sir Gawain, to seek the Holy Grail.\nYou will never find it.  It shows itself only to the purest and the\nbest.  You have not been good enough and sound enough and true enough in\nyour life ever to see the Holy Grail.  Ah, Gawain, Gawain, do not think\nthat you did such a great thing to-day, you and your two fellows, when\nyou beat those seven knights from the Castle of Maidens.  For one knight\nalone had beaten them all only a little while before.  They had taken\nthe Castle of Maidens from the old lord who owned it, and they had\nkilled him and had held the castle for a long time.  They were tyrants\nand murderers, and Galahad came and drove them all out and gave the\ncastle to the daughter of its old lord. Galahad did it alone, and now\nyou three are proud because you beat the seven cowards.  Knights like\nGalahad will see the Holy Grail, not knights like you, Gawain.\"\n\nIn the morning the hermit told Gawain that if he hoped ever to come near\nthe Holy Grail he ought to do some penance for all the evils of his\nlife.  But Gawain answered: \"No; we knights make long journeys and we\nfight dangerous battles.  Our lives are hard enough without doing any\nother penance, and I will do no other.\"  So he rode on his way.\n\nAnd after that for weeks and months Gawain rode by lonely ways and\nthrough deep woods and over barren hills, and he met with no adventure\nand scarcely with a living man. Then he met another knight of the Round\nTable, Sir Ector.  He was not the old Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father,\nbut another, the brother of Lancelot.  \"I am tired of this quest of the\nHoly Grail,\" said Gawain.  \"I have ridden for months and I have found no\nadventure, and it seems to me that all the people of the country are\ndead.\"\n\n\"It is so with me,\" said Ector.  \"I used to find adventures enough,\nwherever I went, but there are no more of them now.\"\n\nThe two went on together for a time and everything seemed waste and\ndeserted, as it had seemed to each of them before.  They came at last to\na chapel that stood by the road. It looked as sad and as deserted as the\nrest, and it was falling into ruin, but they left their horses and went\ninto it and sat down to rest. And while they sat there they both fell\nasleep, and Gawain had a strange dream.  It seemed to him that he saw a\npasture where a hundred and fifty bulls were feeding.  They were all\nblack but three, and those were white.  And while he looked they all\nwent away, and afterward some of them came back, but many did not come\nback.  Only one of the white ones came, and the black ones all looked\nlean and weak.\n\nWhen he awoke he told Ector of his dream, and said: \"It seems so strange\nto me that I believe it has some meaning, and if we can find some wise\nand holy man I shall tell it to him and ask him what it means.\"\n\nAnd as they rode on they met a young squire and Gawain asked him if he\nknew of any man such as he wished to find.  \"Nacien, the hermit,\" said\nthe squire, \"is a wise and holy man.  He was a knight of King Arthur's\nmany years ago, and they say that he was one of the best of them.  His\ncell is not far from here.\"\n\nHe showed them the way, and when they found the hermit Gawain told him\nhis dream and asked him what it meant.  And the hermit answered: \"The\npasture that you saw was the Round Table and the bulls were the knights\nof the Round Table.  They left the pasture, just as the knights went\naway to seek the Holy Grail.  The three that were white were three\nknights who are so true and pure that they will see the Holy Grail at\nlast, but only one of them will come back.  And the other knights, the\nblack bulls, will never see the Holy Grail, because of the evil in their\nlives.  Many of them will not come back, but some will come, and they\nwill be weary and worn with the quest.\"\n\nThen Gawain said: \"If what you say is true we shall never find the Holy\nGrail, for I fear that we must be counted among those who have too much\nevil in their lives.\"\n\n\"Gawain,\" the hermit answered, \"there are a hundred knights of the Round\nTable as good as you, who will never see the Holy Grail.\"\n\nAnd Gawain and Ector rode on till they came to a castle where there was\na tournament. The knights of the castle were against a great crowd of\nother knights, and Gawain and Ector joined in the tournament against the\nknights of the castle.  And Gawain and Ector fought so well that it was\nplain that their side was winning the day.  Then of a sudden they saw a\nnew knight among those of the castle.  They had not seen how he came or\nfrom where.  He carried a white shield, with a red cross upon it, and\nthe rest of his arms were of the color of fire.  Gawain charged against\nhim first.  His spear was broken against the white shield, but the other\nknight used no spear.  He only raised his sword and struck Gawain so\nthat he cut through his helmet and wounded his head and threw him from\nhis horse.  Ector drew Gawain out of the field and took off his helmet,\nand the knight with the white shield charged against more of the knights\nwho were against those of the castle.  And everywhere he overthrew them\ntill the word was given that the knights of the castle had won the day.\nThen he went away again as he had come, and no one knew where.\n\nThe tournament was over and Gawain was taken into the castle and laid\nupon a bed. \"Ector,\" he said, \"do you know who the knight was who\nwounded me?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" said Ector, \"I know him.  There is only one who could do such\nthings as I saw him do.  It was Galahad.  His arms were like Galahad's\ntoo, only when we saw him last he had no shield.\"\n\n\"Ector,\" said Gawain, \"it is Galahad who will find the Holy Grail.  We\nare not like him, and we cannot do the things that he can do. We have\ngone far enough in this quest.  I shall seek the Holy Grail no more.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"Through woods where there were scarcely any paths to\nfollow\"]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER XI*\n\n                               *LANCELOT*\n\n\nWhen the knights of the Round Table parted, Lancelot, like the rest,\nrode for a time alone.  Many times before now Lancelot had sought\nadventures by himself.  For many years he had wandered over England and\nhe thought that he knew the country well.  But now, before he had ridden\nfar, he was in places that seemed strange to him, and soon he could not\ntell at all where he was.  He crossed rivers and rode over hills and\nplains and through woods where there were scarcely any paths to follow.\nHe saw fewer people than he had been used to see, and many of the houses\nthat he passed were deserted and ruined.  Often wild beasts crossed his\ntrack and he had to fight with them.  At night he slept where he could,\nsometimes in a ruined house or chapel, sometimes on the ground, with his\nhorse tied to a tree near him.\n\nAnd when he slept he had strange dreams. Often in these dreams he\nthought that the Holy Grail came near him.  He saw the rosy light shine\nthrough the white covering, for that covering of silk was always over\nit, but he could never come close to it.  He saw others who were wounded\nor sick come to it and touch it and go away again strong and well, but\nhe had no strength to move or to speak.  It came near to him and passed\naway and he lay before it helpless.\n\nWhen he awoke he would ride on, over more of the hills and plains and\nrivers, fight again with the wild beasts and lie down to sleep again as\nhe had done before.  Sometimes he came to a hermit's cell.  Then he\nstayed all night with the hermit and talked with him of the court, of\nthe knights, of his long journey, and of the Holy Grail.  Sometimes one\nof the hermits would say to him: \"The Holy Grail is not for such men as\nyou to see.  You have been counted long the best of knights, in your\nstrength and your deeds, yet there has been evil in your life, too, and\nthe Holy Grail will not show itself to you in the way that it will to\nothers.\"\n\nThen Lancelot would ride on his way feeling sad.  He would remember the\nknight in the flame-colored arms, who had done better in that last\ntournament that they had than he had ever done.  He would remember how\nthat knight had sat in the Siege Perilous; how his own seat for all\nthese years had been three places off from the Siege Perilous, and how\nthose two other knights, Percivale and Bors, had sat nearer to it than\nhe.  And he would think: \"This quest is for such knights as those; it is\nnot for me.\"\n\nThen some other wise man would say to him: \"Lancelot, the Holy Grail\nwill show itself to few, but you shall do better in this quest than many\nothers.\"  And then he rode on his way again with new hope, though he did\nnot know of what, and with new heart.\n\nOne evening he was riding after the sun had set, and he was thinking\nthat he must soon find a place to stay for the night.  Then he came into\na wood and all at once it was darker around him than it had been out on\nthe open plain.  And before him, then, he saw dimly the form of a knight\ncoming toward him on a horse. \"Sir Knight,\" he said, \"I have ridden in\nstrange paths for many days and I have met no knight, and I have almost\nfelt that I was forgetting knightly ways.  Will you try one joust with\nme?\"\n\nThe knight did not answer, but he put his spear in the rest, and\nLancelot did so too. They spurred their horses and rode together with a\ncrash and Lancelot's spear struck full upon the shield of the other\nknight and was broken into splinters.  But the other spear held, and it\nstruck Lancelot's shield and threw him off his horse and he lay upon the\nground. And so the great Lancelot, the glory of King Arthur's court, was\noverthrown by the first knight whom he met.  The other knight was off\nhis horse in an instant and Lancelot was on his feet.  He drew his sword\nhalf out and then stayed his hand and let the blade slide back again\ninto the sheath.  He bowed his head before the other, who stood before\nhim, and said: \"I know you, Sir Knight.  For these many years I have\njousted with all the best knights of the world, and I know the stroke\nthat every one of them can give.  Tristram could never strike any blow\nlike that of yours, or Gawain or Palamides or Percivale or Bors or\nGareth.  I have never felt it before, but I know that there is no other\nsuch certain spear in the world as this of yours, Galahad!  Galahad!\"\n\nAnd the other answered: \"I know you, too, for I have heard of you so\nlong and of your knightly deeds.  It is as if I had learned all that I\nknow of knighthood from you.  And it was you, too, who made me a knight,\nand I feel toward you, for all these things, as if you were my father,\nLancelot!  Lancelot!\"\n\nThen Lancelot said: \"Galahad, I feel that it is such knights as you who\nwill see the Holy Grail, and I feel that it would be better for me to be\nwith you.  May I go with you now, wherever you go, and try to find the\nHoly Grail with you?\"\n\n\"No, Lancelot,\" Galahad answered, \"no one can go with me yet, but I will\ntell you this: since we all parted I have talked with many good and wise\nmen, and they have told me many things.  Of all who are seeking the Holy\nGrail only three will see it openly, but of all the rest who seek it you\nwill be nearer to it than any other.\"\n\nThen Galahad mounted his horse again and rode away through the wood, and\nit seemed to Lancelot that a pale light shone back upon him for a moment\nfrom the flame-colored armor, and then he was gone.  And as soon as\nLancelot was alone a little breeze rustled the tops of the trees above\nhim.  They made only a low, sighing sound at first, and then it grew\nlouder and clearer, and then it seemed to Lancelot that it grew into a\nvoice, and he thought that the voice said: \"Lancelot, go to the sea and\ngo into the ship that you find there.\"\n\nThen the voice and the rustling of the trees and the wind all died away,\nand Lancelot mounted and rode on through the wood.  And he had scarcely\nstarted when he came out of the wood and saw the sea before him.  Far\nout he could see great waves, with white crests that flashed in the\nmoonlight, but close to him there was a little bay, with a rocky shore,\nand a ship lay close to the rocks, so that he could step on board.\n\nLancelot could see no one on the ship and it had no sail, but as soon as\nhe was on board it left the rock and the bay and carried him out to sea.\nThen a feeling of strange rest and happiness came over him.  He never\nknew how long he was in the ship or whether he slept there.  But when he\nnext saw anything clearly it was still night and the moon was still\nshining.  The water was calm and there was land all around.  The ship\ncame to the shore and stopped, and before him Lancelot saw the gate of a\ncastle.\n\nHe left the ship and went toward the gate, and there he saw two great\nlions guarding it. He drew his sword and kept on toward them, and when\nhe was near the gate something struck his sword out of his hand.  Yet he\nfelt, he could not tell why, that there was no danger from the lions,\nand he went on through the gate.  The lions sprang at him as he passed,\nbut they did not touch him, and he went into the castle.  He saw no\npeople, but he went on from room to room, through open doors, till at\nlast he came to one that was shut.\n\nHe tried to open the door, but he could not, and then he heard music on\nthe other side of it. It was like the singing of a great choir, and the\nsinging or something else seemed to tell Lancelot that the Holy Grail\nwas in that room where he could not go, and he knelt down before the\ndoor and waited.  Then the door opened of itself and a great light shone\nout and he could hear the music more clearly.  He looked into the\nchamber and in the middle of it he saw a table of gold and silver,\ninlaid in beautiful shapes, and on the table was the Holy Grail, still\nwith that white covering of silk.  Yet it seemed to Lancelot that the\nrosy glow from the Holy Grail that shone through the silk was brighter\nand clearer than it had been when he had seen it in the hall at Camelot,\nand brighter than it had ever seemed to him in his dreams. An old man\nstood beside the table and Lancelot knew that he was the same who had\nled Galahad into the hall that day when he had sat in the Siege\nPerilous.\n\nThen, while Lancelot looked, the old man lifted up the Holy Grail, and\nat that Lancelot started up and came into the chamber to get nearer to\nit.  But suddenly it seemed to him that a blast of fire struck him in\nthe face.  The burning air seemed all about him and through him and it\ntook away his breath and his strength and he fell to the floor.  Then he\nfelt no more pain and he did not know where he was, but he felt hands\nthat took him up and carried him away and put him in a bed.\n\nThe people of the Castle found that he was not dead and they took care\nof him, and it was twenty-four days before he awoke.  Then he looked\nabout him and asked them where he was.  \"Who are you?\" they asked him.\n\n\"I am Lancelot of the Lake,\" he answered, \"and I am seeking the Holy\nGrail.\"\n\n\"This is the Castle of Carbonek,\" they said, \"and King Pelles, the\nkeeper of the Grail, lives here.  You have done well and nobly, Sir\nLancelot, and now you must go back to King Arthur, for you will never\nsee more of the Holy Grail than you have seen here.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"He saw the water before him and a ship\"]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XII*\n\n                                 *BORS*\n\n\nBors left his fellows of the Round Table and rode all day alone.  Toward\nevening he met a hermit.  These Grail-seeking knights were always\nmeeting hermits.  The country seems to have been full of them.  And this\none asked Bors to come to his cell and rest there for the night.  He had\nnothing to give to Bors to eat and drink except bread and water, and\nwhile they were making their supper of these the hermit asked the knight\nto tell him who he was and on what journey he was bound.\n\nSo Bors told him how the Holy Grail had come into the hall at Camelot,\nbut covered, so that no one could see it.  And he told him how all the\nknights had vowed that they would seek for the Grail and try to see it,\nhow they had all left Camelot together, and how they had parted now, and\nwere all riding different ways.  Then the hermit said: \"Sir Bors, do you\nknow that this Holy Grail will not be found by any knight who is not\nbrave and worthy in his deeds and pure and true in his life?  Do you\nknow that it will not show itself except to those who seek for it\nfaithfully, thinking of nothing else, except such good and noble things\nas they can do, and never forgetting it because of any pleasure or of\nany gain?\"\n\nAnd Bors answered: \"Yes, I know it.\"\n\n\"Then, Sir Bors,\" said the hermit, \"will you promise me one thing, to\nhelp you to find the Holy Grail?\"\n\n\"What shall I promise you?\" said Bors.\n\n\"Promise me,\" said the hermit, \"that you will eat nothing but bread and\nthat you will drink nothing but water, till you see the Holy Grail.\"\n\n\"Is it right,\" said Bors, \"for me to promise this?  How do you know that\nI shall ever see the Holy Grail?\"\n\n\"I know,\" the hermit answered, \"that it is such knights as you who will\nsee it, if they seek it in the right way.\"\n\n\"Then I will promise,\" said Bors.\n\nIn the morning Bors left the hermit and went on his way.  And after a\ntime he saw two knights coming toward him, leading a third knight as a\nprisoner.  They had him bound upon a horse and they were beating him\nwith thorns.  And when they came nearer Bors saw that the knight who was\na prisoner was his brother Lionel. Then, just as he was riding forward\nto help his brother, he saw, on the other side of him, a woman, and some\nrobbers pursuing her.  Bors stopped and for an instant did not know what\nto do.  For, as a good knight, he ought to help the woman, yet he feared\nthat if he did that his brother would be killed or led away where he\ncould not help him.\n\nYet it was only for a moment that Bors doubted.  Then he remembered that\nhis brother was a knight and that he should be ready always to suffer\nwhatever came to him, and that the woman needed him more.  So he turned\nagainst the robbers and fought with them and drove them away.  When he\nhad done that some knights came up who were the woman's friends, and\nthey thanked him for saving her and begged him to come with them to the\ncastle of her father, who was a great lord and lived near by.  But Bors\nsaid that he must hasten now to help his brother, and he rode the way\nthat he had seen his brother and the other two knights go.\n\nHe rode for a long time and saw nothing of them, and then he met a man\ndressed like a priest, riding on a black horse.  \"Knight,\" said the man,\n\"where are you riding so fast?\"\n\n\"I am trying,\" he said, \"to find my brother, Sir Lionel, for I saw two\nknights leading him away as a prisoner, and I must help him.\"\n\n\"You need not go any farther,\" said the man, \"and you must be brave to\nbear what I have to tell you.  Your brother is dead.  The knights whom\nyou saw have killed him.  Come with me now and I will bring you to a\ncastle near here, where you can stay for the night, and longer if you\nwill.\"\n\nSo Bors rode with him, and as they went along he asked him if he was a\npriest.  He said that he was, and then Bors asked him if he had done\nright to help the woman instead of his brother.  \"No,\" the priest\nanswered, \"you did wrong.  Your brother has been killed because of what\nyou did, and that woman was nothing to you.\"\n\nThen Bors was sadder than before, and he said no more till they came to\nthe castle to which the priest was leading him.  There a woman, young\nand beautiful, the lady of the castle, came down to meet him, followed\nby many others, all young and beautiful too.  They welcomed him and led\nhim to the hall, where a feast was spread on the table, and they begged\nhim to eat and drink, and then to stay with them and join in their games\nand their dances and their feasts.  But Bors answered: \"I am one of the\nknights who are seeking the Holy Grail and I must not turn away from my\nquest for any pleasures, and I have promised to eat nothing but bread\nand to drink nothing but water till I see the Holy Grail.\"\n\n\"The Holy Grail?\" said the priest.  \"Why are you seeking it?  Do you\nknow why, or shall I tell you?  It is because you know that few will\nfind it.  It is because you wish for the glory of being thought better\nthan other men.  Is this a good or a noble wish?  I tell you it is a\nproud and wicked one.  Forget it and stay here with us and be happy and\nbe like other men.\"\n\nAnd the lady of the castle said: \"Sir Bors, I knew that you were coming\nhere and it was for you that I made this feast.  Stay here with us now\nor I shall kill myself, and my death will be by your fault, as your\nbrother's was.  Say that you will stay with us, or I will go up to the\ntop of the castle tower and throw myself down.\"\n\nAnd again Bors did not know what he ought to do.  He could not forget\nthat the hermit had told him that he must not think of pleasures while\nhe was seeking the Holy Grail, and he could not forget that he had\npromised to eat nothing but bread and drink nothing but water till he\nshould see it.  And, as he cast down his eyes in thinking, he saw the\ncross-shaped hilt of his sword.  And, as if he suddenly knew that that\ncould help him, he caught it and held it up before him and before them\nall.\n\nAnd as he held it up he heard a great cry among the women, and the\npriest screamed as if an arrow had struck him.  And then, too, Bors\nheard a great wind sweep over the castle. It was only for an instant,\nand in that instant there was a crash of thunder and a blinding flash of\nlightning.  The next instant the castle and the priest and the women\nwere all gone. Bors was standing alone on a broad plain, holding up the\ncross-shaped hilt of his sword.  The only living thing near him was his\nown horse. A cold wind was sweeping over the plain.  In the west there\nwas a dull, red glow of sunset and above it there was one pale star.\n\nBors mounted his horse and rode away to find a place to stay for the\nnight.  When he had ridden some way he heard a bell and came to an\nabbey.  He knocked at the gate and a monk came and opened it.  When the\nmonk had let him in, Bors asked him if there was any wise man here who\ncould tell him the meaning of all the adventures that he had had.  \"Our\nabbot is a wise man,\" the monk answered. \"Perhaps he can tell you.\"\n\nSo he led Bors to the abbot and Bors told him everything that had\nbefallen him since he left the knights of the Round Table.  \"And it has\nbeen so strange,\" he said, \"that I do not know whether all that I have\ndone has been right or wrong.\"\n\n\"You have done right, Sir Bors,\" the abbot answered.  \"It was right for\nyou to leave your brother and save the woman from the robbers. Your\nbrother is a man and a knight and he must take whatever adventure comes\nto him. It was your duty to help the woman who needed you, before you\ntried to help another knight, even though he was your brother. And your\nbrother is not dead.  Gawain met him and rescued him.  The man in the\ndress of a priest, who told you that he was dead, was not a priest.  He\nwas a wicked enchanter.  He told you that you had done wrong and he took\nyou to the castle where the feasting was, to make you forget the Holy\nGrail.  But you were too faithful to your promise and too firm for him,\nand I am sure, Sir Bors, that you will be one of those who will see the\nHoly Grail.\"\n\nBors went on his way again in the morning and soon he met a man who told\nhim that there was to be a tournament at a castle not far off. So Bors\nwent toward the castle, for he thought that at the tournament he might\nfind his brother or some of his other friends of the Round Table.  And\nas he came near the castle he saw his brother sitting beside the road,\nand his horse standing near.  Bors had not felt so glad since he left\nCamelot to seek the Holy Grail as he did now to see his brother alive\nand well.  He got off his horse and went toward him, but Lionel only\nstarted up angrily and got on his horse and made ready his spear.\n\"Bors,\" he cried, \"you ran away from me to help some strange woman, and\nyou would have let my enemies kill me.  It was the unkindest thing that\never one brother did to another.  Now get on your horse and defend\nyourself or I shall kill you where you stand.\"\n\nBut Bors would not move.  He begged his brother not to do so wicked a\nthing as to murder him or to make him fight with him, but Lionel would\nnot listen.  When he saw that Bors would not defend himself he drove his\nhorse against him and tried to throw him down and ride over him.  But\nBors caught the horse's bridle, and then Lionel dismounted and drew his\nsword and came against him.  Then there was nothing for Bors to do but\nto draw his own sword and defend himself.  But as he lifted his sword he\nheard, or it seemed to him that he heard, a strange voice, that rang in\nhis ears and said: \"Bors, do not strike your brother, for if you do you\nwill kill him.\"\n\nAnd then all at once they could not see each other, for there was a\ncloud between them, all of fire, as it seemed, and it scorched their\nfaces and dazzled their eyes.  And Bors heard the voice again, saying:\n\"Bors, leave this place and go to the sea, for Percivale is there in a\nship waiting for you.\"\n\nSo Bors turned away and took his horse and rode for a long way, and then\nhe saw the water before him and a ship, all covered with canopies of\nwhite silk, lying beside the shore.  And he went on board the ship, and\nas soon as he was there it left the shore and went swiftly out into the\nsea.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"'Knight,' she said, 'what are you doing here?'\"]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XIII*\n\n                              *PERCIVALE*\n\n\nThis was the adventure that Percivale had. When he had parted from his\nfellows and was riding alone he met a company of twenty knights.  They\nstood across his path and asked him who he was and whence he came. \"I am\nSir Percivale,\" he answered, \"and I come from the court of King Arthur.\"\n\n\"Then we will kill you,\" they cried, \"for we are enemies of King Arthur\nand of all his knights.\"\n\nThen they dropped the points of their spears and rushed upon him, and he\nstruck down the first that came with his spear.  But half a dozen of the\nothers came upon him all at once, and some of the rest killed his horse,\nso that he was thrown down and was helpless among them.  Then, when he\nthought that his last moment was surely come, he heard the sound of a\nhorse's hoofs and then a shout, and then he saw the flash of a bright,\nflame-colored armor coming toward him.  In an instant the knight who\nwore it was among them, and he had struck down some of them with his\nspear, and then he had drawn his sword and he was laying about him with\nit.  No one who felt one stroke of that sword stayed to feel another.\nSome fell and could not rise, and others turned and fled, and soon there\nwas none left to do any harm to Percivale.  Then the knight in the\nflame-colored arms went away too, as fast as his horse could go, and all\nthat Percivale saw of him was a last glimmer of his armor among the\ntrees.\n\nPercivale knew that this was Galahad, and he wished that he could follow\nhim and go with him on his quest of the Holy Grail.  But he had no horse\nand Galahad was out of sight, and he could do no more than go as fast as\nhe could on foot the way that Galahad had gone. And so he went on, not\nhoping to overtake Galahad, and scarcely knowing what he did, till night\ncame on and it grew so dark that he could not see his way, and he was so\nweary and so faint that he felt that he could go no farther.  Then he\nsank down, just where he was, upon the ground, and slept.\n\nWhen he awoke it was midnight.  The moon was shining, and by the dim\nlight he saw a girl standing beside him.  It was she who had awakened\nhim.  \"Knight,\" she said, \"what are you doing here?  Have you nothing\nbetter to do than to lie asleep beside the road? Where is your horse?\"\n\n\"My horse was killed,\" he answered, \"by some knights who fell upon me\nand nearly killed me too.  Then I came so far without him and grew so\nweary that I sank down and slept here where you have found me.\"\n\n\"I will give you a horse,\" the girl said, \"if you will take him from\nme.\"\n\n\"There is nothing that I need,\" said Percivale, \"so much as a horse, and\nif you can find me one I shall be grateful to you.\"\n\nThe girl went away and soon she came back leading a great, black horse,\nwith rich trappings, and she told Percivale to take him. The instant\nthat Percivale was in the saddle the horse was away like the wind.\nPercivale could not stop him or turn him.  He went where he liked, and\nPercivale was sure that in all his life he had never ridden so fast.\nNo, nor a tenth part as fast, for sometimes, as this mad horse carried\nhim along, he saw places that he knew, and within an hour he saw some\nthat he knew were a day's journey apart. And all at once he heard a dull\nroar and saw the ocean before him.  The horse was going straight into\nit, as it seemed, and when Percivale saw that, he drew his sword and\nheld it by the blade and struck the horse's neck with the cross-shaped\nhilt.  Then the horse gave a great leap and threw Percivale off his\nback.  He fell on the very edge of the water and the horse plunged into\nit.  And where he disappeared there sprang up a great flame, bright\nblue, and it went out and left a thick, black smoke behind it.  The wind\nblew the smoke away, and there was nothing more to see but the great\nwaves rolling toward the shore and dashing against the rocks.\n\nThen the weariness and faintness came upon Percivale once more, and he\nlay down there on the rough rocks of the sea-shore and slept again.  It\nwas morning when he awoke.  As he looked around him he saw that the\nrocks about him were so high that they made a mountain and the water\nseemed to be all around it, or nearly so.  And as he was looking for a\nway to get back to the mainland he saw coming toward him a great\nserpent, carrying a young lion in its mouth.  An old lion was following,\nand it came up and began to fight with the serpent, but it could not\nmake it drop the young lion.  Then Percivale thought that of the two\nbeasts he liked the lion better, and that he would try to help it.  So\nhe drew his sword and put his shield before him and ran to the serpent\nand cut off its head.\n\nAnd the old lion went to the cub and found that it was not much hurt,\nand then it came to Percivale and licked his hand, as a dog would, and\ntried to thank him for saving the cub. After that it carried the cub\naway, but in a little while it came back and stayed with Percivale all\nday, and at night, when Percivale lay down to sleep, the lion watched\nbeside him.\n\nThe next morning Percivale saw a ship coming toward the land.  It came\nclose to the rock where he was and he could see no one in it but one old\nman, in the dress of a priest.  It had been so long since Percivale had\nhad any friend but the lion that he was glad to see the priest and he\ntold him who he was and how he had come there, and that he did not know\nhow to get away from the place.\n\n\"Do not try to find any more adventures now,\" the priest answered, \"but\ncome into this ship and wait in it for the adventures that will come to\nyou.\"\n\nSo Percivale went on board the ship and at once it started out into the\nsea.  He did not see the priest again and he could not tell where he had\ngone, but he could see the lion still standing on the shore and looking\nafter him, till the ship had gone so far that he could no longer make it\nout.  And Percivale must have slept again in the ship, though he did not\nknow how long.  But he awoke and saw a man bending over him, and the man\nwas Bors.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"'It was King Evelake's shield'\"]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XIV*\n\n                               *GALAHAD*\n\n\nWhen Galahad left Camelot he had no shield. He had carried none in the\ntournament and he had done better without one than any of the other\nknights.  He still had none when the knights parted.  He rode alone for\nfour days without any adventure.  It was then that he came to an abbey\nand went in to spend the night.  Another knight of the Round Table had\ncome there before him, and as they sat talking together the monks told\nthem of a shield that they had.  It had been in the abbey for many\nyears, they said, and it had been foretold that no one except the best\nknight of the world should ever carry it without coming to some harm.\n\n\"I will take that shield to-morrow morning,\" said the knight, \"and see\nwhat comes of it.  I do not think myself the best knight of the world,\nbut I do not fear any adventure that may befall me.  And you, Sir\nGalahad--if you will, you may wait here for a little while to know if I\ncome to any harm, and then I am sure that you can bear this shield, if I\ncannot.\"\n\n\"It shall be as you say,\" said Galahad, \"and I will wait to hear from\nyou.\"\n\nIn the morning the knight asked for the shield, and the monks brought it\nto him.  It was white, with a red cross upon it.  The knight took it and\nrode away with his squire, and Galahad waited.  He did not wait long,\nfor before noon the knight was brought back to the abbey so badly\nwounded that they could scarcely tell at first whether he would live or\ndie.  The squire came with him and brought the shield.  He brought it\nstraight to Galahad and said: \"Sir Galahad, we met a knight who fought\nwith my lord and wounded him as you see.  Then the knight told me to\nbring the shield to you and to say that no one but you ought to carry\nit.\"\n\n\"Then tell me,\" said Galahad to the monks, \"what this shield is and why\nno one may use it but me.\"\n\n\"It was King Evelake's shield,\" one of the monks answered.  \"In the time\nof Joseph of Arimathaea, Evelake was King of the City of Sarras.  He\nbore this shield in a great battle that he fought, and it was Joseph who\nmade this red cross upon it for him.  Afterward he came to England with\nJoseph.  When he died the shield was left here in this abbey and Joseph\nforetold that it should never be borne with safety by anyone till the\nbest knight of the world should come.\"\n\nWhen Galahad heard that, he took the shield and made ready to go on his\nway.  But first he asked the monks about his fellow of the Round Table,\nand they told him that he had been nearly killed, but that they could\ncure him.\n\nI have told you already some of the things that Galahad did.  You know\nhow he overcame both Lancelot and Gawain, how he drove the murderers out\nof the Castle of Maidens, and how he saved Percivale from his enemies.\nIt was after all these things that he was sleeping one night in the cell\nof a hermit, and a woman came to the door and called to him.  The hermit\nopened the door and she said to him: \"I must speak to the knight who is\nhere with you.\"\n\nThen the hermit awoke Galahad and told him that there was a woman at the\ndoor who said that she must speak to him.  So Galahad went to the door\nand she told him that he must put on his armor and come with her.\nGalahad did not know who she was or what she wanted of him, but\nsomething made him feel sure that he ought to do what she said.  He put\non his armor and rode with her for the rest of the night and all the\nnext day, and then, as it was getting toward night again, they came to a\ncastle.\n\nThe lady of the castle welcomed them and told Galahad that he must eat\nand sleep a little and then be ready to ride again.  It was still night\nwhen they came and woke him, and he put on his armor and rode again with\nthe woman who had brought him to the castle. It was only a little way\nthat they rode this time and then they came to the sea-side and saw a\nship, all covered with canopies of white silk.  They went on board and\nfound Percivale and Bors.  As soon as Galahad and the woman were in the\nship it left the land and went straight out into the open sea.\n\nWhen the three knights had greeted one another and when each had told\nthe others something of where he had been and what he had done since\nthey had parted last, Galahad said: \"I should never have found you here\nif this woman had not brought me and shown me the way, and I am sure\nthat you must thank her as much as I for bringing us together.\"\n\nThen the woman said: \"Percivale, do you know who I am?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Percivale, \"I do not know you.\"\n\n\"I am your sister,\" she said, \"whom you have not seen since you first\nwent to King Arthur's court.\"\n\nThen they all stood together, talking and looking out upon the dim sea,\ntill slowly they began to see it more plainly and the sky grew lighter\nand the stars faded away in it, and a faint and then a brighter glow\nrose in the east and the day came.  When it was fully light Percivale's\nsister said: \"Come now and let me show you what there is in this ship\nthat you have not seen.\"\n\nShe led them to another part of the ship and there they saw a sword in a\nscabbard.  The hilt of the sword was set with jewels and the scabbard\nseemed to be of serpent's skin.  It was all rich and beautiful except\nthe girdle which was fastened to it, and that was of hemp and looked\npoor and weak.  \"Galahad,\" said Percivale's sister, \"this sword is for\nyou, and I must tell you how long it has been waiting for you.  It was\nKing David's sword, and his son, King Solomon, built this ship and put\nthis sword in it and said that it should be for the best knight of the\nworld and for no other. King Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived,\nyet he had a wife who in one thing was wiser than he.  For she was to\nmake a girdle for this sword, and she made this poor one of hemp that\nyou see.  When the King saw it he was angry and he told her that such a\nsword as this ought to have the best girdle in the world, not the worst.\n'That is true, my lord,' she answered, 'but I had nothing that was fit\nfor the best girdle in the world, and so I have made this one.  And this\none shall stay on the sword till it is time for the best knight of the\nworld to come and take it.  Then the sword shall have a new girdle.  It\nshall be made by another woman, a young maiden, and she shall make it of\nwhat she loves best and is proudest of in all the world.'  And when\nSolomon had built the ship and put the sword in it, and his wife had put\nthe girdle of hemp on the sword, they saw the ship, all of itself, move\nout to sea, and it passed out of their sight and they never heard of it\nagain.  And ever since King Solomon's time this ship has floated on the\nsea, and now I have brought you to it, Galahad, to take this sword which\nis yours.\"\n\n\"This is a wonderful story that you have told us,\" Galahad said.  \"How\nhave you learned these things?\"\n\n\"I cannot tell you,\" she said.  \"It seems to me that I know them without\nlearning them. It is the Holy Grail, I think, that has given me the\nknowledge of them, but I cannot tell you how; only, when I have seen the\nHoly Grail, I have thought that all at once I knew many wonderful things\nthat I did not know before.\"\n\n\"The Holy Grail?\" said Galahad.  \"You have seen it then?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she answered, \"many times.  You knights go far to seek the Holy\nGrail, but it has come to me without my seeking it.  Now, Galahad, take\nyour sword, for soon we must leave this ship.\"\n\n\"But where is the new girdle for the sword?\" said Galahad.  \"It seems to\nme that this old one of hemp will scarcely hold it.  And who is the\nmaiden who is to make the new girdle?\"\n\n\"I am she,\" said Percivale's sister, \"and I have made the girdle and\nhave brought it.  It is made of my own hair.  It was long and beautiful\nonce, like fine threads of gold, and I was proud of it and loved it more\nthan anything else in the world.  But when I had seen the Holy Grail and\nwhen I knew of this sword and knew that it was I who must make the new\ngirdle for it, then I cut off my hair and wove it into a girdle.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"I CUT OFF MY HAIR AND WOVE IT INTO A GIRDLE.\"]\n\nThen she took the girdle out of a casket that she had brought, and it\nwas indeed like a broad band of soft gold.  And she fastened it upon the\nsword and bound the sword upon Galahad's side.\n\nThey saw that the ship was coming near the land again and soon it\ntouched the shore. They all went on shore, and, when they had gone a\nlittle way they saw a great castle before them.  When the three knights\nand Percivale's sister came near the castle, men came out of it and told\nthem that they could not pass till they had done the custom of the\ncastle.  And the custom of the castle was that the maiden must give a\nsilver dish full of her blood to cure a sick lady.  The three knights\nwould have fought the men of the castle and tried to pass by force, but\nPercivale's sister would not let them do it.  \"The lady of the castle\nshall have my blood,\" she said, \"and it will cure her.\"\n\n\"But if you lose so much blood,\" said Galahad, \"you may die yourself.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she answered, \"I shall die, but it is no matter for that.  All\nthat I had to live for was to give you the sword that you have, to make\nthe girdle for it of my hair, and to cure this lady.  When I have done\nthat I shall have done all that I had to do.  Now let me tell you what\nto do when I am dead.  When I am dead, do not bury me here, but put me\nin the ship that we have come in.  Leave me in it alone and go on your\nway.  You will see me again sooner than you think, but there is\nsomething still for you to do here.  You must go to the Castle of\nCarbonek to heal King Pelles's wound. After that you three must bring\nthe Holy Grail to the City of Sarras.  I shall be there as soon as you\nand there you must bury me.  And two of you will not live long after\nthat, and you will be buried beside me.  For you, Galahad, and you, my\nbrother Percivale, will stay there with me, and then you, Bors, must\ncome back to England and tell the King and the rest all that we have\nseen and done.  Now let us talk of it no more.  The Holy Grail has shown\nme all that I must do and neither you nor I must try to change it.\"\n\nAll this, you may be sure, made the three knights very sad, but\nPercivale's sister had shown them and had told them so much that was\nwonderful that they did not dare to disobey her.  They all stayed in the\ncastle that night.  In the morning Percivale's sister gave the silver\ndish full of her blood and it cured the lady of the castle, and soon\nafter that Percivale's sister died.\n\nThe three knights carried her to the shore and put her into the ship\nagain, as she had told them to do.  As soon as they were on the shore\nagain, the ship started out to sea and they stood and watched it.  It\nwent away from them swiftly and they looked till its canopies of white\nsilk seemed no more than the wings of a sea-bird resting on the water,\nand then, with a last fading flash in the morning sunlight on the edge\nof the ocean and the sky, it was gone. Yet still they watched and they\nsaw a little brown spot of mist rise up where the ship had vanished.  It\ngrew larger and came toward them and spread over the sky and shut off\nthe water from their eyes and it wrapped them all around.  They could\nscarcely see the path before them as they turned to go away.  The cold,\ndamp, sad mist cloud was over all the land and the ocean, only before\nthem there was a pale, silvery shimmer of the sun still shining on the\ncloud.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Dove with the golden censer]\n\n\n                              *CHAPTER XV*\n\n                          *THE CITY OF SARRAS*\n\n\nThe knights went to the castle and found horses, and mounted and rode\ntoward the Castle of Carbonek.  The silvery shimmer of the sun upon the\nmist grew brighter.  The mist itself grew thinner and lighter and at\nlast it all melted away into the clear air, and the sun shone warmly\nupon the fields and the woods, which the morning mist had left cool and\nfresh and dewy.  The knights did not speak much to one another.  They\nwere thinking too much of what had passed.  And so they rode till late\nin the day, and then they saw the Castle of Carbonek before them.\n\nEverything there was as if they had been expected.  The porters opened\nthe gate for them, King Pelles's men led them to chambers, where they\ntook off their armor, and then to the great hall, and there they found\nplaces ready for them at the table and the table laid, though with no\nfood upon it.  When they had sat down, King Pelles was brought in and\nwas placed at the table, too.  \"Galahad,\" he said, \"no one could be more\nglad to see you than I am, for I know that you have come to cure my\nwound.  I have suffered with it every day for all these many years; yes,\nsince long before you were born.  And all that time I have known that no\none could cure it but you, and so I have waited and waited for you to\ngrow up and be a knight and go out in the quest of the Holy Grail, for I\nknew that it was not till then that you could come to cure me.  I have\ntried to be patient all these years, but now, Galahad, that you have\ncome, it seems to me that I could not bear this wound another day.\"\n\nWhen the King had said this, the dove that carried the little golden\ncenser in its peak flew into the hall, as it had done when Bors was\nthere before, long ago.  The thin smoke floated through the room and it\nwas filled again with that sweet odor that Bors remembered.  Then a door\nof the hall opened and an old man--the same whom Bors had seen before,\nthe same who had brought Galahad to the Siege Perilous--came in.  He\ncarried the Holy Grail itself, and this time there was no covering of\nsilk upon it.  It was not the old rosy glow that came from the cup now.\nThe blood that was in it shone like one clear, red gem, resting in the\npure crystal of the cup.  It shone brighter, the knights thought, than\nany light they had ever seen before, yet it did not hurt their eyes when\nthey looked at it.  The beams that came from it made a broad halo of\nbeautiful colors all about it, and the light that it shed through the\nroom was like the light of day, only brighter and clearer, and\neverything that was seen in it looked finer and more beautiful.\n\nThe old man held the Holy Grail high up above his head for them to see\nit better, and then he put it on the little table of gold and silver\nthat was in the room.  Another door of the hall was opened and four boys\ncame in and brought the spear with the drops of blood flowing from the\npoint.  They came and stood with it before the old man and he looked at\nthe spear and then he looked at Galahad.  Galahad rose from the table\nand went to the spear and touched the blood on the point of it with his\nfingers.  Then he went to the King and touched the wound in his side\nwith the blood, and at once the wound was healed.  The King stood up for\na moment and felt that his strength and his health had come back to him,\nand then he sank down again in his place and scarcely moved, but gazed\nat the Holy Grail and at the spear and at Galahad.\n\n\"Galahad,\" said the old man, \"you have done now all that you had to do\nhere.  You have seen the Holy Grail and you have healed the King's\nwound.  To-morrow you must leave this land, and the Holy Grail will\nleave it too. Go to-morrow, with your two fellows, to the sea.  There\nyou will find your ship.  You must go in it to the City of Sarras and\nyou must take the Holy Grail with you.  When you are there, you will\nknow what more you have to do.\"\n\nThe old man lifted the Holy Grail again and went out of the hall with\nit, and the boys who carried the spear followed him.  The table was\ncovered with food and wine now and they all ate and drank, and then they\nall left the hall and slept till morning.\n\nIn the morning Galahad and Percivale and Bors left the Castle of\nCarbonek and went to the shore.  And there, as the old man had said,\nthey found a ship.  As soon as they were on board they saw that the Holy\nGrail was there before them.  It stood on the table of gold and silver\nand the covering of white silk was over it again.\n\nThe knights did not know how long they were in that magic ship, or what\nway or how far they went.  They were moving swiftly always, they slept\nand they awoke, and they saw sunlight and moonlight and starlight.  The\nHoly Grail was always with them and they never felt hunger or cold or\nweariness.  And while they were in the ship Galahad told Percivale and\nBors that he had prayed that he might leave this world whenever he\nwished it, and he knew that his prayer would be answered. And one\nmorning, just as the sun was rising, they saw a low bank of white mist\nfar before them, and above the mist they could see the pale, silvery\nlines of spires and towers and domes, and they knew that this was the\nCity of Sarras.  The ship brought them quickly nearer and nearer, and as\nthey came into the harbor they saw another ship going in before them. It\nwas all covered with white, and they knew that it was the ship that\ncarried Percivale's sister.\n\nWhen they came to the shore they took hold of the table with the Holy\nGrail upon it to carry it out of the ship.  But it was too heavy for\nthem and they looked about to find some one to help them.  The nearest\nman was an old cripple who sat begging.  Galahad called to him and told\nhim to come and help them carry the table.  \"I cannot help you,\" he\nsaid; \"it is many years since I could even stand, except with crutches.\"\n\n\"No matter for that,\" said Galahad, \"come and do your best.\"  And the\nold cripple came and helped them, and he was as strong and as well as\nany man.  They carried the table and the Holy Grail to the cathedral and\nleft them before the altar, and then they came back to the shore and\nbrought Percivale's sister out of the ship and up to the cathedral too,\nand buried her there.\n\nWhen the King of Sarras heard of the strange knights who had come and of\nthe cripple who had been healed, he sent for the knights and asked them\nwho they were and whence they came.  Now this King was a tyrant, and\nwhen Galahad had told him all about the Holy Grail he began to be afraid\nof these knights, for he feared that they would have more power over the\npeople than he had himself.  So he sent all three of them to prison.\nBut as soon as they were in prison the Holy Grail came to them of\nitself, and it stayed with them and fed them, as it had fed Joseph of\nArimathaea, when he was in prison.  And, like him, they scarcely knew\nhow long they were there.  But when they had been in prison for a year\nthe King was sick and felt that he was going to die, and then he began\nto have worse fears than before.\n\nSo he sent for the three knights again and told them that he had done\nwrong in putting them in prison and begged them to forgive him.  \"We\nforgive you,\" Galahad answered; \"you had no power to harm us, for the\nHoly Grail was always with us.\"\n\nThen the King said to Galahad: \"I am sure that I shall die soon and I\nwish that you might be King here after me, for I know that my people\ncould have no better king than you.\"\n\nSo it was agreed, and soon after that the King died and Galahad was\ncrowned in his place.  When Galahad was King the Holy Grail was put\nbefore the altar in the cathedral again and Galahad had a chest made to\ncover it.  And every day he and Percivale and Bors went to the cathedral\nto pray before it.\n\nAnd one day, when Galahad had been King of Sarras for a year, he told\nPercivale and Bors that the time had come for him to leave this world,\nand they must come with him to the cathedral now for the last time.  So\nthey went to the cathedral together and they saw an old man kneeling at\nthe altar.  He was the same old man whom they had seen so many times\nbefore, who had been made to live so far beyond his time by the power of\nthe Holy Grail, Joseph of Arimathaea.  On the altar before him lay the\nspear with the drops of blood flowing from its point.\n\nThe three knights knelt before the altar, Galahad nearer to it than the\nothers, and they were there for a long time.  Then the old man rose and\ncame to the chest where the Grail was and took it out and held it up\nbefore them, and the light that shone from the blood that was in it,\nthrough the crystal of the cup, was greater and stronger than ever.  The\nwhole cathedral was bright with it.  It streamed up among the arches of\nthe roof and lighted old pictures that were painted there.  For years\nbefore they had scarcely been seen, they were so dim with time and with\ndust and with the smoke of incense. Now, with the light of the Holy\nGrail upon it, the place was again a piece of Heaven, filled with\nwonderful forms.  There was Elijah, in his chariot of fire; there were\nsaints and angels; and all about them and among them there were little\nstars of gold, that glowed and twinkled in the new brightness like the\nstars of the real Heaven.\n\nThe old man set the Grail upon the altar and came to Galahad and touched\nhis hand and kissed him.  Then all at once the church grew dark and\nPercivale and Bors could see nothing but the Grail and the spear upon\nthe altar and the old man who stood before it.  He took the Grail and\nthe spear and then he seemed to rise and to go farther from them, though\nthey could not see how he went.  It seemed to them, too, that Galahad\nwas with him, and they did not see that the form of Galahad still lay\nbefore them on the steps of the altar.\n\nIn this way they watched for a long time and then Percivale said to\nBors: \"Do you not see, far off there in the sky, as it seems, Galahad\nhimself, with his crown and his royal robes, holding the Holy Grail in\nhis hands?\"\n\n\"I cannot see that,\" Bors answered; \"the window of the choir is open,\nbut the air outside is growing darker.  I see a little cloud that the\nsetting sun has turned all to crimson and to gold, and that is all.\"\n\nAfter a time Percivale said again: \"Bors, do you not see now?  He is\nfarther away, but still I can see the shining of the Holy Grail.\"\n\nAnd Bors answered: \"Even the little cloud is gone now, and where it was\na bright star is shining.  I can see no more.\"\n\nAnd again Percivale said: \"I hear music--trumpets and harps and\nvoices--and I see Galahad still, and plainer than I saw him before,\nholding up the Holy Grail.  Do you hear nothing, Bors, and see nothing?\"\n\n\"I heard a loud wind,\" Bors answered.  \"It passed us and blew against\nthe window of the choir and shut it.  I cannot see the sky any more, but\nin the colored glass of the window I see Joseph of Arimathaea, holding\nup the Holy Grail, but I cannot see him clearly, it is growing so dark\noutside.\"\n\nAnd still, though they did not see it then, the form of Galahad lay\nbefore them on the steps of the altar.  And again there was no King of\nSarras.  They buried him, Percivale and Bors, in the cathedral, beside\nPercivale's sister.  And after that Percivale found a cell outside the\ncity and lived there as a hermit for a time, and then he died.  Bors\nstayed with him till then, and he buried him in the cathedral, with his\nsister and Galahad.  And when he had done that Bors left the City of\nSarras and went on his way back toward England, to tell King Arthur the\nlast of the story of the Holy Grail.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Cheesewring]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XVI*\n\n                      *STORIES OF STRANGE STONES*\n\n\nWhat I wanted to find was Dozmare Pool. I had heard about it and I had\nread about it, and I wanted to see it.  I studied the maps and the\ntime-tables.  We had to go from Penzance to Exeter, and I thought that\nif we got off the train at Liskeard we could find a carriage to take us\nto Dozmare Pool and back in time to catch another train and get to\nExeter before night.  Then it turned out that Helen's mother did not\ncare about going to Dozmare Pool at all.\n\nYou may never have noticed it, but one of the best ways in the world for\ntwo people to get along together is for each of them to have his own way\nalways.  So it took us less than a minute to settle that Helen's mother\nshould just stay in the train till it got to Exeter and wait there for\nus.  Helen was young enough to feel an ambition to see and do as much as\npossible, instead of as little as possible, and she said that she would\ngo to see Dozmare Pool too. And so Helen and I got off the train at\nLiskeard and stood on the platform and saw it go on and watched it till\nit was out of sight.  Then we felt that we were alone in a strange land,\nfor we knew almost as little about Liskeard as we did about the moon,\nand how could we tell that we should be able to get to Dozmare Pool at\nall?  We left the station and began to look around.  We did not have to\nlook far. Just across the road there was a little hotel called the Stag.\nWe went in and the landlord did not seem quite so surprised to see us as\nsome of the hotel keepers we had met before.  We asked him if we could\nhave luncheon and he said we could.  Then we asked him if he knew where\nDozmare Pool was.  That made him stare a little, but he said he did.\nNext we asked him if he could find a carriage and a driver to take us\nthere.  \"Yes,\" he said, \"and I suppose you will want to go to the\nCheesewring too.\"\n\n\"What is the Cheesewring?\"\n\n\"It's some very curious stones, sir; visitors almost always go to see\nit, sir.\"\n\n\"Is it near Dozmare Pool?\"\n\n\"Oh, it's a matter of three miles, sir.\"\n\n\"Shall we have time to go to both places and get back so as to catch a\ntrain for Exeter?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, sir; you'll have plenty of time, I think.\"\n\n\"Very well, then, we will go to the Cheesewring.\"\n\nThat is the way with hotel keepers in such places.  They have certain\nsights that they expect everybody to go to see, but they never can\nunderstand why you want to see anything else. And of course it doesn't\nreally matter whether they understand or not.  Still I was willing to\ntake the landlord's advice.  I had read something about the Cheesewring\nbefore and I was glad to find that we had such a good chance to see it.\n\nWhen we had finished luncheon the carriage and the driver were ready,\nand in a few minutes Liskeard was behind us.  The country was of the\nsame pretty sort that we had seen so many times before, with tall trees,\nthat hung over the road, and fields and high hedges.  They were not\nwonderful scenes that we were riding through, but just fresh and bright\nand lovely scenes.\n\nThere was a place where, for a short way, we rode along beside a little\nbrook, and even from the carriage, as we passed, we could see the trout\nswimming in it.  The driver told us that the boys of a school near-by\noften caught the trout by letting down wide-mouthed bottles, with bait\nin them, into the water.  The fish would go into the bottles and the\nboys would pull them up by the strings.  This was a way of catching\ntrout that I had never heard of, but it seemed likely enough that it\nmight be done, with a stream so full of them as this one was.\n\nI tried, as usual, to get the driver to tell us stories.  \"What sort of\nplace is this Dozmare Pool, where we are going?\" I said.  \"I have heard\nthat there are some very wonderful stories about it.\"\n\n\"I can't say, sir,\" he answered; \"I never heard any stories about it in\nparticular.\"\n\nThis was just the answer that I expected.  It is not at all easy to get\npeople to tell you the stories about the places where they live, even\nwhen they know them.  I don't know why it is.  Perhaps they are afraid\nof being laughed at, if the stories happen to be a little hard to\nbelieve, and perhaps they feel that the stories belong to them and to\ntheir neighbors, and they do not like to give them to strangers.\n\nBut one of the best ways to get them to tell you a story is to tell them\none.  I thought that this way was worth trying, so I said: \"I am\nsurprised at that.  I thought everybody about here must know stories\nabout Dozmare Pool. Why, I was reading only the other day about a giant\nnamed Tregagle, who lived about the pool and had a great deal of\ntrouble.  He was once a wicked steward, I think, who killed his master\nand mistress and got the property that belonged to their child, and for\nthat he was condemned to empty Dozmare Pool with a limpet shell.  Of\ncourse he never could do it, but he had to keep working at it forever.\nAnd then, as if that was not enough, the story said that sometimes the\ndevil used to come after him, and the only way that he could get away\nfrom the devil was to run fifteen miles to the Roche Rocks and put his\nhead in at the window of a chapel there, and then the devil could not\nharm him.  And when the devil got tired of waiting and went away, poor\nold Tregagle had to come back and go to work again at emptying the pool\nwith his limpet shell.\"\n\n\"I never heard of Tregagle,\" said the driver, \"but the way I heard the\nstory was that it was the devil himself who had to empty the pool with a\nlimpet shell, and he did it.  Then he was condemned to bind the sand and\nmike the binds of the sime, and that he couldn't do.\"\n\nSo the driver did know a story after all.  I must tell you just here\nthat this driver had a very queer way of speaking, as it seemed to us.\nI am not quite sure whether it was a Cornish way or not.  It was harder\nto understand than any other speech that we had heard in Cornwall.\nLiskeard is almost on the edge of Devonshire and this man's talk, too,\nhad something that sounded like London in it.  I try to tell you the\nthings that he said in every-day English, and not just the way he said\nthem.  But I have tried, too, to give you a few words just as they\nsounded, to show you what they were like. But I feel that I have not\nquite done it.  When the driver told us that the devil was condemned to\n\"bind the sand and mike the binds of the sime,\" Helen and I stared at\neach other and could not make out what he meant at first.  But we soon\nthought it out.  The words that he had tried to say were \"bind the sand\nand make the binds of the same,\" and what he meant was, that the devil\nwas to make the sand into bundles and make ropes out of the sand to bind\nthem around.  Making ropes out of sand has always been counted a hard\nthing to do, and it is really no wonder that the devil could not do it.\n\nAfter he had told us this one story the driver was much better company,\nand I think he tried to tell us all that he could about all that we saw.\n\"The well of St. Keyne is not far from here,\" he said.  \"Perhaps you may\nhave heard of it, sir.  They tell the story about it that when a man and\na woman are married, the one of them that drinks from the well of St.\nKeyne first will always be the ruler of the house.  And the story tells\nhow there was a man who was married, and he wanted to be sure to drink\nfirst.  So as soon as the marriage was over he left his wife in the\nchurch and ran and drank from the well.  But his wife was before him\nafter all, for she had brought a bottle of the water to church with her.\nThere was a piece of poetry made about it.  I don't remember who did\nit.\"\n\n\"Southey?\" I suggested.\n\n\"Yes, sir; I think so, sir.\"\n\nThe driver showed us two curious stones in a field that we passed and\nwaited while we went to look at them more closely.  They stood on end\nand were rather higher than a man's head, as I remember.  They were\nsquare at the bottom, but smaller at the top, and one of them had\nsomewhat the form of a chair. There was some rough carving on the sides.\nThe driver said that he had heard that some old King of Cornwall was\nburied there.  Since then I have read more about these stones in a very\nold book about Cornwall.  The writer does not seem to know much more\nthan we as to how they came there, but he says that they are called \"the\nOther Half Stone.\"  I think that you will say that that is as curious a\nname as you ever heard.  The old writer seems to think so too, and he\ndoes not know anything about the one half stone of which these are \"the\nother half.\"  But he says that they are just half way between Exeter and\nthe Land's End.\n\nThe driver decided that he would take us to the Cheesewring before\nDozmare Pool, and by and by he said that we were as near to it as we\ncould go with the carriage.  He pointed it out to us, on a hill, a long\nway off, as it seemed. Then he drove along to a poor little village,\nwhere we left the horse and carriage at a house that called itself an\nhotel, and from there we walked to the Cheesewring.  The way was across\na broad stretch of rough ground and it was not at all easy walking.  We\nhad not gone far before the driver had some more stones to show us.\nThey were not very large, but there were a good many of them, and they\nstood on end, as usual.  They had stood in two great circles once, as if\nthey were little stones trying to look like Stonehenge, but now some of\nthem had fallen down, and of course that was a part of their game of\nStonehenge too.\n\n\"They call these the Hurlers,\" said the driver, \"and they tell the story\nthat they were men, who were turned into stone for playing quoits on\nSunday.\"  (He pronounced it \"kites.\")  Then he pointed to two stones\nthat stood by themselves, a little way from the circles, and said: \"I\nsuppose those two were men who were only looking on, and not playing.\"\n\nWe resolved that we would never play quoits on Sunday, or so much as\nlook at anybody playing quoits on Sunday, and then we went on toward the\nCheesewring.  We had to climb a little way up the hillside to get to it,\nand then we stood almost on the edge of a precipice, looking down into a\ngreat quarry, where there were men at work cutting out stone.  The\nCheesewring itself was almost on the edge of the precipice too.  It was\na great pile of stones--a great pile, but few stones, for they were huge\nones.  They were skilfully fitted and balanced, one upon the other, and\nthe top one was much the largest of them all, so that the whole pile had\nsomewhat the shape of a rude anvil. The whole pile was perhaps four\ntimes as high as our heads.  I think I have forgotten to say till now\nthat \"Cheesewring\" means \"cheese-press,\" and surely a very large and\nvery stiff cheese might be well flattened out by having that pile of\nstones set upon it.\n\nThe puzzle of it, as usual, is how the stones got there.  The machinery\nthat they are using down below there in the quarry to-day would be none\ntoo good to move such stones as these. Yet there they are, and there is\nno history of the time when they were put there.  \"What do you think of\nthem,\" I said, \"and whoever do you suppose knew how to pile them up\nthere?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" Helen answered, \"but when there are any big stones\nanywhere you generally say that Merlin put them there.\"\n\n\"Well, I am not going to say so this time, though these stones do\nsomehow remind me of Merlin.  Did I ever tell you what became of him at\nlast?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Helen, \"of course you didn't.\"\n\n\"Why, here we are,\" I said, \"telling stories about the very end of King\nArthur's reign, and nobody had seen or heard anything of Merlin since\nalmost the very beginning of it.  And do you mean to tell me that I have\nnever told you what became of him?\"\n\n\"Why, you know you never did; what was it?\"\n\n\"Well, to be sure, if I have never told you that, we ought not to lose\nanother minute about it.  But you must forget everything that you have\nheard lately and go away back, for that is where this story begins.\nAfter Merlin had taken good care of King Vortigern and of King\nPendragon, King Arthur's uncle; and King Uther Pendragon, Arthur's\nfather; and of King Arthur himself; after he had set him on his throne\nand had helped him to win battles and to get his sword Excalibur, what\ndo you think Merlin did?  You would think that he was old enough to know\nbetter, only I believe nobody is ever old enough to know better.  He\nfell in love.\n\n\"Merlin knew everything, and so he knew that he was going to fall in\nlove.  He knew, too, that because of his falling in love he should go\naway from the court and away from the King and away from all the world,\nand that after that he should never be of any use again to the King or\nto England or to the world. Merlin knew, and yet he could not help it.\nMerlin could rule kingdoms and set up and cast down kings, yet there was\none power in the world that he could not rule and could not resist.  He\ncould not save himself from the end that he knew was coming.  He told\nKing Arthur that he should leave him soon and should never see him\nagain, and King Arthur tried to reason with him and to make him use his\nmagic against his fate.  But Merlin said that no magic could do any\ngood; in this one thing he was helpless; when the time came he must go,\nand the time was coming soon.\n\n\"And who was it, do you suppose, that Merlin was in love with?  It was\nNimue, the Lady of the Lake, Lancelot's Fairy Mother.  He met her in a\nforest over in France, where she had her home.  He taught her magic and\nhe made a splendid palace by magic and filled it with knights and ladies\nfor her, and there they had feasts and dances and games.  One day she\nasked him to show her how she could put to sleep any one whom she chose,\nso that he could not awake till she should let him awake.  And Merlin\nknew that it was himself whom she wished to put to sleep so, yet he knew\nthat it was fate that he should tell her, and so he told her.\n\n\"They used to meet in the forest near a spring that was famous\nafterward, for the water of the spring used to bubble up when anything\nof iron or copper or brass was thrown into it, and the children who knew\nthe spring threw pins into it and said: 'Laugh, spring, and I will give\nyou a pin,' and then the spring would laugh for them.  Merlin sat often\nbeside the spring with Nimue and taught her magic. He taught her so much\nthat at last there was nobody in the world who knew so much of it as\nshe, except himself and perhaps King Arthur's sister, Queen\nMorgan-le-Fay.\n\n\"Then another time Nimue begged Merlin to teach her how one man or woman\ncould be shut up by another, so that he never could get away again, so\nthat no one could ever come to him but the one who had worked the spell,\nso that he could never see any but that one, and no one could break the\nspell but the one who made it.  Then Merlin was sad again, for he knew\nthat Nimue loved him so much that she wanted to keep him all to herself\nand never to let any one else see him or hear of him.  And he knew, too,\nthat she must have her way in this.  'I know,' he said, 'what it is that\nyou wish, and I love you so much that I know that I must do what you\nask.'\n\n\"'If you know what it is that I wish,' she said, 'you know that I want a\nplace where we can be together always, only we two, where nobody else\ncan ever come to us and where I shall never see any one but you and you\nwill never see anyone but me.  Surely, when I love you so much as you\nknow I do, you should love me enough for that.'\n\n\"And still Merlin was sad, knowing that this was to be the end of all\nhis work for the King and for the world, but he answered: 'I will do\nwhat you ask.  I will make a place where we two can be and no one else\ncan ever come to us or see us or know of us.'\n\n\"But Nimue said: 'I do not wish it so; you must teach me the magic, so\nthat I can do it myself.  Then I will make the enchantment when I\nplease.'\n\n\"So Merlin, knowing that it was fate and that there was no other way,\ntaught her all the charms by which she could do what she wished. He\ntaught her how to walk about in circles and how to wave her hands and\nwhat words to say. And she learned it and remembered it all. Then they\nleft France and came over into Cornwall and wandered together about the\nhills and the woods.  And one day, when they had gone a long way, they\nsat down to rest. And Nimue took Merlin's head in her lap and put him to\nsleep with the charm that he had taught her.  When he was asleep she\nrose and walked around him nine times and waved her hands and began to\nsay the words that he had taught her.  And as she worked the charm\nMerlin slept more soundly, and then the ground opened and he sank down\ninto it.  She sank down too, and when they were deep enough the ground\nclosed above them.  But still she went on with the charm and great\nstones were moved by the magic words and piled themselves high above the\nplace where they had sunk.\n\n\"When Merlin awoke he knew that the spell was done.  He was in a\nbeautiful place and Nimue was with him.  She could go out and come in\nwhen she chose, and she often did so, but he could never go out till the\nspell was broken.  And nobody could ever break the spell but Nimue, who\nhad made it.  Merlin himself, with all his magic, could not break it,\nfor it was one of his own spells and the strongest of them, and it was\nplanned so that it could never be undone by anyone, even the greatest\nmagician of the world, except the one who had done it.  And Nimue never\nundid the spell.\n\n\"Now I am not sure where all this happened, and you know I would not\ntell you anything that I was not sure of.  Some say that it was here in\nCornwall and some say that it was over in France, and that Merlin and\nNimue did not come back to England at all.  Some say, too, that there\nwas another Cornwall in France. But if they did come to England again,\nand if the place was in this very Cornwall, then why might not this be\nthe very place where we are? Here is this great pile of stones and\nneither we nor anybody else can tell how they came here or how they\ncould come here.  Why might they not be the very ones that Nimue piled\nup over Merlin by the enchantment that he taught her?  I don't say that\nthey are, but I do say that I cannot see why they might not be, so let\nus believe that they are.\"\n\nHelen looked over the edge of the hill, down into the quarry.  \"If those\nmen down there dig out the rock a little more over this way,\" she said,\n\"they will let Merlin out, if he is still there.\"\n\n\"They will do nothing of the sort,\" I answered; \"do you think that\nMerlin's charms were worth no more than that?  No one can ever let\nMerlin out of his prison but Nimue, and she never did and never will.\nIf those men down there should dig to where Merlin was, you may be sure\nthat he would sink again, down and down through the earth, so that no\nquarriers in the world could ever reach him. Merlin's charms were charms\nthat were made to last, and Merlin will never be seen again on the earth\nas long as Stonehenge is on Salisbury Plain.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: St. Joseph's Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XVII*\n\n               *\"AND ON THE MERE THE WAILING DIED AWAY\"*\n\n\nIt was only a short drive from the place where we had left the carriage\nto Dozmare Pool.  That is, it was a short drive to the nearest place to\nit where we could get with the carriage.  The carriage could not go\nclose to it, any more than it could to the Cheesewring. The driver began\nto remember still more about Dozmare Pool, as we got nearer to it.  The\nwater was salt, like the sea, he had heard, and in stormy times it had\ngreat waves like the sea.\n\nThis reminded me of some things that I had heard and read about it\nmyself.  The name \"Dozmare,\" I had been told somewhere, meant \"drop of\nthe sea.\"  I had been told somewhere else that the name was made up of\ntwo Cornish words that meant \"come\" and \"great,\" and that the name was\ngiven to it because it had tides, like the ocean.  Long ago it had no\noutlet that anybody could see, but it was said that something that was\nthrown onto it was found many miles off, on the seashore.  So it was\nbelieved that a passage under ground led from it to the sea.  It was\nsaid, too, that it was so deep that no plummet had ever reached its\nbottom.\n\nWe came at last to the foot of a steep hill and the driver said that we\ncould not go any farther with the carriage.  He would stay here and\nattend to the horse, and we must go straight up this hill and we should\nfind Dozmare Pool.  Up the hill we went, a good, long climb, and when we\ngot to the top, though we knew what we had come to see, we were\nsurprised to see it. For all of a sudden there it was before us, the\nbroad lake on the top of the hill, just where we should expect to find\nthe downward slope of the other side of the hill.  It did not look like\na stormy sea to-day, but a fresh breeze was blowing over it and drove\nthe little waves before it against the bank, where they made a plashing\nnoise at our feet.  The pool seemed to be at the very top of everything,\nexcept that far away across it we could see a mountain, with two peaks.\n\nThere was one little house near us and no other in sight.  Near the\nhouse a man was at work piling up turf, cut in long, square strips, for\nwinter fires.  A little boy was playing about, or trying to help the\nman, and a woman was driving a cart that brought the turf from somewhere\ndown below.  We asked the man what mountain that was with the two peaks.\n\n\"Brown Gilly, sir,\" he said.\n\n\"Is the water of this lake salt?\" we asked again.\n\n\"No, sir, it's fresh.\"\n\n\"Is it good to drink?\"\n\n\"We don't drink it ourselves, sir, but it's good for washing and the\ncattle drink it.\"\n\n\"How big is the lake?\"\n\n\"It's about a mile and a quarter round, sir.\"\n\n\"And is there any outlet?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, down at the other end there's one.\"\n\n\"It was not always there, was it?  When was it made?\"\n\n\"I couldn't say, sir; it was there before my time.\"\n\nWe left the man to pile his turf and wonder what strange sort of people\nwe could be who wanted to know so many useless things.  \"Well, there is\nso much of our story spoiled,\" I said. \"It is not salt and it probably\ndoes not have waves like the ocean, and an outlet has been made for it.\nStill, as you stand and look over it, do you not feel that there is\nsomething lonely and solemn and mysterious and magical about it?  When\nyou think of its being here at the top of a hill, instead of down in a\nvalley, like a common lake, and when you see no higher hill around it,\nexcept that one mountain over there, and when you think of the stories\nabout it, do you not get a little of what our old friend of the Alice\nbooks calls the 'eerie' feeling?  Have you guessed that the reason why I\nbrought you here was that this was the lake where King Arthur found his\nsword Excalibur? Well, it was.  And now I have another story to tell you\nabout it.  It is rather a sad story. The most of our stories are getting\nto be rather sad now, but there are not many more of them.\"\n\nI had told Helen long before how King Arthur got his sword Excalibur.\nHis sword had been broken in a fight one day, and Merlin led him to the\nshore of a little lake--this very lake where we stood now--and out in\nthe middle of it he had seen an arm rising out of the water. The arm was\ncovered with white silk and the hand held a sword, the most beautiful\nthat Arthur had ever seen.  Merlin and Arthur went out to it in a boat\nand the King took the sword and kept it.  That was the wonderful sword\nExcalibur.  Merlin told Arthur strange things about the sword.  No one\nelse ever knew what they were, and it may be that we do not know, even\nyet, of all the wonders of that sword.\n\nBut now for the story.  \"You know,\" I said, \"that I do not often throw\nmorals at you in these stories.  As a general thing, I hate to see\nmorals hung up on the ends of stories as much as you do.  If the moral\ncannot make itself felt as the story goes along, it isn't of much use,\nusually, to drag it out and hold it up at the end.  But this story has\nsuch a good and sound and useful moral that I can't help pointing it out\nto you.  But I will put it here at the beginning, instead of at the end,\nand have it over with.  It is that when a lie has been told about\nanybody, no matter how wicked and silly it is, no matter how clearly it\nmay have been proved to be a lie, it will always stick to him, it will\nnever be forgotten, and there will always be people who will half\nbelieve it.\n\n\"You remember how once Meliagraunce charged Queen Guinevere with treason\nagainst King Arthur.  Everybody knew that Meliagraunce himself was a\ntraitor and a liar and that he got killed for telling that one lie.\nStill it never was forgotten and there were some who never had quite the\ntrust in the Queen again that they had had before.  And since it was\nLancelot who had fought for the Queen then and at other times, they\nlooked at him just as they did at her, and shook their heads and\nwhispered to one another that they wondered if Lancelot was quite as\ntrue to the King as he ought to be.  There were some who said, too, that\nLancelot and the Queen both cared too much about honors and glory for\nthemselves and not enough about the honor of the King. And I am afraid\nthat was not a lie.\n\n\"Still all this thinking and talking counted for little for a long time.\nAnd then there came a time when they counted for much.  It was after the\nquest of the Holy Grail.  Lancelot had come back to the court and Bors\nhad come back from the City of Sarras, and all had come back who were\never coming.  Then, all at once, as it has always seemed to me, without\nany reason, half the people in King Arthur's court went mad.  The first\nand the worst of them was Mordred, King Arthur's nephew, Gawain's\nbrother.  He was always all but mad with jealousy and envy and hatred of\nall who were greater than himself.  And now he thought that nothing less\ncould please him than to overthrow King Arthur and to be King of\nEngland.\n\n\"There are some people who cannot think of any better way of helping\nthemselves than by doing all the harm that they can to those who stand\nin their way.  Mordred was of this sort. He looked about him to see who\nthere was whom he could harm, and he thought of this old lie about the\nQueen and of these new doubts about Lancelot.  Then he went to the King\nand told him that he had found that Lancelot and the Queen were plotting\ntreason together and forming some plan against the King.  If the King\nwanted proof of it, Mordred said, let him go hunting the next day, and\nwhile he was gone, Mordred and some others would find Lancelot and the\nQueen together.\n\n\"Now Lancelot and the Queen had always been the best of friends and what\nin the world was supposed to be proved by their being seen together I am\nsure I don't know.  But just at this time it seems to me that it was the\nKing who went mad, and he said that he would do as Mordred advised him.\n\n\"The next day the King went hunting.  Now Bors and some of Lancelot's\nother friends had heard these whispers about the court and they had told\nLancelot of them.  They had decided that it might stop the chatter,\nabout Lancelot at least, if he were to leave the court for a time. It\nhappened that Lancelot had meant to go this very day, and so he went to\nsay good-by to the Queen.  Bors knew what a mischief-maker Mordred was;\nhe had seen that he dif not go to the hunt with the King, and he feared\nthat something was wrong.  He begged Lancelot not to go to see the\nQueen, but Lancelot laughed at the notion that there was anything to\nfear and went.  And Mordred and some other knights whom he had got on\nhis side were watching, and the minute that Lancelot and the Queen were\ntogether they were upon them.\n\n\"Lancelot had come only to see the Queen and to bid her good-by; he had\nnot expected any fighting, and so he wore no armor.  Mordred and his\nknights meant to fall upon Lancelot all at once and kill him or take him\nprisoner.  But Lancelot was quick enough to shut the door of the room\nand keep them out for a few minutes. Then he drew his sword and opened\nthe door just enough to let one of the knights come in. He struck that\none with his sword and wounded him so that he fell inside the room, and\nthen he shut the door again.  Lancelot quickly took off the armor of the\nwounded knight and dressed himself in it.  Then he threw the door wide\nopen and rushed at the crowd of knights striking about him as he went\nand wounding more of them.\n\n\"Many as they were they could not stand against Lancelot and he escaped\nfrom them and went back to his friends.  I suppose I ought to say just\nhere that there was scarcely ever a man in the world who had such\nfriends as Lancelot.  There were his brother Ector, his cousins Bors and\nLionel, Lavaine, and many others who were ready to give their very lives\nfor Lancelot at any time.  And now, after this terrible thing had\nhappened, they all left the city with him, as quickly as they could, and\nthen they waited near to see what would be done with the Queen.\n\n\"When the King came back Mordred told him about what had happened, in\nhis own lying way, I suppose.  And the King, it seems, had not got over\nhis fit of madness yet, for surely nobody in his senses could think that\nwhat Mordred had to tell proved anything.  But of course we don't know\njust how much Mordred lied, and I wonder if the King believed him just\nbecause he was his own nephew.  Such things happen sometimes, though for\nmy own part I don't see why any man should be believed because he is\nanother man's nephew. Bad men have uncles, as well as good men. But it\nseems that the King did believe him, for some reason or other, and did\nbelieve that the Queen and Lancelot were guilty of treason. And he said\nthat the Queen should have the punishment of treason, and so should\nLancelot, if he could get him.  Now the punishment of treason in those\ndays was burning.\n\n\"Now, mad as the King seems to have been, I no more believe that he\nwould have the Queen burnt than I believe that he would have himself\nburnt.  I don't know why he pretended that he would.  Perhaps he thought\nthat he could make her confess something, or perhaps he thought that\nMordred, when he saw how far things were going, would confess that he\nwas wrong.  But the King declared that the punishment of the Queen\nshould be the next morning and he ordered some of his knights, and among\nthem Gareth and his brother Gaheris, to be present and see it done.\nThey and some of the others told the King plainly that they thought that\nwhat he was doing was wrong and that they would have nothing to do with\nit.  Since he commanded them to be present, they said, they would be\nthere only to look on, and they would wear no armor.\n\n\"And now it came Lancelot's turn to go mad. For he believed that the\nKing would really do all that he said.  So he resolved that he would\nsave the Queen.  The King himself would have saved her, I am sure,\nbefore any harm could come to her.  But Lancelot heard what was to be\ndone and in the morning he took some of his friends, all fully armed,\nand they rode to the place where the Queen was led out for her\npunishment.  Lancelot and his men dashed through the crowd of King\nArthur's knights, the most of whom wore no armor, laying about them with\ntheir swords, killing some and wounding others, and came to where the\nQueen stood.  Lancelot lifted her and put her on his horse behind him,\nand he and his knights rode away again.  They did not stop near the city\nthis time, but they rode straight to a castle of Lancelot's own, called\nJoyous Gard, and there they all shut themselves in and fortified the\ntown.\n\n\"But in the saving of the Queen another terrible thing had happened.  As\nLancelot dashed through the crowd of King Arthur's knights to come where\nshe was, some of them struck at him, and in return he layed about him\nwith his sword and could not see who was in his way, and so, not knowing\nwho they were, he struck Sir Gareth and Sir Gaheris, who wore no armor,\nand killed them both.  And now it was Gawain who went mad.  When he\nheard that Lancelot had killed his brothers he would not believe that it\nwas by accident and he swore that he would always follow Lancelot and\ntry to find chances to fight with him, till one of them should kill the\nother.  He urged the King to make war at once upon Lancelot, and the\nKing and his army marched to Joyous Gard and besieged the castle and the\ntown.\n\n\"Lancelot had many friends, as I said before, and many of the lords and\nknights of the country, when they heard what had happened, thought that\nLancelot was right and came to help him.  By the time that the King and\nhis army came to Joyous Gard Lancelot had a good army of his own there.\nBut Lancelot did not want to fight the King, and for many days he kept\nall his men inside the town.  He sent messages to the King and to\nGawain.  He told the King that neither he nor the Queen had ever thought\nof doing him any wrong, and he begged him to let the Queen come back to\nhim and to leave off this war.  He told Gawain that he had loved his\nbrother Gareth as if he had been his own brother and that he would as\nsoon have killed his own brother as Gareth or Gaheris, if he had known\nwho they were.  And the King was so sad at all that had been done that\nhe wanted to give up the whole war, but Gawain would not hear of it.  He\nwould never forgive Lancelot for killing his brothers, he said, till one\nof them should kill the other.\n\n\"Then Lancelot's friends urged him to fight. Gawain would never let the\nKing give up the war, they said, and it would be best to end it now.\nAnd Lancelot felt that they were right, and at last he yielded and said\nthat he would go out to battle the next morning.  In the morning\nLancelot's army marched out of the city and the army of the King came to\nmeet it. Lancelot had ordered all his men that whatever they did they\nshould do no harm to the King or to Gawain.  As for himself, he scarcely\nfought at all.  He rode about the field and saw others fight.  He saw\nmany of his own men wounded and killed, but he had no heart to strike a\nblow against King Arthur or any knight of his.  At last he saw the King\nhimself charging against his cousin Bors.  Bors met the charge with his\nspear and threw King Arthur from his horse.  When Lancelot saw that he\nrode to where the King was and got off his horse.  'Here, my lord,' he\nsaid, 'take this horse; you and your knights fight against me and have\nno mercy, but I cannot fight against my King or see him overthrown and\nnot try to help him.'\n\n\"And the King took Lancelot's horse and rode away from the field and\ncalled all his men away too, and Lancelot's men went back to the town.\n\n\"The next day Lancelot sent messengers to King Arthur again to ask him\nto let the Queen come back, to promise that she should not be harmed,\nand to end the war.  And the King would have done everything that\nLancelot asked, but again Gawain would not hear of it. 'Let the Queen\ncome back if you like,' said Gawain; 'that is nothing to me.  But I will\nnot forgive Lancelot for killing my brothers and I will always follow\nhim and fight with him till I kill him or he kills me.'\n\n\"You know I told you long ago of the old story that Gawain could speak\nso well that nobody could ever refuse him anything that he asked.  I\nthink that must have been why the King let him have his own way all\nthrough this war with Lancelot.  I am sure that the King himself must\nhave got back his senses now, and I almost think, after all, that he\nnever really believed that the Queen or Lancelot could wish to do any\nwrong to him.  How could he let her come back at all if he believed\nthat?  And he did let her come back, but still Gawain was firm against\nLancelot, and the King would not make peace with him till Gawain wished\nit.\n\n\"When Lancelot had sent the Queen back to King Arthur he thought that it\nwas of no use to stay in England any longer, so he took all his knights\nand his army with him and crossed over into France.  He went to Benwick,\nhis father's old city and his own city now, because his father was dead\nlong ago.  And soon King Arthur and Gawain followed him with their army,\nfor Gawain still vowed that he would go where Lancelot went and would\nnot leave him till one of them had killed the other.  In these last\ndreadful days of King Arthur's reign it seems as if no one ever missed a\nchance of making a mistake, and now Arthur made another.  For when he\nwent over to France he left Mordred in his place to rule England till he\ncame back, and he left the Queen in Mordred's care too.\n\n\"So the King and Gawain and their army came to Benwick and besieged it,\nas they had besieged Joyous Gard.  Lancelot sent a message to them\nagain.  He would do anything if they would end the war and not make him\nfight against the King and his old friend.  He would give up his city to\nthem, if they would take it, and let all the world think that he was\nbeaten, when he was not beaten at all, or that he was a coward and did\nnot dare to fight.  Still Gawain would be content with nothing but that\nLancelot must fight with him.  But he sent back word that if Lancelot\nalone would come out and fight with him alone, till one of them should\nkill the other, that one fight should end the war.\n\n\"When this message was brought to Lancelot his friends told him that it\nwas of no use any longer to hope for peace.  Gawain would never yield,\nand it must be as he said at last. It would be better for Lancelot to\nfight with him now than to wait.  Lancelot knew that they were right,\nand he sent word that the next morning he would meet Gawain outside the\ncity and fight with him.\n\n\"They met the next morning, in the space between the city walls and King\nArthur's army. Both the knights were thrown from their horses at the\nfirst charge, and then it was the old story of a sword fight that I have\ntold you so many times before.  But Gawain had the gift of growing\nstronger every day, from nine o'clock till noon, and then he had three\ntimes his natural strength.  This had been given to him by a magician\nlong ago, and nobody knew that he had it except himself and King Arthur.\nLancelot knew nothing about it, but he had not been fighting long before\nhe knew that there was something strange about Gawain's fighting. He\nfelt him growing so strong that he scarcely tried to strike at Gawain at\nall, but used all his strength in defending himself.  And so for a long\ntime neither of them was much harmed, but when noon came, all at once\nLancelot felt that Gawain had grown weaker.  Then he said: 'Gawain, I do\nnot know with what magic you have fought till now.  But, whatever it\nwas, I feel now that it has left you and you are like any other man.\nNow I must begin to fight.'\n\n\"Then he struck Gawain a great blow on the head and wounded him, so that\nhe fell, and Lancelot stood still beside him, resting on his sword.\n'Why do you stop your fight?' Gawain cried.  'You have beaten me; finish\nit now and kill me.'\n\n\"'You know,' said Lancelot, 'that I cannot kill any knight who is\nwounded and helpless, and least of all you, who have been my friend so\nlong.  Our fight is over.'\n\n\"'Kill me and make an end to it,' Gawain said again, 'or as soon as I am\ncured of this wound I shall come and fight you again.'\n\n\"'If I must fight with you again,\" said Lancelot, 'I shall be ready; I\ncan do no more now.'\n\n\"So Gawain was carried back to his tent and was kept there for many\ndays, while his wound was healing.  And as soon as he was strong enough\nhe sent word to Lancelot that he must fight him again.  There is no need\nof making a long story of it.  Gawain and Lancelot fought again and the\nfight ended exactly as the first one had done.  Lancelot wounded Gawain\nin the very same place where he had wounded him before, and Gawain was\ncarried back to his tent, vowing that he would still fight with Lancelot\nas soon as his wound should heal.\n\n\"And what do you suppose had been going on in England all this time?\nYou might almost guess.  You would think that Mordred could not possibly\nkeep out of mischief so long, and you would be quite right.  King Arthur\nhad not had much more than time to get to Benwick before Mordred began\nto tell people that the King was dead.  He showed some letters, which he\nhad written himself, but he pretended that they had come from France,\nand they said that the King had been killed in a battle against\nLancelot.  Of course the only thing to do in such a case was to crown\nMordred himself as King, and Mordred took care that it should be done in\na hurry.  Then, to make everything as sure as possible, he gave notice\nthat he was going to marry Queen Guinevere.  Of course he did not\ntrouble himself to ask Queen Guinevere whether or not it suited her to\nbe married to him.  He had begun to have his own way and he was resolved\nto go on.  The Queen saw that it would not do any good to pretend that\nshe did not want to be married to him, so she let Mordred think that\nthere was nothing that would please her better than to be his wife.  But\nshe said that if she was to be married she should have to go to London\nto get some new gowns.  Mordred saw nothing wrong about that and he let\nher go.  Then, as soon as she got to London, she shut herself up in the\nTower and found men who were friendly to her to guard it, and waited for\nMordred to come and try to get her out of it.\n\n\"He came, you may be sure, as soon as he heard where she was, and he\nlaid siege to the Tower, but it was so strong, and Queen Guinevere's men\nfought so well, that he could not take it.  He kept up the siege till he\nheard that King Arthur and all his men were coming back from France and\nLancelot and his men were coming with them.  When he heard that he drew\nhis army away from London and marched to Dover to meet the King and to\nkeep him from getting England away from him.\n\n\"It was true that the King and his men were coming back from France, but\nit was not true that Lancelot was coming.  Lancelot did not know why\nKing Arthur and his army had so suddenly left Benwick.  It was because\nthe King had heard of the mischief that Mordred had done and of the more\nmischief that he was trying to do.  Even Gawain could not ask the King\nto make war upon Lancelot any longer, when England itself was likely to\nbe lost. Gawain had been acting in a mad fashion enough for a long time,\nbut the news from England brought him back to his senses.  His wound was\nnearly healed and he was beginning again to want to fight with Lancelot,\nbut now he saw all at once what harm his wild anger against Lancelot had\ndone.  He was filled with shame and grief at the thought of it.  'It is\nI,' he said to the King, 'who have done all this.  I see it now.  It is\nLancelot who has always been your truest and best friend, and it is I\nwho have been your enemy.  I fear that I have done too much for you to\nforgive, but there is hope still, for I know that Lancelot will still be\nyour friend. Send for him; tell him that I was wrong in everything--that\nI confess it--and ask him to go with you and help you to win back\nEngland from Mordred.'\n\n\"If the King had ever doubted Lancelot he doubted him no longer now.\nGawain, who had been against him so long, was for him now. But the King\nlooked sadly at Gawain and shook his head.  'Gawain, Gawain,' he said,\n'we have gone too far.  We have wronged Lancelot too much.  We cannot\nask him to help us now.  We must fight our battles and win them or lose\nthem by ourselves.'\n\n\"So the King and Gawain and their army left Lancelot and Benwick and\ncrossed into England.  As soon as they landed at Dover Mordred met them\nand there was a hard battle. Many were killed and wounded on both sides\nand at last Mordred was driven back.  But when the battle was over\nGawain had been wounded again just where Lancelot had wounded him twice\nbefore.\n\n\"And this time he felt that he could not live. Then Gawain thought: 'If\nthe King could not ask Lancelot to help him, yet surely I can ask him,\nnow that I am dying.  It was I who wronged him and I who was his enemy.\nBut when he comes I shall not be here any more, and I know that he\nalways loved the King and that he loves him still.'\n\n\"And Gawain told those who were about him to bring him pen and paper,\nand he wrote a letter to Lancelot.  The letter said: 'Sir Lancelot, I am\ndying from a wound that I got in battle to-day, just where you wounded\nme twice.  I have been blind and deaf and mad all this while.  I would\nnot see or hear the truth, and the truth is, Lancelot, that it is you\nwho have been always the King's friend and that it is I who, in these\nlast days, have been his enemy.  My pride and my selfishness and my\nanger have almost ruined the King, but it may be that your true love and\nyour strength can save him yet.  Come and help him, Lancelot. I have\ngiven you cause to hate me, but do not stay away from the King for that,\nfor when you come to him I shall be dead.'\n\n\"This letter Gawain gave to a messenger and ordered him to cross with it\nto France and to ride as fast as he could to Benwick and give it to\nLancelot.  And a little while after that Gawain died.\n\n\"The next day King Arthur marched against Mordred.  Mordred, with his\narmy, fell back before him and day after day the King pushed him farther\nand farther into the West, till at last the two armies were here in\nCornwall. They had both been gathering strength as they marched, for\nmany knights and many other men joined them as they passed through the\ncountry.  Some joined Mordred because they were friends to Lancelot, not\nknowing, they were so little and so narrow themselves, that Lancelot was\ngreat enough to be the King's friend still.\n\n\"At last Mordred and his army halted and would retreat no farther.  Then\nit seemed that the great battle must come the next day.  But that night\nKing Arthur had a dream.  He dreamed that Gawain came and stood before\nhim, and Gawain said: 'My lord, do not fight with Mordred to-morrow.  If\nyou fight with him to-morrow you will be killed.  But put off the battle\nfor a little while and Lancelot and all his knights and all his men will\ncome to help you.'\n\n\"In the morning, when the King awoke, he sent messengers to Mordred to\nask him to meet him between the lines of the two armies and agree upon a\ntruce.  So it was arranged that Arthur and Mordred should each bring\nfourteen knights and that they should meet half-way between the two\narmies.  Then Arthur said to his knights whom he left behind: 'I do not\ntrust Mordred.  I fear that he will try some treachery.  So watch us\nwhen we meet and while we talk, and if you see any sword drawn among the\nmen on either side, do not wait for any more, but charge forward and\nbegin the battle.'  And Mordred, before he went to meet the King, gave\njust the same command to his knights who stayed behind.\n\n\"All the knights who went with the King and with Mordred were told that\nthis was to be a peaceful meeting and that no sword must be drawn.  But\nafter the King and Mordred had met and while they were talking, a little\nsnake came out from under a bush and stung the foot of one of the\nknights.  The knight forgot the order that had been given and drew his\nsword to kill the snake.  But the men of the armies were too far away to\nsee the snake and to know why the sword was drawn.  They saw only the\nflash of the drawn sword and that was the signal of battle.  It was of\nno use for Arthur or for Mordred to try to stop them or to delay the\nbattle then.  The trumpets blew, the knights charged forward, the two\ngreat waves of horses and men broke upon each other with a harsh rattle\nand jangle and clash of arms all along the field, and the battle was\njoined.\n\n[Illustration: \"The two great waves broke upon each other\"]\n\n\"In all his long reign, King Arthur had never fought such a battle as\nthis before. There were thousands of men on each side and they were all\nmen who had learned to fight in King Arthur's own battles and\ntournaments. They were men who had learned from him to fight and to\nfight and to go on fighting and never to stop till they had won.  With\nmen like that on both sides there was only one way that the battle could\nend.  The battle went on all day. Slowly the knights on each side grew\nfewer and fewer and all who saw them knew that the fight would go on\ntill there was none at all on one side or the other.  Arthur's men were\nfaithful to him to their last breath, and Mordred's men felt that they\nshould be ruined if they were beaten.  Once Arthur saw one of his old\nknights surrounded by enemies, and the old knight's son was close beside\nthe King. The King and those around him had as much fighting as they\ncould do, but Arthur said to the young knight: 'Do you not see your\nfather there in danger?  Why do you not go to help him?'\n\n\"And the young knight answered: 'My lord, my father told me this morning\nto stay beside you all day and to let nothing draw me away from you.  My\nfather is a good knight and he must fight for himself.'  And the old\nknight was killed, and afterward the son was killed, too.\n\n\"When the evening came there were few left to fight.  It may be that\nsome had run away, but the most were dead or wounded. King Arthur stood\nwith only two of his knights beside him.  They were Sir Lucan and Sir\nBedivere.  The King looked all about him and saw only one other man\nnear.  And that was Mordred.  The King spoke under his breath: 'The end\nis come, I fear, for all of us, but before I die that man there shall\ndie, who has brought this end to all of us.'\n\n\"Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere tried to hold him back.  'My lord,' said Sir\nBedivere, 'do not try to fight any more with him to-day, or he may kill\nyou.  Remember what Gawain said to you in your dream.  Mordred has no\nfriends left now.  Leave him for to-night, and to-morrow we can do\njustice upon him.'\n\n\"'No,' said the King, 'that traitor shall not live any longer, and I\nwill kill him myself.'\n\n\"Arthur had his sword Excalibur in his hand.  He rushed upon Mordred\nwith it and struck him one blow upon the head, and Mordred fell down\ndead.  But Arthur had been so eager against Mordred that he had not\nthought to defend himself.  Mordred had struck too at the same time and\nhad struck well and Arthur had a great wound on his head.  Lucan and\nBedivere went to him and he tried to stand, but he could not.  'You must\nhelp me,' he said, 'to some place of shelter; I cannot help myself any\nmore.'\n\n\"They tried to lift him up, but Lucan, who had been wounded in the\nbattle, suddenly fell down beside the King and died.  Then Arthur said:\n'Bedivere, you are the last one left to me and there is only a little\nmore that you can do. Take my sword Excalibur and go up this hill here\nbefore us.  At the top of it there is a lake. Throw my sword into the\nlake, as far out into the middle of it as you can, and then come back\nand tell me what you see.'\n\n\"Bedivere took the sword and climbed the hill and came to this very spot\nwhere we are standing.  But on the way he looked at the sword and at the\njewels in the hilt and he thought: 'It would be wrong to throw away this\nbeautiful sword.  I will hide it here, instead of throwing it into the\nlake.  Then, if the King is cured of his wound, he will be glad to have\nhis sword again, and if he dies, someone else can have it.'\n\n\"So he hid the sword among the reeds that grew by the side of the lake\nand went back to the King.  'Did you throw my sword into the lake?' the\nKing asked.\n\n\"'Yes, my lord,' said Bedivere.\n\n\"'And what did you see or hear?' said the King.\n\n\"'Nothing,' said Bedivere, 'but the water and the wind.'\n\n\"'Then you did not throw it in,' the King answered.  'Go back now and\nthrow it in, as I told you, and come back and tell me what you see.'\n\n\"Then Bedivere went up the hill again to the lake and took the sword out\nfrom where he had hidden it.  He held it up in the moonlight and saw the\nshining of the rich jewels and the gleam of the long blade and again he\nthought: 'It would be a sin to lose such a wonderful thing as this.  The\nKing is wounded and weak and he is wandering in his mind, or else he\nwould not tell me to do it.  I will tell him again that I have thrown it\nin.'\n\n\"He hid the sword again and went back to the King, and the King said:\n'Did you throw my sword into the lake?'\n\n\"'Yes, my lord,' said Bedivere, 'I threw it in.'\n\n\"'And what did you see or hear?' said Arthur.\n\n\"'I saw nothing but the water,' said Bedivere, 'and I heard nothing but\nthe wind and the waves.'\n\n\"'Oh, Bedivere,' said Arthur, 'you are the last of my knights and you\nwill not obey me. Go now once more and throw my sword as far as you can\nout into the lake.  And if you do not obey me this time, when you come\nagain, wounded as I am, I will rise up and kill you, if I can, with my\nhands.'\n\n\"Then Bedivere went as fast as he could up the hill again and found the\nsword and took it and swung it above his head and threw it as far as he\ncould out over the lake.  He watched it as it whirled through the air,\nand when it was near the water he saw an arm, covered with white silk,\ncome up out of the water.  The hand caught the sword as it fell and\nbrandished it three times in a circle, and then the hand and the arm\nwent down under the water, and Bedivere went back and told the King.\n'And now, Bedivere,' said Arthur, 'help me to go to the lake too.'\n\n\"But the King could not stand at all, so Bedivere took him on his back\nand carried him up the hill to the side of the lake.  And there they saw\na boat lying close to the shore.  It was filled with women, all dressed\nin black, and three, who stood in the midst of them, were queens and\nwore crowns.  'Put me in the boat,' said Arthur, and Bedivere carried\nhim to the boat and the three queens received him, and all the women in\nthe boat wept when they saw him.  The three queens laid him down and one\nof them took his head in her lap and said: 'My dear brother, why did you\nwait so long?  You should have come here to us as soon as you had this\nwound.'\n\n\"And this woman was King Arthur's sister, Queen Morgan-le-Fay.  I don't\nknow when or why she had ceased to be his enemy and had become his\nfriend, but she was his friend now and she did all that she could to\nhelp him and to cure his wound.\n\n\"Then Bedivere saw that the boat was moving from the shore, and he\ncried: 'My lord--my King--where shall I go and what shall I do without\nyou?  Let me go with you where you go and die with you, if you are to\ndie.'\n\n\"But Arthur answered: 'Do not be grieved for me, Bedivere, but go your\nown way. Perhaps you may hear of me again, but now I can do no more for\nyou or for my people.  I am going to the Valley of Avalon, to be cured\nof my wound, and some time, perhaps, when my wound is well, I shall come\nagain.'\n\n\"Then the boat moved farther and farther away along the lake.  The King\ndid not speak again, but Bedivere could hear Queen Morgan-le-Fay\nspeaking softly to him, and he could hear the other women weeping.  Only\nfor a little while he could hear them, and then he strained his eyes to\nsee the boat as long as he could.  But the light was dim and soon the\ndark shape of the boat mixed with the dark shadows and was lost.\n\n\"And so King Arthur floated away to Avalon.  You know that Avalon was\nGlastonbury, and you do not see, perhaps, how any boat could go from\nthis mountain lake, all shut in by the land, out to the sea and inland\nagain to that island with the marsh around it.  You must think of the\nmagic of Queen Morgan-le-Fay. Where she wanted her boat to go I am sure\nthat water-ways would open of themselves to let her pass.  A ship with\nher upon it would go as fast and as far as she would have it go. And\nthen, one of the old stories says, they had a pilot who knew all the\nseas and all the stars of the heavens.\n\n\"Sir Bedivere looked after the boat till it had been gone from his sight\nfor a long time. Then he turned away from the lake, went down the hill,\nand wandered away through the woods. He did not know where he was going\nand he did not care.  He scarcely saw what places he passed.  He was\nthinking of his King who had been taken away from him.  He thought of\nthe bright old days when Arthur won his crown in the battles with the\nrebel Kings, when his own knights learned to love his strength and his\ntruth and his nobleness.  He thought of the happy days when the greatest\nknights of the world gathered at the Round Table in Camelot.  He thought\nof how they had helped the King to bring peace and plenty and content to\nthe land.  He thought of the sad later days and of these last days of\nall and he wished that he might have died before they came.  He could\nnot think at all yet of what he was still to do or how he was to live\nwithout his King.\n\n\"So, deep in these sad thoughts, he went on and on, stopped now and\nthen, where he could, to eat or drink, because he knew he must, or lay\ndown in the forest to sleep, but never thought and never knew how long\nhe had been on the way or how weary he was.  At last he heard a bell and\nsaw an abbey before him.  He went into the chapel and saw a man kneeling\nupon a tomb.  The man rose and came to meet him.  He was the abbot.\n'Sir,' said Bedivere, 'whose tomb is that where I saw you praying?'\n\n\"'I do not know,' said the abbot.  'Last night a great company of ladies\ncame here and brought a dead man and begged me to bury him.  And I\nburied him in that tomb there before the altar, but they did not tell me\nwho he was.'\n\n\"'Then I will tell you,' said Bedivere.  'If a company of ladies brought\nhim, it was King Arthur.'\n\n\"Then Bedivere asked the hermit to let him stay there and live with him.\nAnd he stayed for a long time there in the Abbey of Glastonbury, and\nvisited the poor and the sick, and at last he became a priest.\n\n\"And that was all that was known of how King Arthur passed away from the\nbattle, of how he came to Avalon, and of how he was buried.  The abbot\ndid not know who the man was whom he had buried, till Bedivere told him,\nand Bedivere thought that he was King Arthur only because a company of\nladies had brought him.  But Arthur himself had told Bedivere that he\nwas going to Avalon to be cured of his wound, and that some time he\nmight come again.  And so, on a stone over the grave at Glastonbury,\nthey put the words:\n\n\n*hic jacet Arthurus,\nRex quondam Rexque futurus.*\n\nThat is Latin and it means: 'Here lies Arthur, King that was and King\nthat shall be.'  And so it was long believed that some time King Arthur\nwould come back to conquer the foes of England and to save the people.\nSome said that he was taken away in the boat to some happy island, to be\ncured of his wound and to wait for the time when England should need him\nmost.  Some said that he was sleeping down under the ground, with his\nknights, at Caerleon-upon-Usk, and others that he was in the enchanted\ncastle on the hill at Camelot. Some believed that he was a raven, flying\naround the Cornish coast, and some that he was dead like other men, and\nin his grave in the Abbey of Glastonbury.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: The Choir, Glastonbury Abbey]\n\n\n                            *CHAPTER XVIII*\n\n                       *THE ABBESS AND THE MONK*\n\n\nWe did get back to Glastonbury at last, and this time we did not miss\nseeing the abbey. We spent some time in tracing it all out from its\nruins.  It was a great and beautiful church in its time.  Now it has\nbeen crumbling and falling for many years.  Worse than that, the people\nof the country about here, when they wanted stone for building, instead\nof finding new stone, used to come and take some from the old abbey.\nBut, after all that time and men could do to it, much of it still\nstands, and it is full of that sad, sweet beauty and stateliness that\nnothing but a ruin ever has.  The walls of St. Joseph's chapel still\nremain, all covered with ivy, there is a good deal of the choir left,\nand there are two of the great, tall piers that held the tower.  Then,\nsome way off, there is the abbot's kitchen, still all but perfect.\n\nWe found the place, or thought we did, where Joseph of Arimathaea first\nbuilt his little church of wood and woven twigs.  We tried to find the\nspot where King Arthur was buried. That is not easy, but we hit upon a\nplace at last where we thought it must have been.  When Henry II was\nKing a search was made for King Arthur's grave by his order.  They found\nit, they said, and Henry had a monument put over it.  The monument is\ngone now, probably carried away, like so much of the abbey, to build\nstables, or something else just as noble and important, and there is\nnothing left to show where it stood.  If we were talking of history\ninstead of stories I might have something to say about this one of Henry\nII.  But, as it is, it may as well stand with the rest of them.\n\n\"There is one more story,\" I said, \"that I must tell you while we are\nhere among these ruins.  Then I shall have told you all that I set out\nto tell, and we shall have made the journey that we set out to make.\n\n\"When the letter that Gawain wrote was brought to Lancelot he lost no\ntime in calling his knights and his army together and starting toward\nEngland to help King Arthur.  If the King could only have delayed that\nlast great battle, as he tried to do, Lancelot would have been with him\nand all would have been well. But when Lancelot landed at Dover the\npeople told him that he had come too late.  They told him of the battle\nthat had been fought there, in which Gawain was killed, and of the\ngreater battle that had been fought afterward far away in the West.  All\nthat they could tell him of the King was that he was gone.  Some said\nthat he was dead, and some that he had been carried away to Fairyland,\nwhere he would live till his people needed him.\n\n\"Then Lancelot asked: 'Where is the Queen?'\n\n\"'She shut herself up in the Tower of London,' some one answered, 'to\nsave herself from Mordred.  Then, when Mordred left London and came here\nto meet the King, she left the Tower, too, and they say that she went to\nsome abbey and is living with the nuns.'\n\n\"Then Lancelot told Bors and the other knights who were with him to wait\nat Dover while he went to find the Queen.  He rode alone through the\ncountry, asking at all the abbeys that he found, and at last he came to\nAlmesbury, the place that is now called Amesbury, where we went, you\nknow, on our way to Stonehenge.  And at the abbey there he saw the Queen\nwalking in the cloister.  She saw him too and came to meet him.\n\n\"'I have come,' Lancelot said, 'to take you from this place.  The King\nis gone from us now, and we shall never see him in this world again.\nCome with me now to my own city. While the King was with us I did not\ncare whether I had a city.  I thought it grander and nobler to be his\nknight than to be King of all the world but England.  You know, my\nQueen, that I am King of Benwick.  Come with me now and be my Queen\nstill, more my Queen than ever, the Queen of Benwick.  It is a little\nplace, but my people love me, and they will love you, too.'\n\n\"'Lancelot,' said the Queen, 'we must not think of such things--I must\nnot.  You must go back and rule your people well and make them\nhappy--yes, and be happy yourself, if you can--but I must stay here and\ntry to do a little good to the poor, and fast and pray, so that God will\nforgive me and so that he will forgive you and let us see our Arthur in\nanother world, since we cannot in this.  For, Lancelot, do you know that\nit is because of us--because of me and of you--that our Arthur has gone\nfrom us?'\n\n\"'No, no,' said Lancelot, 'it is not true.  I will not let you say such\nthings of yourself, even though you say them of me.  We did nothing that\nwas wrong, you and I.  They charged us with some plot--I do not know\nwhat it was, and they did not know themselves. Then I saved you and I\nsaved myself, as it was right that I should do.  The King made war on\nme.  I made no war on him.  I only guarded my knights and my people.  I\nwould not even have fought with Gawain, only he would have it so.  And\nwhen I heard that the King needed me here in England I came back to help\nhim, and it was too late.  But it was the traitors who brought all this\ndeath and ruin.'\n\n\"'It was not that we did any wrong, Lancelot,' said the Queen, 'it was\nthat we did not do all that was right.  You would rather be Arthur's\nknight, you said, than to be King of all the world but England.  Ah,\nyes, but what of England?  Did you never wish, even in your heart, that\nyou were King of that?  Arthur had noble thoughts for the good of his\ncountry and of his people, and you swore to be faithful in everything to\nhim and to help him.  And so your thoughts, Lancelot, should have been\nall for the King and for his people, and so should mine.  And were they\nso?  Did you never forget these things and work and fight for your own\nname and your own glory, instead of for the glory of the King and for\nthe good of England?  You fought, too, many times, for my name and for\nmy glory, and I was foolish and let you do it, when my thoughts, too,\nshould have been all for him and for England.  But here alone, since we\nwere all parted, I have had time to think, and I have seen more clearly\nthan I ever saw before.  Lancelot, it is not the great sins of the\nwicked people that bring ruin to the world; it is the follies and the\nfailings of those who should be most true and most faithful, and so help\nand save the world, but do not do it. We were the nearest to the King, I\nhis Queen and you his greatest knight.  We should have been as strong\nand as firm in our faithfulness to him as he was to himself.  If we ever\nhad selfish and vain thoughts, thoughts that were not for the King, for\na single hour, it was a worse wrong in us than the wrongs that those\npoor, weak knights did when they let Mordred persuade them and lead them\nagainst the King. Do you not know why you could not see the Holy Grail,\nas Galahad and Percivale and Bors saw it?  This was why.  And they could\nsee it because in every thought and wish they were true to what they and\nall of the Round Table swore to the King.  And so, Lancelot, my own best\nknight, as there is work for you to do among your people, go and do it,\nbut I must stay here and do a little good, if I can, and pray for you\nand for myself, so that some time we may be nearer to the King than we\nhave ever been.'\n\n\"'If you are right,' said Lancelot, 'and you must be right--if you are\nright in staying here and doing what you say that you will do, then it\nis right for me, too.  I will not go back to France.  I will find some\npeaceful place and some good man, some hermit perhaps, and ask him to\nlet me stay with him and do as you are doing.  Pray for me sometimes, my\nQueen, and I will pray for you always.'\n\n\"Now I can guess just what you think of all this.  You think that\nLancelot had not done any wrong at all and that the Queen was a great\ndeal too hard on him.  But I know that the Queen was right.  Think over\nall that she said again and you will know it too.  The Queen and\nLancelot had stood next to the King for all these years.  They had been\nproud of him and proud that they were so near to him, and if they had\nbeen steadfast in all that they did and said and thought, nothing could\never have harmed him or his country while they all lived.  But sometimes\nthey were weak and thoughtless, and then the King was left to work\nalone.  Though this was all that they had done amiss, it was enough.\n\n\"So Lancelot left the Queen and went on his way.  And Guinevere stayed\nthere at Almesbury and lived with the nuns.  She never left the abbey\nexcept to walk a little way among the fields, in the woods, and along\nthe river that we saw when we were at Amesbury, or, more often, to carry\nhelp or comfort to the poor or the sick.\n\n\"After she had been with the nuns for a time she became one of them, and\nno one among them worked more than she for the people near who needed\nhelp, and no one among them was loved more than she.  And no one, even\nof those who knew her best, could tell whether she was happy.  But they\nall knew that she was always gentle and patient, that she never said\nthat her work was hard, that she never seemed to wish for her old life,\nand that the sick people watched for her and the poor people prayed for\nher.  And when the old abbess died they were all sure that no one could\ntake her place so well as Guinevere.  And so, for what was left of her\nlife, Guinevere was abbess at Almesbury.\n\n\"When Lancelot rode away from Almesbury he felt that it was nothing to\nhim where he went.  He felt that he hated courts and tournaments and\nbattle-fields now, and he wished only to find some place away from the\nbusy and noisy world, where he could live as the Queen was living.  And\nso he wandered here to Glastonbury.  And when he found Bedivere here,\nwhen Bedivere had told him all about the great battle, and when he had\nshown him the grave in the chapel where he believed that King Arthur was\nburied, then Lancelot begged the abbot to let him stay here and be a\nmonk with the rest of them as long as he lived.  And the abbot and\nBedivere were both glad to have him stay.  So Lancelot, too, lived his\nlife among his brother monks and among the poor and the sick, and they\nall learned to love him, as, long ago, all the good knights in Arthur's\ncourt had learned to love him.\n\n\"Bors and his fellows waited for Lancelot at Dover for a long time.  At\nlast Bors sent the army back to France, with all the knights except a\nfew who were the best friends of Lancelot.  With these he set out\nthrough England to search for him.  They searched for a long time and at\nlast they found him.  And when they saw that he was a monk they said\nthat they would all stay at Glastonbury and be monks too.\n\n\"When Lancelot had been at Glastonbury for a long time he had a dream\none night.  He dreamed that an angel stood beside him and said to him:\n'Lancelot, take all your fellows here who were knights of the Round\nTable to-morrow and go to Almesbury.  When you come there the abbess,\nQueen Guinevere, will be dead.  Bring her here and bury her in the\nchapel beside the King.'  And twice more that same night Lancelot had\nthis dream.\n\n\"In the morning Lancelot told the abbot of his dream, and the abbot said\nthat it would be best for him to take his fellows with him and go to\nAlmesbury, as he had been told to do. So they all set out, and when they\ncame to the abbey at Almesbury the nuns knew who they were and why they\nhad come, without being told.  For they said: 'Our abbess died not an\nhour ago, and she told us that after she was dead the monk who used to\nbe Sir Lancelot of the Lake would come for her and would bury her at\nGlastonbury, beside the King. She had been told of it in a dream.'\n\n\"So Lancelot and his fellows took the body of the Queen back with them\nto Glastonbury. There they made another grave before the altar in the\nchapel, beside the grave of King Arthur, and buried Queen Guinevere in\nit.\n\n\"And after this was done Lancelot would scarcely leave that chapel.  He\nwas there for nearly all of every day and much of every night, kneeling\nover the graves of the King and the Queen and praying.  He would eat\nscarcely anything and he slept but little.  And so he grew thin and pale\nand weak.  The abbot and his friends could not comfort him or make him\neat, and at last he told them that he should live only a little longer.\n'When I am dead,' he said, 'take me and bury me in the chapel of my own\nold castle of Joyous Gard.  I would far rather lie here in your chapel,\nnear my King and my Queen, but years ago I made a vow that I would be\nburied in Joyous Gard, and I must keep that vow, so take me there.'\n\n\"That night the abbot awoke some of the monks by laughing aloud in his\nsleep.  They went to the abbot's bed and he awoke and said: 'I have had\nthe most beautiful dream that I have ever had in my life.'\n\n\"'What was it?' said Bors.\n\n\"'I dreamed,' the abbot said, 'that I saw Lancelot in the midst of a\ngreat company of angels.  More angels there were than I ever saw of men\nin an army.  Some of them lifted Lancelot up and they all rose to\nHeaven.  I could see Lancelot's face as they went, and it was full of\npeace and gladness.  They came near the gates of Heaven and the gates\nwere opened for them and they all passed in.  And as they passed I could\nsee the great light that shone out and I could hear voices singing, and\nthe gates were closed and then I awoke.'\n\n\"Then they all went to Lancelot's bed.  He did not awake when they came\nto him, as the abbot had done.  He lay still and his face was full of\npeace and gladness and he was dead.\n\n\"They took him the next day, all his friends and the abbot with them,\nand they journeyed slowly till they came to Joyous Gard.  There they\nburied him and then they journeyed slowly back again to Glastonbury.\nThey did not talk much as they went, but now and then they spoke a\nlittle, sadly, as people will at such times, of the older and happier\ndays.  To Bors and to some of the others it seemed only a little while\nsince a hundred and fifty knights sat at the Round Table in the hall at\nCamelot. Here were some of the knights of the Round Table still, but the\nglory of it had passed away with the King and Galahad and Gawain and\nLancelot.\"\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \"On toward the gold and the purple in the west\"]\n\n\n                             *CHAPTER XIX*\n\n                           *\"REXQUE FUTURUS\"*\n\n\nWe were at sea on our way home.  We had left Southampton, where Arthur\nembarked when he went to fight the Emperor of Rome, and all day we had\nmade our swift way west through the British Channel.  When we came up on\ndeck after dinner we had just passed the Scilly Islands.  Dark and rough\nand hard they stood up out of the sea behind us, and a pale mist was\njust beginning to wrap them around and hide them a little from sight.\nBefore us all the air was clear.  The sun was just setting and was\nfilling the sky with a dozen lovely hues of rose and violet and turning\nthe water into tossing and tumbling gold.\n\n\"See,\" I said, \"there are the Scilly Islands. They are all that is left\nof that lost land of Lyonnesse, Tristram's country, that used to reach\nfrom here back to the Land's End.  The rest of it is sunk deep down\nunder the water. This is all of Lyonnesse that we can ever see.\"\n\nHelen did not seem to care very greatly even for this.  She was thinking\nof the last of our stories.  \"Was King Arthur really buried,\" she said,\n\"there in the Abbey of Glastonbury?\"\n\n\"It is not easy to answer that,\" I said.  \"It seems to me that I have\nread enough books about King Arthur to fill this ship, yet I never could\nsee that the writers of them had settled among themselves whether he was\nburied there or not.  If we care to believe that he was, I think we may\nas well believe it.\"\n\n\"But do you believe it?\"\n\n\"Yes, I believe it.\"\n\n\"Then he never came back, the way he said he would, and the way the\npeople believed he would?\"\n\n\"No, he never came back.\"\n\n\"And he never will come back, the way the stories said?\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, I think he will.\"\n\nFor a few minutes Helen watched the water that was whirling by the side\nof the ship and I looked at the colors of the sea and the sky, that were\ngrowing brighter still.  Then she said: \"But if King Arthur really died\nand really was buried at Glastonbury and the three Queens didn't cure\nhis wound at all, how can he come back?\"\n\n\"I don't know whether I can make you see it quite as I do,\" I said, \"but\nI will try.  You know what it was that King Arthur tried to do.  I have\ntold you all these stories very badly, if you do not.  He tried to save\nhis people from the harms and the wrongs that they suffered.  He tried\nto make all of them, the rich and the poor, the lords and the common\npeople, good and brave and strong, true and gentle and noble.  And he\ndid make them better and happier than they were before.  But the time\nhad not come for all that he wished. After he passed away things got to\nbe as bad almost, as they had been before.  Some people, here in our own\ntime, think that the world is not growing any better.  That is because\nthey look back only a few years, perhaps a hundred, and they do not see\nany change.  There has been a change, though they do not see it.  But\nthey would see it, if they would look back to those fearful old days\nbefore Arthur came, yes, or half way back, for there were days then that\nwere not much better.  They would see then how selfish and how cruel men\nwere and what wicked and heartless things they would do for a little\npower or a little gain.\n\n\"This was what Arthur tried to change, and he did change it partly, for\na little while.  But it was too soon to change it altogether.  When he\nwas gone everything soon came to be nearly as it was before.  Yet it was\nnever quite the same again, perhaps.  Other good men came, not with the\nstrength of Arthur, yet with a strength of their own.  And they passed\naway too and left England and the world a little better than they had\nfound them.  Slowly and slowly, yet surely and surely, men have thought\nmore, learned more, worked more, and so, slowly and slowly, yet surely\nand surely, they have grown wiser and juster and stronger, and so, too,\nthey have grown freer and better and happier.\n\n\"The men of England and of our own country and of all the world are not\nyet what Arthur would have had them.  They are still far from it,\nperhaps, yet they are nearer to it, and they are always getting nearer\nstill.  The way is long and it seems hopeless, sometimes, but it is not\nhopeless.  And in some great, good time, far off, when this England and\nour own country and all the world come to be as just and noble and happy\nas Arthur tried to make his people--then cannot men say: 'King Arthur is\nnot dead any more; he has come back and is among us again, for it is his\nwill that guides us and it is his law that rules us now?'  Do you see\nnow how Arthur did not die, but only passed away, to come again?  And do\nyou see how he may come again, even though they buried him there at\nGlastonbury?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" Helen said, after she had thought for a minute.  \"I\ndon't think I quite understand it, and any way, I would rather you would\ntell stories than talk like that.\"\n\nBut I had no more stories to tell just then, and so we only stood and\nwatched the water and the sky, while the ship carried us along, farther\nand farther away from the dim, dark rocks, with the fog around them, and\non toward the gold and the purple in the west.\n\n\n\n\n           *      *      *      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\n                       *Charles Scribner's Sons'*\n\n                      *New and Standard Books for\n                     Young Readers for 1897-98...*\n\n\n*MRS. BURNETT'S FAMOUS JUVENILES*\n\nAn entirely new edition of Mrs. Burnett's famous juveniles from new\nplates, with all the original illustrations.  Bound in a beautiful new\ncloth binding designed by R. B. Birch, and sold at very much reduced\nprices.\n\nLITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY\n\nTWO LITTLE PILGRIMS' PROGRESS\n\nSARA CREWE and LITTLE SAINT ELIZABETH AND OTHER STORIES (in one vol.)\n\nPICCINO AND OTHER CHILD STORIES\n\nGIOVANNI AND THE OTHER\n\n                   _Five Volumes, 12mo, each, $1.25_\n\n\n   The original editions can still be supplied at the former prices:\n\nLITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.  Beautifully illustrated by REGINALD B. BIRCH.\nSquare 8vo, $2.00.\n\nTWO LITTLE PILGRIMS' PROGRESS.  A STORY OF THE CITY BEAUTIFUL. By Mrs.\nFRANCES HODGSON BURNETT.  Illustrated by REGINALD B. BIRCH. Uniform with\n\"Fauntleroy,\" etc.  Square 8vo, $1.50.\n\nSARA CREWE; OR, WHAT HAPPENED AT MISS MINCHIN'S.  Richly and fully\nillustrated by REGINALD B. BIRCH.  Square 8vo, $1.00.\n\nLITTLE SAINT ELIZABETH, AND OTHER STORIES.  With 12 full-page drawings\nby REGINALD B. BIRCH.  Square 8vo, $1.50.\n\nGIOVANNI AND THE OTHER: CHILDREN WHO HAVE MADE STORIES.  With 9\nfull-page illustrations by REGINALD B. BIRCH.  Square 8vo, $1.50.\n\nPICCINO, AND OTHER CHILD STORIES.  Fully illustrated by REGINALD B.\nBIRCH. Square 8vo, $1.50.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                    *G. A. HENTY'S POPULAR STORIES*\n\n   New Volumes for 1897-98.  Each, crown 8vo, handsomely illustrated,\n                                 $1.50.\n\n\nMr. Henty, the most popular writer of Books of Adventure in England,\nadds three new volumes to his list this fall--books that will delight\nthousands of boys on this side who have become his ardent admirers.\n\n\nWITH FREDERICK THE GREAT.  A TALE OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.  With 12\nfull-page illustrations.  12mo, $1.50.\n\nThis story, more than any other of Mr. Henty's, follows closely the\nhistoric lines, and no better description of the memorable battles of\nRossbach, Leuthen, Prague, Zorndorf, Hochkirch, and Torgau can be found\nanywhere than is given in this volume.  Through the historic part there\nruns the record of the daring and hazardous adventures of the hero, so\nthat the charm of romance is given to the whole narrative.  It is one of\nthe most important volumes Mr. Henty has written.\n\n\nA MARCH ON LONDON.  A STORY OF WAT TYLER'S RISING.  With 8 full-page\nillustrations by W. H. MARGETSON.  12mo, $1.50.\n\nThis book weaves together, in a most interesting way, the story of Wat\nTyler's rebellion under King Richard, the civil war in Flanders which\noccurred soon after, and the ill-planned attack upon the French led by\nthe Bishop of Norfolk. The whole story is singularly interesting,\ncovering as it does a period of history which is but little known and\nwhich is well worth narrating.\n\n\nWITH MOORE AT CORUNNA.  A STORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR.  With 12\nfull-page illustrations by WAL. PAGET.  12mo, $1.50.\n\nA bright Irish lad, Terence O'Connor, is living with his widowed father,\nCaptain O'Connor of the Mayo Fusiliers, with the regiment, at the time\nwhen the Peninsular War against Napoleon began. Under the command of Sir\nJohn Moore, he shared in the same marching and sharp fighting which that\nexpedition experienced up to the battle of Corunna.  By his bravery and\ngreat usefulness, in spite of his youth, he received a commission as\ncolonel in the Portuguese army, and during the remainder of the war\nrendered great services, being mentioned twice in the general orders of\nthe Duke of Wellington. The whole story is full of exciting military\nexperiences and gives a most careful and accurate account of the conduct\nof the campaigns.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                       *MR. HENTY'S OTHER BOOKS*\n\nEach volume with numerous illustrations; handsomely bound. Olivine\nedges.  12mo.  $1.50.\n\n\"Mr. Henty's books never fail to interest boy readers. Among writers of\nstories of adventure he stands in the very first rank.\"--_Academy_,\nLondon.\n\n\"No country nor epoch of history is there which Mr. Henty does not know,\nand what is really remarkable is that he always writes well and\ninterestingly.  Boys like stirring adventures, and Mr. Henty is a master\nof this method of composition.\"--_New York Times_.\n\n\nAT AGINCOURT.  A TALE OF THE WHITE HOODS OF PARIS.  With 12 full-page\nillustrations by WAL. PAGET.\n\nCOCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS.  A TALE OF THE EXPLOITS OF LORD COCHRANE IN\nSOUTH AMERICAN WATERS.  With 12 full-page illustrations by W. H.\nMARGETSON.\n\nON THE IRRAWADDY.  A STORY OF THE FIRST BURMESE WAR.  With 8 full-page\nillustrations by W. H. OVEREND.\n\nTHROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS.  A STORY OF NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.  With\n8 full-page illustrations by W. H. OVEREND.\n\nA KNIGHT OF THE WHITE CROSS.  A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF RHODES. With 12\nfull-page illustrations by RALPH PEACOCK.\n\nTHE TIGER OF MYSORE.  A STORY OF THE WAR WITH TIPPOO SAID.  With 12\nfull-page illustrations by W. H. MARGETSON.\n\nIN THE HEART OF THE ROCKIES.  A STORY OF ADVENTURE IN COLORADO.\n\nWHEN LONDON BURNED.  A STORY OF RESTORATION TIMES AND THE GREAT FIRE.\n\nWULF THE SAXON.  A STORY OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST.\n\nST. BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE.  A TALE OF THE HUGUENOT WARS.\n\nTHROUGH THE SIKH WAR.  A TALE OF THE CONQUEST OF THE PUNJAUB.\n\nA JACOBITE EXILE.  BEING THE ADVENTURES OF A YOUNG ENGLISHMAN IN THE\nSERVICE OF CHARLES XII. OF SWEDEN.\n\nCONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST.  A STORY OF ESCAPE FROM SIBERIA.\n\nBERIC THE BRITON.  A STORY OF THE ROMAN INVASION.\n\nIN GREEK WATERS.  A STORY OF THE GRECIAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE\n[1821-1827].\n\nTHE DASH FOR KHARTOUM.  A TALE OF THE NILE EXPEDITION.\n\nREDSKIN AND COWBOY.  A TALE OF THE WESTERN PLAINS.\n\nHELD FAST FOR ENGLAND.  A TALE OF THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                       *SOME OF THE NEWEST BOOKS*\n\n\nWILL SHAKESPEARE'S LITTLE LAD.  By IMOGEN CLARK.  With illustrations and\ncover design by R. B. Birch.  12mo, $1.50.\n\nA story, full of warm color and brisk movement, of Stratford life in\nShakespeare's day, the local atmosphere being reflected with rare\nfidelity, and the hero, the poet's son, being drawn with sympathy and\ncharm.\n\n\nCHILD POEMS.  By EUGENE FIELD.  With an introduction by KENNETH GRAHAME\nand profusely illustrated by CHARLES ROBINSON. Uniform with Robert Louis\nStevenson's \"Child's Garden of Verses,\" also illustrated by Charles\nRobinson.  12mo, $1.50.\n\n\nTHE STEVENSON SONG BOOK.  VERSES FROM \"A CHILD'S GARDEN,\" by ROBERT\nLOUIS STEVENSON.  With music by various composers. A companion volume to\nthe Field-DeKoven song book printed last year.  Large 8vo, $2.00.\n\n\nAN OLD-FIELD SCHOOL GIRL.  By MARION HARLAND.  With 8 full-page\nillustrations.  12mo, $1.25.\n\n\nLORDS OF THE WORLD.  By ALFRED J. CHURCH.  A STORY OF THE FALL OF\nCARTHAGE AND CORINTH.  With 12 full-page illustrations by RALPH PEACOCK.\n12mo, $1.50.\n\nThe scene of this story centres in the overthrow and destruction of\nCarthage by the Romans.  The story is full of valuable historical\ndetails and the interest never flags.\n\n\nHEROES OF OUR NAVY.  By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL.  Illustrated.  12mo. In\npress.\n\nNever has this entertaining writer been more felicitous than in the\npresent volume.\n\n\nTHE LAST CRUISE OF THE MOHAWK.  By W. J. HENDERSON.  Illustrated by\nHARRY EDWARDS.  12mo, $1.25.\n\nThe book is crowded with dramatic incident--mutiny, shipwreck,\nFarragut's great fight in Mobile Bay--and the narrative is as simple as\nthe events and characters are entertaining.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                     *KIRK MUNROE'S STIRRING TALES*\n\n\n                     _*THE WHITE CONQUEROR SERIES*_\n\n\nWITH CROCKETT AND BOWIE\nTHE WHITE CONQUERORS\nAT WAR WITH PONTIAC\nTHROUGH SWAMP AND GLADE\n\nEach, illustrated, 12mo, $1.25.  The complete set, 4 vols., in a box,\n$5.00.\n\n\n                           _*JUST PUBLISHED*_\n\nWITH CROCKETT AND BOWIE; OR, FIGHTING FOR THE LONE STAR FLAG. A TALE OF\nTEXAS.  With 8 full-page illustrations by VICTOR PERARD.\n\nThe story is of the Texas revolution in 1835, when American Texans under\nSam Houston, Bowie, Crockett, and Travis, fought for relief from the\nintolerable tyranny of the Mexican Santa Ana. The hero, Rex Hardin, son\nof a Texas ranchman, and graduate of an American military school, takes\na prominent part in the heroic defense of the Alamo, the terrible scenes\nat Golead, and the final triumph at San Jacinto.  The historical side of\nthe story has been carefully studied and its localities rendered\nfamiliar by a special trip to Texas undertaken by the author for that\npurpose within a year.\n\n\n                           *PREVIOUS VOLUMES*\n\n\nTHROUGH SWAMP AND GLADE.  A TALE OF THE SEMINOLE WAR.  With 8 full-page\nillustrations by VICTOR PERARD.  12mo, $1.25.\n\nIn this new story Mr. Munroe opens to view an exceedingly interesting\nperiod of American history--the period of the Seminole War in Florida.\nCoacoochee, the hero of the story, is a young Indian of noble birth, the\nson of Philip, the chieftain of the Seminoles.  He is a boy at the time\nof the beginning of the Seminole troubles and grows up to lead his tribe\nin the long struggle which resulted in the Indians being driven from the\nnorth of Florida down to the distant southern wilderness.  It is full of\nstrange adventure, of stirring incident and rapid action, and it is a\ntrue and faithful picture of a period of history little known to young\nreaders.\n\n\nAT WAR WITH PONTIAC; OR, THE TOTEM OF THE BEAR.  A TALE OF REDCOAT AND\nREDSKIN.  With 8 full-page illustrations by J. FINNEMORE.  12mo, $1.25.\n\nA story of old days in America when Detroit was a frontier town and the\nshores of Lake Erie were held by hostile Indians, under Pontiac.  The\nhero, Donald Hester, goes in search of his sister Edith, who has been\ncaptured by the Indians.  Strange and terrible are his experiences; for\nhe is wounded, taken prisoner, condemned to be burned, and contrives to\nescape.  In the end there is peace between Pontiac and the English, and\nall things terminate happily for the hero.  One dares not skip a page of\nthis entralling story.\n\n\nTHE WHITE CONQUERORS.  A TALE OF TOLTEC AND AZTEC.  With 8 full-page\nillustrations by W. S. STACEY.  12mo.  $1.25.\n\nThis story deals with the Conquest of Mexico by Cortes and his\nSpaniards, the \"White Conquerors,\" who, after many deeds of valor,\npushed their way into the great Aztec kingdom and established their\npower in the wondrous city where Montezuma reigned in barbaric splendor.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                     *BOOKS BY WILLIAM HENRY FROST*\n\n\n                           _*JUST PUBLISHED*_\n\n\nTHE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE.  Illustrated and cover designed by S. R.\nBURLEIGH.  12mo, $1.50.\n\nMr. Frost's volumes of folk-lore stories have achieved a deserved\npopularity, and this last one, dealing with the ever-fascinating theme\nof the Round Table and its knights, is equal to either of his earlier\nbooks.\n\n\n                       *MR. FROST'S FORMER BOOKS*\n\n\nTHE COURT OF KING ARTHUR.  STORIES FROM THE LAND OF THE ROUND TABLE.\nIllustrated by S. R. BURLEIGH.  12mo, $1.50.\n\nMr. Frost has had the happy idea of making a journey to the different\nplaces connected with the Arthurian romances by history or legend, and\nof relating the ever new Round Table Tales on their sites, to the same\nlittle girl, now somewhat older, to whom he told his charming Wagner\nstories.\n\n\nTHE WAGNER STORY BOOK.  FIRELIGHT TALES OF THE GREAT MUSIC DRAMAS.\nIllustrated by SIDNEY R. BURLEIGH.  12mo, $1.50.\n\n\"A successful attempt to make the romantic themes of the music drama\nintelligible to young readers.  The author has full command of his\nsubject, and the style is easy, graceful, and simple.\"--_Boston Beacon_.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                  *ROBERT GRANT'S TWO BOOKS FOR BOYS*\n\n\nJACK HALL; OR, THE SCHOOL DAYS OF AN AMERICAN BOY. Illustrated by F. G.\nATTWOOD.  12mo, $1.25.\n\n\"A better book for boys has never been written. It is pure, clean, and\nhealthy and has throughout a vigorous action that holds the reader\nbreathlessly.\"--_Boston Herald_.\n\n\nJACK IN THE BUSH; OR, A SUMMER ON A SALMON RIVER. Illustrated by F. T.\nMERRILL.  12mo, $1.25.\n\n\"A clever book for boys.  It is the story of the camp life of a lot of\nboys, and is destined to please every boy reader. It is attractively\nillustrated.\"--_Detroit Free Press_.\n\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n                           *THE KANTER GIRLS*\n\n\nBy MARY L. B. BRANCH.  Illustrated by HELEN M. ARMSTRONG. Square 12mo.\n$1.50.\n\nThe adventures of Jane and Prue, two small sisters, among different\npeoples of the imaginative world--dryads, snow-children, Kobolds,\netc.--aided by their invisible rings, their magic boat, and their\nwonderful birds, are described by the author with great naturalness and\na true gift for story-telling.  The numerous illustrations are very\nattractive, and in thorough sympathy with the text.","title":"The Knights of the Round Table: Stories of King Arthur and the Holy Grail","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":70821}