rsemen alone remained to tell of the
death of their king and the destruction of all their hopes. They
numbered several hundreds, but their hacked armour, jaded steeds, and
gaping wounds told that they were unfit to offer battle to any foe.
They were in full flight, bearing a torn banner, still wet with the
blood of King Arthur; yet they fled unwillingly, as men who were unused
to retreat, and scarce knew how to comport them in the novel
circumstances. Their course was in the direction of the Lionesse, the
tract of country called in the Cornish tongue Lethowsow. On they
dashed, without uttering a word, over the bleak moors before them.
Sometimes they halted to drink at a spring or tighten their girths, and
occasionally a man fell behind from sheer exhaustion. At night they
encamped, after a hard ride of thirty miles. Next morning the flight
was resumed, but the vindictive Mordred still thundered on in pursuit.
Ere long they heard a trumpet sounding in their rear, and King Arthur's
men halted for a few minutes, with the half-formed design of facing the
foe and selling their lives dearly. While they paused in gloomy
irresolution, gazing sternly on the advancing host, whose arms flashed
back the rays of the morning sun, a mist rose up between them and their
foes. It was a strange shadowy mist, without distinct form, yet not
without resemblance to something ghostly. The knights at once
recognised it as the shade of Merlin, the Great Wizard! Slowly the
cloud uprose between the pursuers and pursued, effectually protecting
the latter; nevertheless, although baffled, the former did not give up
the chase.

"At last Mordred reached a lofty slope, from the top of which he
descried his enemies retreating across the land of Lionesse. Mad with
rage, he descended to the plain, where soft sunlight shone through
luxuriant glades and across the green pastures, gladdening the hearts of
man and beast. Nature was all peaceful, and gloriously beautiful, but
Mordred's eyes saw it not, his heart felt not the sweet influences. The
bitterness induced by hatred and an evil conscience reigned within, as
he urged his steed furiously onward.

"Suddenly a terrible change occurred in the atmosphere, which became
oppressively sultry and horrible, while low muttering thunders were
heard, and heavings of the earth felt. At the same time the cloud
gradually condensed in front of Mordred, and, assuming a distinct form,
stood before him in the