ed that, though he was not yet a knight, and so had
really no right to fight, yet that he might be allowed to do combat in
her defence. "The whole Court were spectators. The Duke Charles was on
his throne, and the accused widow in a litter curtained with black.
Prayers were offered that God would aid the right. The trumpets sounded,
and the champions rode in full career against each other. At the first
onset Gontran's lance pierced his adversary's shield so that he could
not disengage it, and Ingeger was thus enabled to close with him, hurl
him to the ground, and despatch him with a dagger. Then, while the lists
rang with applause, the brave boy rushed up to his godmother and threw
himself into her arms in a transport of joy."

[Illustration]

When William conquered England he became King of England and still owned
his own possessions in Normandy, and the Count of Anjou, when he became
King, still held the lands he had held as Count, so that the Kings of
England held a great part of France as well as England. The Counts of
Anjou used to wear a sprig of broom, or _planta genista_, in their
helmets, and from this they were called the Plantagenet Kings.

The first of them was brave and clever, and the second was brave, but
the third, John, was mean and cruel and cowardly, and had really no
right to the throne at all. His nephew, Prince Arthur of Brittany, ought
to have been King, because he was the son of John's elder brother. But
John wanted the kingdom for himself, and though the King of France tried
to help Arthur to get his rights, John would not give up the crown he
had stolen. He managed to take Prince Arthur prisoner, and then
pretended to be very fond of him. "All this quarrel has been a mistake,"
he said; "come with me and I will give you a kingdom."

So Prince Arthur went with him, and in the dark night, as they passed
along by the river, the wicked King stabbed the young Prince with his
own hand, and pushed him into the swift-flowing water. "There," he
cried, "that is the kingdom I promised you."

And the poor young Prince sank into the dark flood, never to rise again.

Shakespeare tells another story of Prince Arthur's death, which you will
read for yourselves one day; and this is the story:--

After King John had taken the young Prince prisoner, he shut him up in
the Castle of Northampton, and ordered Hubert de Burgh, the Governor of
the Castle, to put poor Arthur's eyes out, because he thought that no