t guess, and Milly pressed Aunt Emma's hand
hard to make her go on.

"They saw a great black ship coming slowly over the water, and on the
ship were numbers of people in black, sobbing and crying, so that the
air was full of a sound of weeping, and in front sat three queens in
long black dresses, and with gold crowns on their heads, and they, too,
were weeping and wringing their hands.

"'Lift me up,' said the king, when the ship came close beside them, 'and
put me into the ship.' And the knight lifted him up, while the three
queens stretched out their hands and drew him into the ship.

"'Oh, king! take me with you,' said the knight, 'take me too. What shall
I do all alone without you?' But the ship began to move away, and the
knight was left standing on the shore. Only he fancied he heard the
king's voice saying, 'Wait for me, I shall come again. Farewell!'

"And the ship went faster and faster away into the darkness, for it was
a fairy ship, till at last the knight could see it no more. So then he
knew that the king had been carried away by the fairies of the lake--the
same fairies who had given him the sword in old days, and who had loved
him and watched over him all his life. But what did the king mean by
saying, 'I shall come again'?"

Then Aunt Emma stopped and looked at the children.

"What did he mean, auntie?" asked Milly, who had been listening with all
her ears, and whose little eyes were wet, "and did he ever come back
again?"

"Not while the knight lived, Milly. He grew to be quite an old man, and
was always hoping that the fairies would bring the king again. But the
king never came, and his friend died without seeing him."

"But did he _ever_ come again?" asked Olly.

"I don't know, Olly. Some people think that he is still hidden away
somewhere by the kind water-fairies, and that some day, when the world
wants him very much, he will come back again."

"Do you think he is here in this lake?" whispered Milly, looking at the
water.

"How can we tell what's at the bottom of the lake?" said Aunt Emma,
smiling. "But no, I don't think the king is hidden in this lake. He
didn't live near here."

"What was his name?" asked Milly.

"His name was King Arthur. But now, children, hurry; there is father
putting all the baskets into the boat. We must get home as quick as we
can."

They rowed home very quickly, except just for a little time when Milly
rowed, and they did not go quite so fast as if father