e do
well to give your homage to this your king, for Arthur is the son right
worshipful of the great Pendragon, and the lovely lady, Igraine of
Lyonesse.'

All that stood by marvelled, and most of the eleven kings were glad
that they had a king so noble in birth and doing as Arthur, the son of
Uther Pendragon.

II

SIR BALIN AND THE STROKE DOLOROUS

It happened that on a day King Arthur, wandering from his court, had
fought and vanquished a valiant knight, but he himself had been sore
wounded. Merlin, coming to his aid, had taken him to a hermit's cave,
and there with many marvellous salves had searched his wounds, so that
in three days the king was whole again.

Riding forth together, Merlin led the king deeper and deeper into a
wild and desolate country where he had never been before, and where
there were no pathways. Arthur looked to and fro over the waste, but
saw no sign of man or beast, and no bird flitted or piped. Great gaunt
stones stood upright on the hillsides, solitary or in long lines as if
they marched, or else they leaned together as if conspiring; while
great heaps or cairns of stone rose here and there from the
lichen-covered and rocky soil, in which the grass grew weakly in small
crevices.

The mists now rose and drifted before them as they rode, the light was
low and sallow, and the wind began to whisper shrilly among the great
stones, and in the crannies of the cairns.

The king crossed himself, and looked at the white, old, and wrinkled
face of Merlin; but the wizard seemed sunk in thought. Then Arthur
bethought him that, in case some fiend-shape or wizard-knight should
assail him in that desolate waste, he could not defend himself,
inasmuch as his sword--the sword he had drawn from the stone--had
snapped when he fought the knight, and he had no other weapon with him.

'Merlin,' he said, 'this is a place of ancient death and terror, and if
aught should assail us of evil, I have no sword.'

'For that reason I bring thee here,' replied Merlin, and would not
utter another word.

Then, through the mists, which writhed and twisted as if they were fell
shapes that would tear down the passing riders, Arthur became aware
that their way was leading downwards, and soon the smell of water rose
up to him.

He heard the beat and suck of waves upon a shore, and in a little while
the mists cleared as if at a word, and there before him Arthur saw a
lonely lake or sea, hedged round with salt-