ught was a better one. He tried it out, not realizing he spoke aloud.

"Who from this stone Excalibur draws
Shall be England's king and make her laws."

Sir Kay frowned blackly and his hand hovered near a dagger at his side.

"What have you to do with this, varlet?" he demanded.

"He is but a troubadour," Merlin interjected quickly. "A bard who will
sing your praises after the tourney."

"I had forgotten the tourney," Sir Kay grunted. "But see you forget not
my warning."

He reined away, knocking people aside like tenpins. Behind him the other
knights followed, and after them went the common people. In a few
minutes Wilbur and Merlin found themselves alone. In the distance, and
in the direction the crowd had vanished, Wilbur saw the towers of a
medieval castle.

"Camelot," Merlin told him.

"I don't like this," Wilbur said. "That fellow looked as though he
wanted to slit my throat."

"Yours wouldn't be the first one he's slit," Merlin said. "But you stay
close to me and you'll be safe enough. Although I must admit that Kay
has become quite a problem since his father died."

"Is he a son of Uther Pendragon?"

"Why do you think he insists that none but Uther's sons may rule?"
Merlin snarled. "But with a king like him we'd have nothing but corpses
around. That's why I needed you."

* * * * *

Wilbur was bewildered, but not completely baffled. It had become
painfully clear to him that Merlin had found him, not vice versa. The
advertisement in the paper had been a trick to lure a timid man. But
there was still a little clearing up to be done.

"Would you please explain what I have to do with all this?" Wilbur asked
plaintively. Merlin clawed gently at his beard and shrugged.

"I suppose it would be only fair, after abducting you from the twentieth
century and dragging you back here. The point is this: after Uther died
there was a squabble over who should be king. We couldn't stand a civil
war so the bishop of this church prayed for a sign, and the next day
this stone and sword were found here. So far nobody has been able to
pull it out."

"You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" Wilbur asked
naively.

"I'm not saying. Anyway, Sir Kay is the logical man for the job, except
that he's too quick with his blade. That left only one other, and he's
got his fault too."

Wilbur was thinking about his right eye. A little flattery might go a
long way.

"I shou