Bedivere at last went back and threw Excalibur
into the lake.

As Excalibur hurtled through the air and approached the water a great
hand arose from the depths and caught it by the hilt, waved it thrice
in the air and vanished beneath the waves, and Sir Bedivere returned to
Arthur and told him what he had seen.

Then Arthur knew that Sir Bedivere had indeed spoken the truth, and the
dying King put one more command upon him--namely to bear him to the
shore of the lake where he had thrown Excalibur.

As they approached the shore a barge was seen cleaving the water
without visible motive power, and on the barge which was draped all in
black were four damsels who wept bitterly. When the prow of the barge
reached the shore, Arthur commanded Sir Bedivere to lay him on it--and
at once it moved out into the mists of the lake with the black robed
figures bending over the King. And Arthur called out to Sir Bedivere in
farewell, telling him that he was going to Avalon either to die or to
be healed of his grievous wound, and he asked Sir Bedivere to pray for
his immortal soul.

From that day Arthur was not seen again, although many believed that he
would come back and rescue his countrymen when dangers beset them; and
to-day the legends of Arthur leave it doubtful if he will return or
not. But the great King as well as the realm that he ruled over have
been lost forever in the mists of time. And the story of Arthur is
ended.

CHAPTER V

MOHAMMED

The Arabs are a dark skinned people that live near or on the great
deserts of Arabia, one of the hottest and most desolate regions of the
world. They have lived there for thousands of years in roving tribes
and many of their traits and manners have come from their association
with the desert, and the hardships that they have been obliged to
undergo in making their journeys upon its fiery sands.

Thousands of years ago the Arabs had a religion that was not entirely
different from that of the Jews. As the years passed, however, they
began to turn away from the old beliefs and to worship stone idols.
These idols were set up in their principal cities and villages, notably
in the city of Mecca, where there also remained a temple, built in the
time of the older religion, that the Arabs still held to be sacred.

As the Arabian tribes were very different from each other in many ways,
it was only natural that their religion should grow different also.
Some men worshipped the fi