Although
he was King of England and Duke of Normandy he was never happy or at
rest, for he knew that his nephew Arthur, the son of his elder brother,
had a better right than himself to the crown. As time went on he
became more and more uneasy, for he found that his subjects did not
like him, and he was afraid that they might learn to like the fine,
handsome lad whom many of them believed to be their rightful sovereign.

At the time when John made himself king, young Arthur was only twelve
years old, and he was living safely in his own dukedom of Brittany.
His father having died when Arthur was only a baby, the young prince
had been Duke of Brittany all his life; and he had grown up among his
people, who loved their young duke very much.

King Philip of France was an enemy of John; and when he heard that the
man whom he despised had taken the crown which should have been
Arthur's, he invited the young duke to his court, made him a knight,
boy although he was, and promised him his daughter in marriage when he
should be a man.

Alas! Poor Arthur never lived to marry the Princess of France.

One day the French king said to the young prince, 'Arthur, you know
your rights, and that your uncle John is not the true King of England.
Would you not like to be a king?'

The boy looked at King Philip with his large, bright blue eyes.

'Truly,' he said, 'I should greatly like to be a king.'

'Then win back your inheritance,' said the King of France. 'I will
give you two hundred of my knights, and you shall come with me and make
war upon your uncle in Normandy, which is yours by right. Once we have
taken Normandy from the usurper, it will be easy to drive him from
England.

Prince Arthur flushed with joy and pride; and his eyes sparkled more
brightly than ever. The King of France gave him a beautiful horse, and
Arthur had a fine suit of armour made for himself; and then he was
unable to rest or sleep for joy at the thought that he would soon be a
king, and marry the beautiful princess who had been promised to him as
his wife.

When the people of Brittany heard that their gallant young duke was
going to fight for his inheritance, they gathered together five hundred
knights and five thousand foot soldiers and sent them to Arthur in
France.

Arthur was very proud of his little army, and he felt sure that with
the help of his followers he would soon win back England and Normandy.
Seeing him upon his fine horse, and wear