iam,
heir to my throne, in all confidence that thou wilt conduct him safely
over. Let him go with thee, while I myself do set sail in the vessel I
had chosen."

Fitz-Stephen bowed low, and the young Prince William, a lad of eighteen
years, stepped forward gaily towards him, and cried--

"Come, comrade! thou shalt find a king's son as good company as his
father. In token of which, bid thy brave men feast at my charge with as
much to eat and drink as they have a fancy to. Then, when that is done,
we will start on our merry voyage."

Almost immediately afterwards King Henry embarked, leaving the Prince
William, and two other of his children, Richard and Adela, to follow
that same night in the "White Ship."

"Farewell, my father!" shouted the young prince, as the oars of the
king's vessel struck the water; "perchance I shall be on the farther
side before thee!"

So the king started.

It was late before the merrymakers on board the "White Ship" set their
faces seaward. The prince himself had honoured the feast, and bidden
every man to fill his cup and drink deep and long. So when about
midnight they addressed themselves to the voyage, the rowers splashed
wildly with their oars, and the crew pulled at the ropes with unsteady
hands.

Far across the calm waters might have been heard the song and the
laughter of the two hundred voyagers. In a few hours, thought they, we
shall be across, and then will we renew our feast in England.

"Fitz-Stephen!" cried the prince, flushed with wine himself, and in a
tone of excitement--"Fitz-Stephen, how far say you is my father's ship
before ours?"

"Five leagues," replied the sailor, "or more."

"Then may we not overtake him before the night is past? You know this
coast; can we not steer closer in, and so gain on them?"

"My lord," said Fitz-Stephen, "there are many sunken rocks on this
coast, which the mariner always avoids by keeping out to sea."

"Talk not to me of rocks on a night when the sea is calm and the wind so
gentle it scarce fills the sails, and the moon so clear we can see a
mile before us! What say you, my men? Shall we overtake the king?
Fitz-Stephen," he added, "thou earnest a king's son to-night. If thou
and thy men can set me on English ground before my father, I will never
sail more, as long as I live, save in thy ship."

The sailor yielded, and turned his helm nearer to the coast, and the
crew, clamouring loudly with excitement, pulled wildly at