nder?) they saw a
great stone with a sword sticking in it; and round about the stone,
written in letters of gold, were these words:--"Whoso pulleth out this
sword of this stone is right wise born King of England." The great
lords tried to pull it out, and not one of them could do so; but young
Arthur, who had come to town with his foster-father and foster-brother,
pulled it out easily, not because he wanted to show that he was the
King,--he does not seem to have known about this,--but because his
foster-brother had sent him to fetch a sword and he could get no other.
Thus, all men knew that he was "right wise born King of England."

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[Illustration: NO. 5. A ROOM IN THE TOWER WHERE STATE PRISONERS WERE
LODGED.]

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[Illustration: NO. 6. SIR THOMAS MORE AND HIS DAUGHTER WATCH THE
CARTHUSIAN PRIORS GOING AWAY TO DIE. _See page_ 26]

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{17}

II.

THE STORY OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY

Turn to the picture facing p. 8. If you have ever been in London, I
think you will know that this is a picture of part of Westminster
Abbey. Even if you have never seen the Abbey, perhaps you know that it
is a very old and beautiful church near the River Thames in London.
Imagine that you are standing near it now, and that you can see its old
grey walls, and the grass and railings which separate it from the busy
street with its motors and omnibuses, its carriages and carts. Now,
with the roar of the streets in our ears, with the tall London
buildings all around us, and busy people constantly hurrying past us,
let us try to fancy what this spot was like in the very early times
when we first hear of it.

Then the Thames was clear and fresh and full of fish, and many a red
deer and other wild animal wandered along its banks and drank of its
waters. About a mile and a half above London, where the river was wide
and shallow, one of those little brooks of which I have told you ran
into it; and here, where the waters of the brook and of the river met,
was a bank of sandy gravel, which at high tide was an island, so it was
called Thorney or Thorn Ey--the Island of Thorns--for it was all
overgrown with thorn-bushes. Very lonely, very quiet, Thorney must