on their way
to bed. And how the sun was turning the water to gold! It seemed to be
making a great golden pathway across the lake, and the mountains were
turning a deep blue, and plash, plash, went the little waves on the
rocks, so softly they seemed to be saying "Good-night! good-night!"

"Well," said Aunt Emma, settling herself on a soft piece of heather, and
putting her arms round Milly and Olly, "Once upon a time there was a
great king. He was a good king and a wise man, and he tried to make all
the people round about him wiser and better than they were before he
came to rule over them; and for a long time he was very powerful and
happy, and he and the brave men who helped him and were his friends did
a great deal of good, and kept the savage people who lived all about him
in order, and taught them a great many things. But at last some of the
savage people got tired of obeying the king, and they said they would
not have him to reign over them any more; so they made an army, and they
came together against the king to try and kill him and his friends. And
the king made an army too, and there was a great battle; and the savage
people were the strongest, and they killed nearly all the king's brave
men, and the king himself was terribly hurt in the fight. And at last,
when night came on, there were left only the king and one of his
friends--his knights, as they were called. The king was hurt so much
that he could not move, and his friend thought he was dying. They were
left alone in a rocky desert place, and close by there was a great lake
with mountains round it--like this, Olly. It was very cold, and the moon
was shining, and the king lay so still that once or twice his friend
almost thought that he was dead. But at last, about the middle of the
night, he began to speak, and he told his friend to take his sword that
was by his side and to go down to the side of the lake and throw it as
far as he could into the water. Now, this sword was a magic sword. Long
before, the king was once walking beside this lake, when he suddenly saw
an arm in a long white sleeve rising out of the lake, and in the hand at
the end of it was a splendid sword with a glistening handle. And the
king got into a boat and rowed as fast as he could till he got near
enough to take hold of the sword, and then the arm sank down under the
water and was seen no more. And with the sword the king won a great many
battles, and he loved it, and never would pa