e blade. So he hid the sword again, and returned to the king with
his former tale.

"What sawest thou there?" asked the king.

"Sir, I saw nothing but the waves that broke on the beach, and heard
only the roar of the surf."

"Ah, traitor! false and untrue art thou!" cried the king. "Thou hast
betrayed me twice. Who would have thought that thou, whom I held dear,
and who art named a noble knight, would betray his king for the jewels
of a sword? Go again, for thy long delay puts me in a great jeopardy of
my life. If now you do not as I have bidden, beware of me hereafter, for
dead or alive I will have revenge upon you. Would you, Sir Bevidere, for
a shining blade, bring death and ruin to your king?"

Then Bevidere, heart-full of shame, hastened away, and took the sword,
turning his eyes manfully away from its jewelled hilt. Binding the
girdle around it, with all the might of his arm he hurled the blade far
out over the waves.

Then came a marvel. For as he followed the sword with his eyes, he saw a
hand and arm rise above the waves to meet the blade. The hand caught it
by the hilt, and brandished it thrice in the air, and then vanished with
it into the water.

Bevidere, much wondering, hurried back to the king, and told him what he
had seen.

"Now, Sir Bevidere, you have done as I bade you," said Arthur. "But much
precious time have you lost. Help me hence, in God's name, for I fear
that I have tarried over-long."

Then Bevidere took the king on his back and bore him to the water-side,
and lo! there he saw another strange thing.

For close by the shore lay a little barge, which he had not seen before,
and in it sat many fair ladies, among whom were three queens, who wore
black hoods, and wept with bitter sorrow when they saw King Arthur.

"Now help me into the barge," said the king.

This Sir Bevidere did as gently as he could. And the three queens
received the dying monarch with deep mourning, and had him laid between
them, with his head on the lap of her who sat in the centre.

"Alas! dear brother, why have you tarried so long from me?" said this
queen. "Much harm I fear from this sad wound."

And so they rowed from the land, while Bevidere stood on the shore sadly
watching the barge go from him.

"Ah, my lord Arthur," he cried, "what shall become of me, now that you
go from me and leave me here alone among my enemies?"

"Comfort thyself," said the king, "and do what thou mayest, for in me
can no man