for she was, of those that came to bear Arthur to
the Delightful Islands from the field of his last bitter conflict;
but that was long after.

Now when this enchantress learned how the Lady of the Lake had
given the King a sword and scabbard of strange might, she was
filled with ill-will; and all her thought was only how she might
wrest the weapon from him and have it for her own, to bestow as she
would. Even while she pondered thereon, the King himself sent her
the scabbard to keep for him; for Merlin never ceased to warn the
King to have in safe keeping the scabbard that had power to keep
him from mortal hurt; and it seemed to Arthur that none might
better guard it for him, till the hour of need, than Morgan le Fay,
the wise Queen that was of his own kindred. Yet was not the Queen
shamed of her treacherous intent by the trust that Arthur had in
her; but all her mind was set on how she might win to the
possession of the sword itself as well as of the scabbard. At the
last--so had her desire for the sword wrought upon her--she
resolved to compass the destruction of the King that, if she gained
the sword, never might she have need to fear his justice for the
wrong she had done.

And her chance came soon. For, on a day, King Arthur resolved to
chase the hart in the forests near Camelot, wherefore he left
behind him his sword Excalibur, and took but a hunting spear with
him. All day long, he chased a white hart and, when evening fell,
he had far outstripped his attendants, save only two, Sir Accolon
of Gaul and Sir Uriens, King of Gore, the husband of Queen Morgan
le Fay herself. So when the King saw that darkness had come upon
them in the forest, he turned to his companions, saying: "Sirs, we
be far from Camelot and must lodge as we may this night. Let us go
forward until we shall find where we may shelter us a little." So
they rode forward, and presently Arthur espied a little lake
glinting in the beams of the rising moon, and, as they drew nearer,
they descried, full in the moonlight, a little ship, all hung with
silks even to the water's edge. Then said the King to his knights:
"Yonder is promise of shelter or, it may be, of adventure. Let us
tether our horses in the thicket and enter into this little ship."
And when they had so done, presently they found themselves in a
fair cabin all hung with silks and tapestries, and, in its midst, a
table spread with the choicest fare. And being weary and hungered
with the ch