into the
presence of the brothers. Both were very large men. King Bors
was dark, and was dressed in black armor. King Ban was dark, too;
the colors that he wore on his shield were green and gold. He was
the father of Sir Lancelot, the knight who afterwards became the
most powerful of the followers of Arthur.

The two kings received Sir Ulfius and Sir Brastias with much
favor.

"Tell King Arthur," they said, "that we will come to him as
quickly as we can."

Then they gave splendid gifts to Sir Ulfius and Sir Brastias, who
hurried back to Arthur with the message.

In a short time King Bors and King Ban arrived with ten thousand
of their soldiers, and as Arthur had ten thousand, they felt
certain of victory. They went into Wales, a country which
Arthur's followers knew well, and waited confidently for the
enemy.

The eleven kings collected a great host of sixty thousand men,
fifty thousand on horseback and ten thousand on foot. They
marched towards the place where Arthur was, and set up their camp
near a wood about a mile distant. When Merlin knew this, he said
to Arthur and the two kings:

[Illustration: _King Bors and King Ban_]

"This is my advice: Set upon your enemies at midnight when they
are unprepared, and then you will have the advantage."

So Arthur and the two royal brothers and the twenty thousand
soldiers crept up to where the eleven kings and their men lay.
They took a road circling round the wood. Moving with great
caution, they drew nearer and nearer until they could see first
the camp fires in a circle around the white tents; and then,
against the flashing flames, the dark figures of the men who were
keeping guard. Sometimes they were afraid that the noise they
made would alarm their enemies, but on account of a heavy
windstorm, they were unheard. When his men were quite near,
Arthur gave the word of command. The whole army uttered a great
shout, and ran forward in companies upon their enemies. In a few
minutes they had knocked down most of the tents, and killed many
soldiers.

It was a dreadful thing to be attacked in the dark without
warning. But the eleven kings were brave men, even though they
were so unjust to Arthur in trying to take his kingdom from him,
and made a good fight. Perhaps they would have made a better one
if they had known how few the men were under Arthur.

Before day dawned, Merlin told Arthur to draw back his troops.
This he did, leaving about ten thousand of the en