King Arthur's Gravestone



lin woke them. 'You must be ready now,' he
said, ' for King Ryence is coming. He is riding
through the wood with some of his knights.
Wait here till some of them are past and you
see the King himself, and then fall upon him
and take him prisoner.'
  "It was not long that they had to wait be-
fore the company of knights came past. When
half of them had gone by Merlin pointed and
said: ' There is the King; attack him now and
take him!'
  " Then Balin and Balan rushed forward and
attacked the King and the knights that were
next to him. They were all surprised and none
of them was ready to fight. In a moment Balin
and Balan had wounded half a dozen of them.
Even very brave men sometimes get frightened
at such a time as this, as old soldiers will tell
you. In the darkness and the confusion these
knights could not see how few men were at.
tacking them. They knew only that some of
them were wounded, and they thought that
nothing less than a large company would dare
to attack them, as many as they were. They
did not know whether their enemies were on
one side or the other, or all around them, and
so they just turned and ran away.
  " But the King did not run away. Giant as
he was, Balin and Balan had given him two or
three wounds before he knew what was going



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