King Arthur and his Knights

KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS

By Maude L. Radford

Illustrated by Walter J. Enright

[Illustration: The Holy Grail]

Rand, M^cNally & Company CHICAGO . NEW YORK . LONDON

_Copyright_, 1903, By MAUDE L. RADFORD

[Illustration] TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE _A List of Illustrations_ 8

How Arthur Became King 11

The Good Sword Excalibur 29

The Great Feast and What Followed 35

Arthur's Court and the Order of the Round Table 49

King Arthur and the Princess Guinevere 64

The Coming of Gareth 73

The Story of Sir Gareth and Lynette 85

Sir Ivaine 99

Sir Balin 120

Sir Geraint and Enid 131

Arthur and Sir Accalon 142

How Arthur Fought with a Giant 153

How Arthur Fought with Rome 160

The Knight with the Badly Made Coat 171

Sir Lancelot and Sir Brune 177

The Adventure of King Pellenore 193

Sir Lancelot and His Friends 199

How Sir Lancelot Saved the Queen 213

Sir Lancelot and Elaine 226

The Search for the Holy Grail 243

The Death of Arthur 260

[Illustration] A LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

_King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table_ Frontispiece

_"All about him old oaks stood like giant guardians"_ 10

_"He hardly more than touched the sword"_ 25

_Arthur and the Lady of the Lake_ 31

_King Bors and King Ban_ 41

_"Arthur saw Guinevere bending over the wall"_ 65

_"Gareth rode at him fiercely"_ 93

_"He dismounted and poured water into the fountain"_ 105

_"They fought till their breath failed"_ 129

_"King Arthur raising his hand for silence"_ 167

_"The king touched him lightly with his sword"_ 175

_"He pushed him until he was but a step from the edge"_ 191

_"He struck so fiercely the bottom fell out"_ 209

_"She staid near it all day long in the turret"_ 231

_"And across it slowly moved the Holy Grail"_ 253

TO DWIGHT AND ROGER

[Illustration: The Holy Grail]

King Arthur and His Knights

[Illustration: _"All about him old oaks stood like giant guardians"_]

[Illustration] HOW ARTHUR BECAME KING

Once upon a time, a thousand years before Columbus discovered America, and when Rome was still the greatest city in the world, there lived a brave and beautiful youth whose name was Arthur. His home was in England, near London; and he lived with the good knight Sir Hector, whom he always called father.

They dwelt in a great square castle of gray stone, with a round tower at each corner. It was built about a courtyard, and was surrounded by a moat, across which was a drawbridge that could be raised or lowered. When it was raised the castle was practically a little island and very hard for enemies to attack.

On one side of the moat was a large wood, and here Arthur spent a great deal of his time. He liked to lie under the trees and gaze up at the blue of the sky. All about him old oaks stood like giant guardians watching sturdily over the soil where they had grown for centuries. Arthur could look between the trunks and see rabbits and squirrels whisking about. Sometimes a herd of brown deer with shy dark eyes would pass, holding their graceful heads high in the air; sometimes a flock of pheasants with brilliant plumage rose from the bushes. Again there was no sound except the tapping of a bright-crested woodpecker, and no motion but the fluttering of leaves and the trembling of violets half buried in green moss.