by H. B. Hickey
Wilbur thought.
"But--where am I?"
"Near Camelot," Merlin said. "Better get up now. We haven't much time."
Wilbur got to his feet slowly, his eyes darting about. If he saw achance he would make a run for it. But Merlin's hand was like a claw onthe sleeve of Wilbur's robe.
"You try to run and I'll put a curse on you that will fix youpermanently," the old man whispered hoarsely.
Wilbur followed him like a lamb to the slaughter. They took a path thatled out of the glade and to a road only a few yards away. Ten yards orso down the road they came on the crowd whose voices Wilbur had heard.His hair stood on end.
They were before the doors of an ancient church. And in the clearedspace before those doors milled a strange throng. Men on foot wore robesof the plain monk's cloth and carried wooden staves. Towering above themwere mounted men, men dressed in hauberks and doublets of chain mail.All of them had their eyes fixed on something in the center of thecrowd.
Then someone caught sight of Merlin and his name was whispered. As bymagic the people parted to let him and Wilbur through. For the firsttime Wilbur saw what they had been staring at. It was a rough block ofstone, and buried to the hilt in the stone was a sword!
"Merlin," a voice said, a voice that was heavy and assured.
Wilbur looked up and shrank away from the armored giant on horseback whotowered over him and the old man. The giant raised the visor of hishelmet and Wilbur beheld a face that was as cruel as a hawk's. Darkeyes gleamed from beneath black and bristling brows.
"What mummery is this?" the dark man asked.
"No mummery, but the good bishop's prayer answered," Merlin said calmly."Is not the stone inscribed, Sir Kay?"
"Inscribed," Sir Kay echoed. "And its message is that he who withdrawsthe sword shall be king of England."
His scowl made Wilbur's knees weaken, but Merlin remained unaffected. Infact the old man seemed quite cheerful.
"Excalibur it is called," Merlin said. "He who wrenches it free shallrule."
"Hear me," Sir Kay grated. "If this be one of your tricks, know this:none but a son of Uther Pendragon will reign."
For a moment Wilbur forgot the two. He had caught sight of theinscription of the stone and was reading it. Apparently it was meant tobe a poem but it did not rhyme. On the spot Wilbur produced what hethought was a better one. He tried it out, not realizing he spoke aloud.
"Who from this stone Excalibur draws Shall be England's king and make her laws."
Sir Kay frowned blackly and his hand hovered near a dagger at his side.
"What have you to do with this, varlet?" he demanded.
"He is but a troubadour," Merlin interjected quickly. "A bard who willsing your praises after the tourney."
"I had forgotten the tourney," Sir Kay grunted. "But see you forget notmy warning."
He reined away, knocking people aside like tenpins. Behind him the otherknights followed, and after them went the common people. In a fewminutes Wilbur and Merlin found themselves alone. In the distance, andin the direction the crowd had vanished, Wilbur saw the towers of amedieval castle.
"Camelot," Merlin told him.
"I don't like this," Wilbur said. "That fellow looked as though hewanted to slit my throat."
"Yours wouldn't be the first one he's slit," Merlin said. "But you stayclose to me and you'll be safe enough. Although I must admit that Kayhas become quite a problem since his father died."
"Is he a son of Uther Pendragon?"
"Why do you think he insists that none but Uther's sons may rule?"Merlin snarled. "But with a king like him we'd have nothing but corpsesaround. That's why I needed you."
* * * * *
Wilbur was bewildered, but not completely baffled. It had becomepainfully clear to him that Merlin had found him, not vice versa. Theadvertisement in the paper had been a trick to lure a timid man. Butthere was still a little clearing up to be done.
"Would you please explain what I have to do with all this?" Wilbur askedplaintively. Merlin clawed gently at his beard and shrugged.
"I suppose it would be only fair, after abducting you from the twentiethcentury and dragging you back here. The point is this: after Uther diedthere was a squabble over who should be king. We couldn't stand a civilwar so the bishop of this church prayed for a sign, and the next daythis stone and sword were found here. So far nobody has been able topull it out."
"You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" Wilbur askednaively.
"I'm not saying. Anyway, Sir Kay is the logical man for the job, exceptthat he's too quick with his blade. That left only one other, and he'sgot his fault too."
Wilbur was thinking about his right eye. A little flattery might go along way.
"I should think you would make a good king, Mr. Merlin."
"My father was an incubus," Merlin said, as though that explainedeverything. He peered down the road as the sound of hoofs reached them.
Wilbur followed Merlin's gaze and saw a young man on horseback comingtoward them from the direction of Camelot. The young fellow wore a shirtof mail but no helmet, and his horse was not armored. Merlin held up hishand and the mounted man drew rein. Wilbur got a good look at him.
He was almost as big as Sir Kay, but with a fair complexion and lighthair. He could not have been much over fifteen, despite his size. Hismanner was easy, giving the suggestion of enormous strength in reserve,yet with a hint of gentleness. But it was his eyes which were hisoutstanding feature. They were a clear brown, wide, and with anexpression of complete fearlessness.
"Where to, Arthur?" Merlin asked.
"My brother Kay has broken his sword. I must get him another."
"Tarry a moment," Merlin said. "I have a question which troubles me. Theenemies of our land march against us, and they outnumber us five to one.Were you king, what would you do?"
Arthur laughed, a clear ringing laugh that showed rows of white teeth.His brown eyes glowed with an inward fire.
"Do? I would take the field against them, of course! Even though theyoutnumber us fifty to one."
Wilbur thrilled to the words. But Merlin shuddered slightly and Wilburheard a faint groan of distress come from his lips.
"Got here in the nick of time," the old man muttered. He looked up atArthur and said aloud: "You may have your chance. But first you mustmake me a promise. You must come to my castle this very night and drinkthe draught I shall prepare for you."
"I promise," Arthur said unthinkingly. "And now I'll be getting thatsword for Kay."
"This looks like a good one," Merlin said. He pointed to the sword inthe stone.
"It does indeed," Arthur agreed. Without a second look he bent andseized the hilt and wrenched it free. He raised the sword in a salute toMerlin and Wilbur, laughed his ringing carefree laugh, and was gone in acloud of dust.
* * * * *
Merlin's castle was not overly large, and as far as Wilbur could seeafter he got inside, most of it was under ground. He and the old manwere in a great damp chamber, the walls of which were solid rock. Theroom was filled with Merlin's jugs, with tripods from which boilingkettles hung, and with great black cats which prowled everywhere. Thedoor was of solid oak and immovable. Wilbur knew; he had tried it oncewhen Merlin had gone out.
At the moment Merlin and he were sitting facing each other on a pair ofstone couches. They had been sitting so for some hours and the silencewas wearing Wilbur down.
"So Arthur is going to be king," he said at last, in an effort to starta conversation. "He looks like a fine boy."
"He is," Merlin agreed. "Chivalrous and all that. It was foreordained.That's why I had to get back. I knew he was going to be along that roadtoday, and I knew he was going to pull out that sword."
"I thought you said he had a fault."
"What a fault," Merlin sighed. "He's got your trouble, but in reverse.He was born without fear. It's a bad thing for a king to be like that.He'd lead his people into s
ure death. You heard what he said thisafternoon. Even odds of fifty to one mean nothing to him."
For the first time Wilbur saw the whole thing. Until now he hadentertained a faint hope that Merlin might not really want his eye. Butthis was the clincher. The _Elixir of Caution_! Desperately he castabout for a means of escape. There was none. And Merlin was watching himwith an eagle eye.
"Maybe," Wilbur offered weakly, "a few drops of my blood would do thetrick. You don't want Arthur to get _too_ timid."
"Nice of you to think of it," Merlin said. "But I really couldn't
