hand at the end of it was a splendid sword with a glistening handle.  And the king got into a boat and rowed as fast as he could till he got near enough to take hold of the sword, and then the arm sank down under the water and was seen no more.  And with the sword the king won a great many battles, and he loved it, and never would part with it; but now that he was dying, he told his friend to take the sword and throw it back into the lake where he had found it, and see what would happen.  And his friend took it, and went away over the rocks till he came to the edge of the lake, and then he took the sword out of its case and swung it above his head that he might throw it far into the water; but as he lifted it up the precious stones in the handle shone so splendidly in the moonlight that he could not make up his mind to throw it into the water, it seemed such a pity.  So he hid it away among the rushes by the water side, and went back to the king.  And the king said, ’What did you see by the lake?’

“And the knight said, ’I saw nothing except the water, and the mountains, and the rushes.’

“And the king said, ’Oh, unkind friend!  Why will you not do as I ask you, now that I am dying and can do nothing for myself?  Go back and throw the sword into the lake, as I told you.’

“And the knight went back, and once more he lifted the sword to throw it into the water but it looked so beautiful that he could not throw it away.  There would be nothing left, he thought, to remember the king by when he was dead if he threw away the sword; so again he hid it among the rushes, and then he went back to the king.  And again the king asked, ‘What did you see by the lake?’ and again the knight answered, ’I saw nothing except the water and the mountains.’

“‘Oh, unkind, false friend!’ cried the king, ’you are crueller to me than those who gave me this wound.  Go back and throw the sword into the water, or, weak as I am, I will rise up and kill you.’

“Back went the knight, and this time he seized the sword without looking at it, so that he should not see how beautiful it was, and then he swung it once, twice, thrice, round his head, and away it went into the lake.  And as it fell, up rose a hand and arm in a long white sleeve out of the water, and the hand caught the sword and drew it down under the water.  And then for a moment, all round the lake, the knight fancied he heard a sound of sobbing and weeping, and he thought in his heart that it must be the water-fairies weeping for the king’s death.

“‘What did you see by the lake?’ asked the king again, when he came back, and the knight told him.  Then the king told him to lift him up and carry him on his back down to the edge of the lake, and when they got there, what do you think they saw?”

But the children could not guess, and Milly pressed Aunt Emma’s hand hard to make her go on.

“They saw a great black ship coming slowly over the water, and on the ship were numbers of people in black, sobbing and crying, so that the air was full of a sound of weeping, and in front sat three queens in long black dresses, and with gold crowns on their heads, and they, too, were weeping and wringing their hands.