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.
"'Lift me up,' said the king, when the ship came close beside them, 'and
put me into the ship.' And the knight lifted him up, while the three
queens stretched out their hands and drew him into the ship.
"'Oh, king! take me with you,' said the knight, 'take me too.
Pages:
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101