While they were still talking, the chief lady of the castle, with four knights and six ladies and six yeomen, came to them and listened to their complaining. "We are two brothers," said they, "born from one mother, and in one grave must we lie, so we pray you to bury us here where the battle was fought." Weeping at the sad spectacle the lady granted their request and promised that they should be interred with great ceremonies. "Now," said Balin, "will you send us a priest that we may receive our sacrament, the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ?" "Yes," said the lady, "I will send at once." When the priest had come and administered the last rite, Balin said, "When we are buried in a single tomb, and when the inscription upon it reads that two brothers in ignorance slew each other, then will every good knight who comes this way see our tomb and pray for the peace of our souls." Amidst the weeping of the ladies and the gentlewomen there, Balan died, but Balin lingered on until after midnight. The lady kept her promise and buried both in one tomb, and placed before it the inscription: HERE LIE TWO BRETHREN, EACH SLAIN BY HIS BROTHER'S HAND. She knew not their names, but in the morning Merlin came that way, and in letters of gold wrote on the tomb, "Here lieth Balin le Savage, the knight with two swords, and Balan his brother." Then Merlin took the famous sword, unfastened the pommel, and offered the sword to a knight to try; but the knight could not handle it, and Merlin laughed in his face. "Why do you laugh?" said the knight, angrily. "For this reason," said Merlin. "No man shall ever handle this sword except Sir Launcelot or else Galahad, his son." All this Merlin wrote in letters of gold on the pommel of the sword. The scabbard of Balin's sword he left on the side of the island where Sir Galahad would find it. GERAINT AND ENID[1] [Footnote 1: Tennyson, in his collection of poems known as the _Idyls of the King_ worked up in beautiful form many of the legends which had grown up around the names of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table _Geraint and Enid_ is one of the most popular of these.] _By_ ALFRED TENNYSON [Illustration: ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON 1809-1892] I