In old times a beautiful story was told about the way the English found out where Richard was. It was this. Richard had a servant called Blondel, who loved his master much. When Richard did not come home, Blondel became very anxious, and went in search of him. He travelled from one castle to another for some time, without finding his master. At last one evening, when he was very tired, he sat down near the castle of Trifels to rest, and while he was there he heard somebody singing, and fancied the voice was like the king’s. After listening a little longer, he felt sure it was, and then he began to sing himself, to let the king know he was there; and the song he sang was one the king loved. Some say the king made it. Then Richard was glad, for he found he could send to England, and let his people know where he was. This is the old story. But it was in another way that the people in England heard of the captivity of their king. The moment they did so, they determined to do everything they could to get him home. They sent to the Emperor to beg him to set Richard at liberty; but he said that the English should not have their king until they gave him a great deal of money; and when they heard that, they all gave what they could; the ladies even gave their gold necklaces, and ornaments of all kinds, to send to the Emperor that he might set Richard free. At length the king came home; but he found that while he was away, Philip, King of France, had been making war on his subjects in Normandy; and, besides that, helping his brother John to disturb the peace in England; so he went to Normandy to punish Philip very soon afterwards, and was killed by an arrow shot from a castle called Chaluz, when he had only been king ten years. Many people praise and admire Richard of the Lion’s heart, because he was so brave and hardy in war. For my part, I should have liked him better if he had thought a little more about taking care of his country; and if he had stayed in it and done justice to his people, and encouraged them to be good and industrious, as his wise father did. CHAPTER XXI. JOHN.—1199 to 1216. Why King John was called Lackland; how he killed his nephew Arthur, and how the barons rebelled against him, and made him sign the Great Charter. John, the youngest son of Henry Plantagenet, became king after the death of his brother Richard. His reign was a bad one for England, for John was neither so wise as his father, nor so brave as his brother. Besides, he was very cruel.