"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 will sing your praises after the tourney." "I had forgotten the tourney," Sir Kay grunted. "But see you forget not my warning." He reined away, knocking people aside like tenpins. Behind him the other knights followed, and after them went the common people. In a few minutes Wilbur and Merlin found themselves alone. In the distance, and in the direction the crowd had vanished, Wilbur saw the towers of a medieval castle. "Camelot," Merlin told him. "I don't like this," Wilbur said. "That fellow looked as though he wanted to slit my throat." "Yours wouldn't be the first one he's slit," Merlin said. "But you stay close to me and you'll be safe enough. Although I must admit that Kay has 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 corpses around. That's why I needed you." * * * * * Wilbur was bewildered, but not completely baffled. It had become painfully clear to him that Merlin had found him, not vice versa. The advertisement in the paper had been a trick to lure a timid man. But there was still a little clearing up to be done. "Would you please explain what I have to do with all this?" Wilbur asked plaintively. Merlin clawed gently at his beard and shrugged. "I suppose it would be only fair, after abducting you from the twentieth century and dragging you back here. The point is this: after Uther died there was a squabble over who should be king. We couldn't stand a civil war so the bishop of this church prayed for a sign, and the next day this stone and sword were found here. So far nobody has been able to pull it out." "You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?" Wilbur asked naively. "I'm not saying. Anyway, Sir Kay is the logical man for the job, except that he's too quick with his blade. That left only one other, and he's got his fault too." Wilbur was thinking about his right eye. A little flattery might go a long way. "I should think you would make a good king, Mr. Merlin." "My father was an incubus," Merlin said, as though that explained everything. He peered down the road as the sound of hoofs reached them. Wilbur followed Merlin's gaze and saw a young man on horseback coming toward them from the direction of Camelot. The young fellow wore a shirt of mail but no helmet, and his horse was not armored. Merlin held up his hand and the mounted man drew rein. Wilbur got a good look at him.