At last, at the feast of Pentecost, Arthur again pulled out the sword
before all the knights and the commons. And then the commons rose up and
cried that he should be king, and that they would slay any who denied him.
So Arthur became king of Britain, and all gave him allegiance.
TARPEIA
There was once a girl named Tarpeia, whose father was guard of the outer
gate of the citadel of Rome. It was a time of war,--the Sabines were
besieging the city. Their camp was close outside the city wall.
Tarpeia used to see the Sabine soldiers when she went to draw water from
the public well, for that was outside the gate. And sometimes she stayed
about and let the strange men talk with her, because she liked to look at
their bright silver ornaments. The Sabine soldiers wore heavy silver
rings and bracelets on their left arms,--some wore as many as four or
five.
The soldiers knew she was the daughter of the keeper of the citadel, and
they saw that she had greedy eyes for their ornaments. So day by day they
talked with her, and showed her their silver rings, and tempted her. And
at last Tarpeia made a bargain, to betray her city to them. She said she
would unlock the great gate and let them in, _if they would give her what
they wore on their left arms._
The night came.
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