CHAPTER XXXIX

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• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court   CHAPTER XLIV

  A POSTSCRIPT BY CLARENCEI, Clarence, must write it for him.  He proposed that we two go out and see if any help could be accorded the wounded.  I was strenuous against the project.  I said that if there were many, we could do but little for them; and it would not be wise for us to trust ourselves among them, anyway.  But he could seldom be turned from a purpose once formed; so we shut off the electric current from the fences, took an escort along, climbed over the enclosing ramparts of dead knights, and moved out upon the field.  The first wounded mall who appealed for help was sitting with his back against a dead comrade.  When The Boss bent over him and spoke to him, the man recognized him and stabbed him.  That knight was Sir Meliagraunce, as I found out by tearing off his helmet.  He will not ask for help any more.We carried The Boss to the cave and gave his wound, which was not very serious, the best care we could.  In this service we had the help of Merlin, though we did not

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court   CHAPTER XLIII

  THE BATTLE OF THE SAND BELTIn Merlin’s Cave—Clarence and I and fifty-two fresh, bright, well-educated, clean-minded young British boys.  At dawn I sent an order to the factories and to all our great works to stop operations and remove all life to a safe distance, as everything was going to be blown up by secret mines, “and no telling at what moment—therefore, vacate at once.”  These people knew me, and had confidence in my word.  They would clear out without waiting to part their hair, and I could take my own time about dating the explosion.  You couldn’t hire one of them to go back during the century, if the explosion was still impending. We had a week of waiting.  It was not dull for me, because I was writing all the time.  During the first three days, I finished turning my old diary into this narrative form; it only required a chapter or so to bring it down to date.  The rest of the week I took up in writing letters to my wife.  It was always my habit to write to Sandy

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court   CHAPTER XLII

  WAR!I found Clarence alone in his quarters, drowned in melancholy; and in place of the electric light, he had reinstituted the ancient rag-lamp, and sat there in a grisly twilight with all curtains drawn tight.  He sprang up and rushed for me eagerly, saying:“Oh, it’s worth a billion milrays to look upon a live person again!”He knew me as easily as if I hadn’t been disguised at all.  Which frightened me; one may easily believe that.“Quick, now, tell me the meaning of this fearful disaster,” I said. “How did it come about?”“Well, if there hadn’t been any Queen Guenever, it wouldn’t have come so early; but it would have come, anyway.  It would have come on your own account by and by; by luck, it happened to come on the queen’s.”“And Sir Launcelot’s?”“Just so.”“Give me the details.”“I reckon you will grant that during some years there has been only one pair of eyes in these kingdoms that has not been looking steadily askance at the queen and Sir Launcelot—”“Yes, King A

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court   CHAPTER XLI

  THE INTERDICTHowever, my attention was suddenly snatched from such matters; our child began to lose ground again, and we had to go to sitting up with her, her case became so serious. We couldn’t bear to allow anybody to help in this service, so we two stood watch-and-watch, day in and day out. Ah, Sandy, what a right heart she had, how simple, and genuine, and good she was! She was a flawless wife and mother; and yet I had married her for no other particular reasons, except that by the customs of chivalry she was my property until some knight should win her from me in the field. She had hunted Britain over for me; had found me at the hanging-bout outside of London, and had straightway resumed her old place at my side in the placidest way and as of right. I was a New Englander, and in my opinion this sort of partnership would compromise her, sooner or later. She couldn’t see how, but I cut argument short and we had a wedding.Now I didn’t know I wa

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court   CHAPTER XL

  THREE YEARS LATERWhen I broke the back of knight-errantry that time, I no longer felt obliged to work in secret.  So, the very next day I exposed my hidden schools, my mines, and my vast system of clandestine factories and workshops to an astonished world.  That is to say, I exposed the nineteenth century to the inspection of the sixth.Well, it is always a good plan to follow up an advantage promptly. The knights were temporarily down, but if I would keep them so I must just simply paralyze them—nothing short of that would answer.  You see, I was “bluffing” that last time in the field; it would be natural for them to work around to that conclusion, if I gave them a chance.  So I must not give them time; and I didn’t.I renewed my challenge, engraved it on brass, posted it up where any priest could read it to them, and also kept it standing in the advertising columns of the paper.I not only renewed it, but added to its proportions.  I said, name the day, and I would take fifty as

• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court   CHAPTER XXXIX

  THE YANKEE’S FIGHT WITH THE KNIGHTSHome again, at Camelot.  A morning or two later I found the paper, damp from the press, by my plate at the breakfast table.  I turned to the advertising columns, knowing I should find something of personal interest to me there.  It was this: DE PAR LE ROI. Know that the great lord and illus- trious Kni8ht, SIR SAGRAMOR LE DESIROUS having condescended to meet the King's Minister, Hank Mor- gan, the which is surnamed The Boss, for satisfgction of offence anciently given, these wilL engage in the lists by Camelot about the fourth hour of the morning of the sixteenth day of this next succeeding month. The battle will be a l outrance, sith the said offence was of a deadly sort, admitting of no comPosition.Clarence’s editorial reference to this affair was to this effect: It will be observed, by a gl7nce at our advertising columns, that the commu- nity is to be favored with a treat of un-