III.
“Soon King Richard was riding among his men, cheering them on in the battle.
“‘No other horse could carry a man as surely and swiftly,’ whispered the king, patting the horse’s neck.
“He had not noticed that the horse had lost one shoe. Onward he urged him over a rocky hill. Another shoe flew off.
“Suddenly the horse stumbled and fell, and the king was thrown to the ground.
“Before he could rise, the horse, although lamed, had struggled to his feet and galloped away, dreadfully frightened.
“Then the king shouted, ‘A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!’
“But there was no horse for him. When his men had seen him thrown, they had all turned and fled.
“And so the battle was lost, and King Richard was killed, and the history of the great nation of England was changed, for Henry, Earl of Richmond, became king.”
“And all for the want of a few horseshoe nails!”, finished Charles, as grandfather stopped speaking. “I will put two more nails into each side of the box lid, grandpa!”
“While you are doing that, I will teach you a few lines that I learned when I was a boy,” said grandfather. “Try to remember them.”
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe the horse was lost;
For want of a horse the rider was lost;
For want of a rider the battle was lost;
For loss of a battle a kingdom was lost;—
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”
