"I will take it were its walls of iron," he declared.

"I would hold it were the walls of butter," Richard defiantly replied.

It was church land, and the archbishop placed Normandy under an
interdict. Richard laughed at his wrath, and persuaded the pope to
withdraw the curse. A "rain of blood" fell, which scared his courtiers,
but Richard laughed at it as he had at the bishop's wrath.

"Had an angel from heaven bid him abandon his work, he would have
answered with a curse," says one writer.

"How pretty a child is mine, this child of but a year old!" said
Richard, gladly, as he saw the walls proudly rise.

[Illustration: STATUE OF RICHARD COEUR DE LION.]

He needed money to finish it. His kingdom had been drained to pay his
ransom. But a rumor reached him that a treasure had been found at
Limousin,--twelve knights of gold seated round a golden table, said the
story. Richard claimed it. The lord of Limoges refused to surrender it.
Richard assailed his castle. It was stubbornly defended. In savage wrath
he swore he would hang every soul within its walls.

There was an old song which said that an arrow would be made in Limoges
by which King Richard would die. The song proved a true prediction. One
night, as the king surveyed the walls, a young soldier, Bertrand de
Gourdon by name, drew an arrow to its head, and saying, "Now I pray God
speed thee well!" let fly.