THIS SHOT from a very old movie shows a lonely country tavern. At left, next to the door, is an engraving carved into the stone wall of the old building. It's impossible to read here, but there's a restored version in which it's a little clearer, though still very faded and indistinct. At first sight it looks like this REPRODUCTION that I made.

So, was that the original Wellbeth Tavern, where the heroic St. Arne brought the secret message that saved King Arthur? Or does the sign actually say something else? It took me about half an hour to reach my conclusion. What's yours?

Well, I found it a fine puzzle, and not one worth spending time on, had it not been that my curiosity was so aroused that I just HAD to know what it meant! There ARE such names as Wellbeth and St. Arne, and that's what the sign really does look like, but probably just because it's so blurry in the picture. Actually it DOES say something else, and I did finally figure it out. But the picture (even the restored one) wasn't much help in doing so. I just kept looking at the phrase "Eaf hero of Wellbeth St. Arne" and asked myself what normal modern English sentence resembles it enough to be mistaken for it on an old faded sign. Once it hit me, it was pretty obvious!

What the sign really says (I'm sure) is: "Eat here or we'll both starve."