The London Miscellany, no. 1-18

This page is blank

. It was the Kiwie face upon which, the gentle moon beams bid lingered tor a moment before the eyes seemed to close in dissolution. There could ho no doubt — no error for an in stant. Captain Markham felt that he gazed once more upi,n the pale, chas.ened, intellectual countenance of tho Bum whose only nanio in his memory consisted of a sentence—A Mystery in Scarlet. Thou Bertha seized Markham by the arm and led hhu forward. " Behold ! father, behold 1" she said. " This is my preserver, my friend, my protector, my fecund father, when you seemed gone from me for ever. 1'ai.lier, you will not blame mo that I love him r" Bertha was resolved that there should be no doubt from this, almost the first minute of her restoration to her father, concerning her feelings towards Captain Markham. She was too proud to dissimulate. She would nut give herself tho pain of acting a single moment's indifference towards one so dear to Iter. So, even « ith the tears of emotion in her eyes, and with all the excitement of that strange and unexpected reunion with tho father whom sho had thought sepa- ratf d from her by death, she encompassed Markham in her arms. And aiain, with something of triumph in her tones, sho spoke. " "\iMth his life, father, he protected my life. He is good and brave, and truthful and noble. Father, you will not blnmo me that I love him ;" There was a flush upon the face of the Mystery in Scarlet. He held out his hand to Markham. Ho spoke slowly and with difficulty. " Surely I know you, sir r" " You should know me," said Markham. Ho bent down more closely to that sad pale-looking countenance. " I was the officer," ho Kiid, " who commanded the firing parly at liow." "Ah!" " You do know me now i" " You did your duty, sir, and you performed your promise to me." " I have striven to do so, and I have happily suc ceeded, so far that I have saved her. The performance of that promise has made me an outcast and a wan derer. It has taken from me every hope I had on earth. It has deprived me of tho profession I loved. It has abruptly brought to an end a career in which I might have risen to rank ana fortune." " Alas ! alas 1" Markham smiled. He took Bertha's hands in both his own. " But it has recompensed me," he said, " with a jewel of such priceless value that wero tho world bar tered for its possession it were cheaply purchased. " Tho Mystery in Scarlet fixed his languid eyes upon the face of the young officer. " Yes," he said, " you do love her, and I die con tent." " No, father, no !" cried Bertha. " You will live— live to bo happy with us for many and many a sum mer day to come." " 1 would fain do so, but I am weak." " I fancy, sir," said Markham, " it must only bo from loss of blood ; for had your wounds been mortal we should scarcely have had tho happiness of hearing your voice this night." " I thought myself killed," said the Mystery in Scarlet, " and yet 1 found that but one bullet had struck me of nil that volley. It must have been turned a:>ide on my very breast, and the shock and tho loss of blood, as you say, brought on a mimic death." " I thought I left you not until the last breath of life had departed from you in the gardens at Kew." " No doubt it seemed so, and I know not how long I lay insensible ; but I was awakened, as if from some troubled dream, by cool grateful rain splashing on my face." " The rain set in immediately," said Markham, " after the—the —why should I scruple to call it by its correct name?—attompied assassination." " I know not how long I had lain there," continued the Mystery in Scarlet ; " but, feeling wonderfully re freshed and better, I staggered to my feet, and with great difficulty made my way to the river, whore, weak and faint, I got a buy to row me up to London." " A terrible disappointment awaited you." " It did. 1 not only found the old house which I had occupied at "Westminster burnt to tho ground, but it had implicated in its destruction tho Red Cap inn, which is now a heap of blackened ruins." "And then, sir?" " Then, with despair at my heart, I knew not which way to turn or what to do. Nothing possessed me hut that Bertha had perished in that dreadful fire, and it was more mechanically than from any set purpose that I camo hero to die." " Surely bounteous Providence, sir, directed you to the same abode where Bertha had found a refuge." _ " It may be so, but I was familiar with this old pala tial residence." " Indeed!-" " Yes ; months ago I had n:ude my way into it, and it pleased me with a dreamy kind of melancholy to wan der through its deserted chambers, to linger in its an cient banquet halls, and to gaze in silent abstraction upon its faded pictures. I loved to think that possibly the time might come when, if my right were denied to rue, yet my child Bertha might reawaken the life and light of the ancient pile, and that, as queen of this realm, she might make old Whitehall onco again a scene of courtly splendour." The voice of the Mystery in Scarlet had risen higher and higher as he spoke. Exhausted then by the effort he had made, he closed his eyes and seemed to breathe with difficulty. "What does ho inean'r" whispered the Marquis of Charlton to Markham. The young officer wns at a loss how to reply to this pertinent question. '5 What does my father mean:" likewise asked ; Bertha.

somewhere in the lowor part of Whitehall, and the four persons in that chamber started, and glanced at each other inquiringly, as the dull echoes of the sound reverberated tnroughthe building. Then came a rap at the door. They had all forgotten Dick Martin the drummer, and it seemed to bring them quite back to the com mon-place world again when they heard his voice. " Colonel, there's an attack on the place." " An attack?" The Marquis of Charlton flung the door wide open and admitted Dick Martin. " What is it, Dick ? What do you mean ?" " A dismounted party, colonel, of the king's Light Horse has just broken in at one of the old doors, and are making their way through the palace." " Then we are indeed in danger," said Markham. " Who is with them, Dick ?" " Mr. Norris, I think, sir, the king's valet." " That worst of villains!" " HuBh !" said the marquis. There was another loud crash, and it was quite evident that the reckless troopers, having received some sort of carte blanche to make a raid through old Whitehall after something or somebody, were not par ticular as to the mode by which they passed from one room to another. We must perforce now return for a brief space to St. James's Palace, and to the queen's cabinet, which had been the scene of so much danger and of so much real feeling and heartfelt affection. It will De remembered that her Majesty retired at once to her oratory, closing the door of communication behind her, after she had felt satisfied that she had done all she could for the safety of those persons who had thrown themselves upon her protection. The terrible scene that had taken place between the king and his son Fritz, as ho was commonly called, had so shaken the spirits of the queen that, although she had kept up for some time afterwards, as we havo seen, now that she was alone sho gave way completely and fell into a swoon. Agnes and Lucy Kerr of course could have no notion of the state of their royal mistress, since the closing of the door was understood to forbid their further attend ance, and they accordingly retired to Agnes's rooms. Mr. Osbom was ushering down the back staircase the little party in whose fortunes we are interested. The queen s cabinet, therefore, is silent and de serted. But it was not so beyond a few moments. From behind a huge old oaken cabinet, which one would scarcely imagine left space enough between it and the wall, there emerged a human figure. A human figure, erect, defiant, and with such a ma levolent expression upon the countenance as could belong to none other than Norris, the king's valet. How he had contrived to secrete himself there was one of the mysteries of St. James's. There may have been some secret entrance in floor or wall. But there he was. And there could be but little doubt that he had over heard the whole of the latter part of the conference that had taken place between the queen and her new friends. Norris slowly rubbed his hands one over the other, and the noiseless chuckle in which he indulged had something perfectly fiendish about it. " Which will be the best, I wonder," ho muttered. " To side with her or with him ?" "Her" no doubt meant the queen, and "him" the king. Norris then tapped the corner of his forehead. " I might frighten her out of a good deal. If she hasn't much money, she has jewels. A-hem ! Then, again, I might get a good price from him. What shall I do P That is the question. Bah ! tash ! as the king says, how can I be such a fool ? Why, where are my wits ? I'll make them both pay. Of course, make them both pay ; and as my time has so nearly come —my time when I'm going to fly far away from England, and enjoy what I have scraped together, and what I still mean to lay hold of at the last moment— by ono grand coup I will leave behind me the me mory of a little trick which will make a nice page in the history of England." Norris must have painfully practised the art of laughing without making the least noise. He seemed now to go off into convulsions of chuck ling at some idea that tickled his fancy amazingly. " Yes," ho said. " I'll make her pay to induce me to keep the secret of her complicity with these people, who are the king's enemies. Then I will make the king pay for telling him the secret, and he may mur der the whole lot of them for all I care. I owe them a grudge. And then—why then—as his Majesty's waistcoat hangs in what is called the ' petty ward robe,' I will—I will change the lozenges from one pocket to another." Norris fell into silent convulsions of merriment uguin at this bright idea. "Then, he said, " I will make a clean sweep of the King's jewels, and bo off—off and away. Thore's always some Dutch vessel lying about the Medway which fur a consideration will up anchor and hoist sail. They I prowl about there in the service of the Jacobites. Yes, that will do, that will do. And now for the queen." Norris rapped at the door of the oratory. There was no reply. "I'm sure she's there. Perhaps she's praying. I never pray. I'll rap again." Still there was no reply. Norris tried the door. Yes, it was unfastened. He peepod into the onitory. Tho queen lay upon the floor as if dead. The valet was alarmed for a moment or two. It might not be very pleasant to be caught with a dead queen. Explanations might be difficult. Perhaps he would have retired there and then but that a slight movement and a long-drawn sigh con vinced him that her Majesty still lived. Then Norris, bending himself double, became assidu ous and cringingly attentive. He assisted the queen to rise, and when, with a be wildered look, her Majesty said " Where am I P" ho assured her that she was in her own oratory, and that he was one of her humblest subjects. The queen drew back from him with ill -concealed aversion. " Leave us," she said. " We have no occasion for your services." " Ah ! madam," replied Norris, with a candour that was very much at variance with his ordinary disposition, " ah ! madam, I cannot think you would be so nasty in dismissing me if you were aware that I knew all that has passed in the cabinet for the last hour, and havo nothing to do but to go to his Majesty, who will give a princely reward for the information." The quecu nearly fell to the floor again. " You most vile and odi—" "Yes, madam; I am vile and odious,. Pray don't scruple to use bad language. I am used to it. His most gracious Majesty, whom Heaven preserve, sometimes indulges in it slightly." "What—what," gasped tho queen, "do you re quire?" " A thousand thanks, madam. That is what I call business. Your Majesty has a secret, which I am in possession of. I can carry it to the king, and produce rage, confusion, and death !" "Oh! horror! horror!" ejaculated the queen, as she passed her hands over her eyes. "Exactly, madam. Plenty of horror. But I'm not unreasonable. I only want to bo paid, and as I am rile and odious, I charge accordingly." "What?" Norris rapped tho back of bis hand on the table that wns between him and the queen as he said slowly*- " Fivo hundred guineas -tor being vilo, and five hun dred guineas for being odious." " If I refuse ?" " Then I go straight to the king." " You cannot be so base." " I can. Five hundred guineas more for being base. I want fifteen hundred guineas of your Majesty, or their equivalent in any articles of valuo your Majesty pleases." "Alas! alae!" " Permit mo to remind your Majesty that my time is precious, and that the hour is late." " Fifteen hundred guineas ?" " The precise sum." " If I do not pay them you will tell tho king all ?" " Assuredly. The queen shook her head and sighed despairingly, whilo Norris gave a silent chuckle at his immense success, and bogan mentally to blame himself that ho had not asked more. " No," said the queen, with the most simple air in tho world. " I will give nothing, for I believe you are cjuite capable of going to tho king afterwards, and selling tho information to him likewise." Now as this was precisely what Norris meant to do, it was excessively aggravating that the queen, of whose mental abilities he had a poor idea, should have hit upon it with such extreme happiness. Norris actually stamped with rage, but the queen had touched a hand-bell, and Mr. Osbom had returned and stood noiselessly iu the entrance of the oratory. " Mr. Osborn," said the queen, " do you think you could turn this person out of our private apartments very quickly, and in a manner that will be a caution to him not to intrude into them ngain ?" Mr. Osborn upon this flew at Norris, and tore off his wig, and buffeted him about tho head, and kicked his shins, and hustled him to the back stairs, down which ho pitched him headlong in so very short a space of time that it was something wonderful to see. (To be continued in our next.)

CHAPTER XLIX. TU£ KOYAL BEDCIIAMltElE. Bruised, buttered, bewildered, and presenting a ludicrous object, without his wig, «orris crawled into the bedchamber of the king". His Majesty had retired to rest, for neither the cares of state nor the prickings of conscience, if there were such a tiling in the constitution of that monarch, pre vented him from enjoying repose. The royal chamber was somewhat intricately situated in St. James's Palace, and only the habitués of the placo could так» their way to it with ease. In fact, it might be said that the king's valet und the pago on night duty were the only persons who could make their way to the royal bedside. And most certainly they would not have been permitted to do so, or to have the power to do so, hut that his Majesty was nervously apprehensive of fire. There had been two or throe alarms of that kind in St. James's Palace, and, owing to some radical defect in the flues, or of some decay incident to the ace of the building, coal and wood втокв would make their ap pearance most unaccountably in most out-of-the-way places. His Majesty had thereforo contracted a nervous terror of being burnt in his bed some night. But for that consideration he would have locked his door. It cost him a pang to leave himself exposed to the midnight visits of Norn's. But then, after all, was hot Norria the creature of his bounty P "Was he not dependent upon him (the king) for the very bread he ate, and for all the col lateral advantages, legitimate and illegitimate, which he contrived to extract from his confidential situation about the person of the monarch ? Moreover, the successor of a king does not usually take on his predecessor's valet. And so, for all these considerations, his Majesty con sidered himself tolerably safe from any attempt on tho part of Norrie to create what is callea in polite court circles " the demise of the crown." And tho valet would just as soon havo thought of making his way into the den of an enraged tiger as of penetrating into the royal bedchamber aft er his Majesty had fairly retired to rest. In fact, Norris usually went and enjoyed himself at some of the gaining tables with which St. James's Street and Pall Mall were at that time infested. But if the suspicion or the occasion of a lire in St. James's would be sufficient to induce Norrie to break the royal slumbers, he felt that the intelligence ho had now to bring earned with it as full and complete a justification of tho intrusion as if flames were catch ing the royal coverlet. In the bewildered and dilapidated condition, then, which wo have described, Noms made his way with a rash through the king's unto-eliamber. But he paused at the actual door of the king's bed room. Habitual caution—that habitual, slavish, cringing terror which always beset him on coming into the pre sence of his imperious master—overcame all other con siderations even at that moment. Norris placed his hand gently and timidly upon the handle of the door. He listened. All was very still. He had a well-grounded apprehension of entering abruptly the king's chamber, for his Majesty was in the habit of sleeping with various uncomfortable mis siles handy to his grasp. Something, therefore, might be launched at the head of the valet which would produce a decidedly uncom fortable impression if tho king happened to be awake, and he (Norrie) were to enter the room without due circumspection* As gently as possible he turned the handle of the door. There was no creaking of those well-oiled palatial hinges. Norria opened the door about half a foot, and then waited. All was well. The king slept—surely slept, and slept soundly too, or some notice would have been taken even of this gentle opening of tho door. Then Norris ventured to peep iuto the room. It was very dimly illuminated by tho night-lamp that burnt upon a tall gilt tripod near the head of ihu bed.Yes, the king slept—surely slept, notwithstanding all the agitating circumstances of the preceding day. That cold cruel heart and bruin surely were at rest for a time. ^ Norrie opened the door wider. He crept into tho apartment. Then, closing the door behind him as gently as he had opened it, he dipped, or ducked, if wo may use the expressions, low down three or four times, as though he were executing elaborate curtseys, towards the bed on which the king lay in sleep. Norris had his suspicions. Tho king might have an eye upon him, and at nny stray moment something might be hurled at his head ; so Morris resorted to this ducking dipping movement as a means of distracting the royal aim. But all remained still. The valet's apprehensions gradually faded away. So noiselessly that no phantom could have ap proached the royal bedside with less- note of wanting Norris made his way close to the gilt tripod. Ho scarcely breathed. Ho held one hand over his mouth, lest the slight dis turbance of the air from his own faint respirations should disturb the king. * - And there lay tho Majesty of England—very un- majeetio indeed—gaunt and yellow, an old silk night cap drawn over- one eye, tho other one firmly closed, and tho royal countenance in its reposo pre senting something of an appearance between that of a mummy and an amiable ourang-outang in repose. Norris was satisfied. But now was his time to awaken the king—now was his time to yell tho news which ho brought into tho royal ears—now was the time to tell tlio stoi^* of his own exceedingly clever discovery of the little domestic plot in the queen's cabinet.

But Norris did no such thing. His own affairs, his own hopes, his own wishos were paramount. The news which he brought the king could wait for a few minutes, while he accomplished another purposo —a purpose that had bit by bit^zhd step bv step grown into a fixed determination of his mind—a purposo that was to bring to an end the life of dissimulation, anxiety, care, and pain which he led in the service of the king, and to exchange it for one of luxury and en joyment. Here was the opportunity ho had looked for so long. Here was the chance which he had pictured to him self in his waking moments, and which had been the most delightful image of his dreams—the chance of being in the king's bedchambor with a perfectly legiti mate excuse, and a story to tell which if the king should suddenly awaken would be ample warrant for the intrusion, and yet for the time being the king sound asleep. Norris forgot all he had gone through—forgot tho violent assault of the page of the back stairs—forgot the unprecedented manner in which ho had been thrown from the top of those stairs to 'tho bottom— forgot the loss of his wig, and the feelings of revenge that had been rankling in his breast—forgot every thing but that the opportunity had suddenly presented itself for carrying out two darling projects. Robbery—robbery on such a scale as, in addition to his previous appropriations, would place him in a position of wealth and luxury. Murder—murder on such a scale that he could ever carry about with him the consciousness that, in addi tion to producing a marked effect upon the history of Europe, he had paid off a hundred scores of slight, in dignity, oppression, and brutality. The robbery and murder of the king. Norris «aw both those things now within his grasp. In that room were jewels the value of which he was afraid even to appreciate — afraid to compute in figures. He know exactlv the drawers in exactly (he cabinets where they lay, hiding their lustrous beauty, and only waiting for him to drag them forth to the admiration of the world. And there lay the king—so supine—so helpless— so great a thing in name and so little a thing in nature. Why, it was but to place a finger and thumb upon his throat, and a hand upon his month, and there an end.It was but to slip the pillow from under that old in volved and wicked head and place it upon the face, so yellow, so wrinkled, so cadaverous, and there an end. No. Oh! no. These were not Norris's modes of action. These would be the rough coarse vulgar modes of helping Prince Frederick to the crown of England, and sending its present possessor to consort with his ancestors. Norris had a subtler intellect—a finer and more in tricate spirit. He would have chuckled, if he had dared to produce ~such a sound in its faintest expression within that still atmosphere. He did chuckle, but it was inwardly, and with a spasmodic action, which, divested as he was of his wig, made him look like some hideous maniac Beized with a sudden convulsion. Five minutes. He only wanted five minutes. They would be amply sufficient for all that he had to do, and surely the royal repose would last that time, ■0 quiet and so prufound as it was. There was a cabinet of blackest ebony. It looked like marble in its exquisite polish. The knobs of its drawers were of some rare agate, contrasting prettily enough with the polished ebony to which they were attached. We have said that the light in tho king's chamber was very dim, but it was sufficient to let Norris see what he was about, and it would have been sufficient, had any human eyes been there present to look upon the face of tho valet, to show now ghastly pale he was.More than once, too, he rubbed his hands together and over each other, in the hope of getting rid of tho nervous trembling that possessed them. The drawers in that cabinet were divided into small divisions, each of which might be looked upon as a well-padded velvet jewel-case. There were various stars blazing even in that dim and inefficient light, with their rich incrustation of jewels. There were foreign orders stiffened and rigid with diamonds. And Norris helped himself freely, until ho felt cer tain he carried about him a hundred thousand pounds at least in those precious gems, which must have something occult and mysterious in them to have fecen, and always seem destined to be, the fascination of mankind. The robbery was complete. One half of the project M carried out. The other half only remained—the most terriblo half, but per haps the easiest. The murder. Norris slowly and cautiously closed tho various drawers of the cabinet. Then he stood with his back to it, and looked towards tho bed on which lay the king. How did he intend to do tho deed ? Was there to be a rush, a short scuffle, and then would all bo over ? No. Thero might be a cry, if only one—a yoll such as bursts from a despairing heart in its last agony. No. A violent effort such as that was not germane to Norris's notions of things in general. There was a couch of purple velvet in tho apart ment, and at the back of it wcro some gilt rails, on which hung tho suit of clothes tho king had taken off, and which unquestionably ho would put on again exactly as ho hud done the day before. The genius of that monarch did not lie in gorgeousness of apparel. The plain brown snuffy-iocking suit that he wore one day he wore the next, and so on, until it became almost too shabby for him. And that was very shabby indeed. Norris therefore crept towards this temporary ward robe, and laid his hand on the king's waistcoat. It was one of those wonderful waistcoats then in use, with huge flap pockets reaching down nearly to tho knees of the wearer. Norris knew tho contents of those pockets perfectly well. Had he not on various provocations been offered a lozenge from one of them, while his Majesty amused himself with ono from the other ? But always from the other. Who shall say how many lives wero contained in one of those pockets, and how many harmless circlets of paste and sugar in the other ? Norris did not troublo himself to care at that mo ment which was which. The king knew. All the valet had to do was to change the lozonges from one pocket to the other. Change and change about. It was easily accomplished, notwithstanding the shaking, the trembling of his hands. They looked very much alike, those two sets of lozenges. Wonderfully alike. But there was a difference. Oh ! such n difference ! The difference as between light and darkness, fire and ice, the sparkle and the glow of vitality and the dull inertia of death. Norris drew a long breath. He had done it. Robbery and murder. He had done them both. He had but to wait, and both were .accomplished: and then flight—instant flight—flight and pence, and wealth and luxury, and state and dignity, and—and oh ! what a tyrant ho would be ! what a despot ! How he would lord it over his fellow-men in some plaee far away, where no one could guess his ante cedents, nor in their wildest dreams imagino he had ever been the crawling reptile ho really was ! Yes ; he had done it. He had reached the culmination of his career. Robbery always. Now murder. CHAPTER L. thu king's light house. The king coughed. Norris had ^at down on the sofa, feeling hot and cold, but now ho slid at once to tho floor in an agony of apprehension. The king coughed again. Norris crept to the side of the bed on his hands and knees. He made a humming noise, as if some great insect of the mosquito order had invaded the sacred precincts of the royal bedchamber. " Achat's that?" cried tho king. 11 Your Majesty's most humble servant." " Eh f" " Tho humblest of your Majesty's subjects and ser vants." The king started up to a sitting posture. " What P what is it t" " Your gracious Majestv." " It's fire ?" " No, your Majesty, beseeching your roval pardon for the seeming contradiction, it is not fire.'' " Get up." Tho king might well say " Get up," for there was nothing visible of Noma but his back, and his posture altogether seemed indicative of a desire to crawl under the royal bedstead, and there hold a conversation with its majestic occupant. " Get up." " Humbly, yes, your Majesty, Norris got as far as his knees. The silk nightcap was drawn over one eve of the king, but the other shone with a lurid light as he glared at Norris. " Your Majesty, unless tho humblest of your sub jects can show some good and sufficient reason for this intrusion upon your Majesty's repose, there is no penalty that—that—" " Tosh ! What's the reason ?" " Oh ! your Majesty, I scarcely know how I dare speak, for I have to tell your Majesty that you are deceived, and my respect for the personage who has—who has, I may say, deceived your Majesty, is so great that— that—" " Bah ! We don't require you to havo any re spect for any ono but ourselves. What is it ?" 11 Your Majesrv, I—I—" The king evidently looked about for something to fling at Norris. " Oh ! your Majesty, I will tell all. It is my duty, my pleasure to tell all. I have too much sense of gra titude, too much love and admiration for vour Ma jesty to hesitate. I will tell all, even though it im plicate a personago who lives in tho reflected light of your royal presence." " Some rascality of Fritz's, we suppose ?" " Not exactly, your Majesty. I am most unfor tunate in having to contradict your most gracious Majesty." The king began to look vicious. " Speak, idiot, boast, fool, and speak at once." " Her Majesty the queen." "Ah! Thequeon! Ugh! ugh! ugh! Thequcon! We know all about it." " Your Majesty f" "Ugh! ugh! ugh!" " My royal mastorr" " We know all about it, and my Lord Hervcv is ex ceedingly welcome. Ugh ! ugh ! ugh !'" The king pulled tho silk nightcap an inch lower over his eye, and was about to lie down again, when Norris interposed. "No, your Majesty, it is nothing about my Lord Her- vey ; but, being ever intent upon your Majesty's ser vice, day and night, night and day, I managed'to hide myself in—in—" ""What? .Where?" " Tho queen's cabinet." " Ah r " And I overheard something which your Majesty might wish to know." " What t" Norris licked his lips and seemed to hesitate for words in which to shape his next sentence. * When those words came thoy sounded rather enig matical, and would have been quite so to any one but tho king. As it was, however, they made him give a hound up in his bed as he tore off the silk nightcap, and glared with both" his eyes into tho faco of Norris. " Your Majesty, I have found out where both tho bodies ore." " The bodies ? My two dead men ? You have found out? You? you?" Norris nodded. " And the queen—tho queen knew ? The queen knows?" Norris nodded again. "Ah! Ugh ! ugh ! ugh ! Ah! Goon." " Your Majesty must know, then, that hidden in tho queen's oratory adjoining tho cabinet this evening tliere were several persons." "Tosh! man, fnsh! Stop! Well, name them." A look of satisfaction came over the face of Norris, for here was an opportunity of doing no end of mis chief, and involving three or four persons in a tolerable amount of ruin. He had no idea of letting Mr. Osborn, tho page, escape ; and, in fact, at tho present moment he was more intent upon being revenged on him than in im plicating any ono else in what might be called the queen's plot. "I must commence, your Majesty, by stating that her Majesty's page of the back stairs, Mr. Osborn, is the ringleader and prime mover of the whole affair, and is in every respect a bitter enemy and traitor to vour Majesty. "Ah! ah!" " Your Majesty will not fail to recollect him ?" " We don't forget." " Indeed, if tho humblest of your Majesty's servants might venture to suggest a memorandum, something to his detriment would be as well." Norris was afraid one of the lozenges might take effect before the royal vengeance had time to fall upon tho head of the devoted Osborn. " Tash ! Who else was there ?" " There was a young girl—" " Tash !" " By name Agnes Bellair, and another one, by name Lucv Kerr." "Tash!" " There was an officer—" "Ah!" " By name Colonel the Marquis of Charlton." The kiug swung his thin logs out of bed. "Traitors! traitors all! A nest of traitors! A cabal of traitors! Quick! Norris, quick! Wc will sleep no more to-night. And so—ha! ha!—the queen harbours traitors in her juratory ? Quick! Help us to dress. Well, Norris, wo'l ? Who else was there ?" " Another girl, your Majesty."