229
XXIII IN THE TOWER OF LONDON 238
XXIV A FRIEND IN NEED 250
XXV A GREAT SORROW BEFALLS FRANCIS 260
XXVI A FELLOW PRISONER 272
XXVII THE ESCAPE 284
XXVIII THE THREE VOLUNTEERS 297
XXIX A BRITOMARTE OF THE ARMADA 304
XXX PARDON AND HAPPINESS 321

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
"METHINKS THE MAID WILL SERVE OUR PURPOSE WELL!" frontispiece
QUEEN MARY'S WIT GRASPED THE SITUATION 77
ELIZABETH EXTENDED HER HAND GRACIOUSLY 107
THE TWO WERE DEEP IN THE MYSTERIES OF FENCING 156
SHE GAVE A FAINT GASP 190
"I WILL NOT TELL, SIR FRANCIS" 248
"PULL, PULL FOR YOUR LIFE!" 318

IN DOUBLET AND HOSE

CHAPTER I

A QUESTION OF SKILL

It was June, and the peaceful stillness of a summer's day hung over an
ancient wood which lay in the heart of the New Forest near the village of
Lyndhurst. The wood was a part of a large demesne which had at one time
been bordered by hedges of yew and holly, but these, having been
untrimmed for years, had grown into great bushes which in many places
were choked up by underwood and brambles.

The forest stretched in every direction. Wood after wood rose before the
eye, masses of color, the birches hung with softest green, the oak boughs
breaking into amber and olive made doubly bright by the dark gloom of the
firs. Wide-branched oaks were intermingled with beeches and copsewood of
various descriptions so closely in some places as to intercept the
sunshine. In others the trees receded from each other, forming wide
vistas that gave glimpses of other recesses of sylvan solitude.

Down the long sunlit glades the gold belted bees sounded their humming
horns through every flowery town of the weald. Gauze-winged dragon-flies
darted hither and thither while butterflies of every hue sailed by on
wings of sheeny bronze. In the bracken wild roses rioted in the richest
profusion; the foxglove blazed like pillars of fire through the shadowy
underwood and the woodbine flaunted its tall head proudly among the
leaves. A gentle breeze rustled the fern, and breathed