the
queen left Nerac."

"That is a good beginning to the story, Philip; but tell me the
whole in proper order, as it happened."

Philip told his story at length, and his cousin was greatly pleased
at the manner in which he had got through his various dangers and
difficulties.

The queen remained but a few hours with the army, after Cognac had
opened its gates. After a long conference with the Prince of Conde,
the Admiral, and the other leaders, she left under a strong escort
for La Rochelle; leaving the young prince with the army, of which
he was given the nominal command, as his near connection with the
royal family, and the fact that he was there as the representative
of his mother, strengthened the Huguenot cause; which could no
longer be described, by the agents of the French court with foreign
powers, as a mere rising of slight importance, the work only of
Conde, Coligny, and a few other ambitious and turbulent nobles.

"I asked my mother to appoint you as one of the gentlemen who are
to ride with me, Monsieur Fletcher," the young prince said to
Philip, when he saw him on the day after the queen's departure;
"but she and the Admiral both said no. It is not because they do
not like you, you know; and the Admiral said that he could very
well trust me with you. But when my mother told him that I had
ridden with you for the last four days, he said that it would cause
jealousy, when there were so many young French nobles and gentlemen
in the camp, if I were to choose you in preference to them as my
companion; you being only French on your mother's side, and having
an English name. I begged them to let me tell you this, for I would
rather ride with you than with any of them; and I should not like
you to think that I did not care to have you with me, any more.

"I think it hard. They call me the commander of this army, and I
can't have my own way even in a little thing like this. Some day,
Monsieur Fletcher, I shall be able to do as I please, and then I
hope to have you near me."

"I am greatly obliged to your Highness," Philip said; "but I am
sure the counsel that has been given you is right, and that it is
far better for you to be in the company of French gentlemen. I have
come over here solely to do what little I can to aid my mother's
relations, and those oppressed for their faith; and though I am
flattered by your wish that I should be near you, I would rather be
taking an active share in the work that has t