d, nodding
familiarly, exclaimed--

"What ho, comrade! I heard thou wast in trouble, and have come myself
to ease thee; so cheer up, lad!" Then approaching the judge, he said,
"Good Master Gascoigne, your prisoner is a friend of mine, too gay a
comrade to languish in bonds for a trifling scrape like this. Spare
yourself, therefore, further pains on his account, and come, solace your
gravity with a party of boon companions who assemble to-night to
celebrate their hero's emancipation from your clutches!"

Gravely and sorrowfully the judge regarded the prince who thus
flippantly defied the law of which he was the guardian, but his face was
firm and his voice authoritative as he replied--

"Prince, my duty is to defend the laws of the king, your father, not to
break them. As you entered, I was passing the sentence of imprisonment
on the prisoner which he has merited by his evil deeds. That sentence
must now be put in force."

Prince Henry's face clouded, and he scowled as he exclaimed--

"What I would you defy the Prince of Wales to his very face? Liberate
my comrade, I charge you, at once, or it shall be the worse for you!"

"Be warned, prince. They who obstruct the law incur the penalties of
the law, be they princes or peasants. Officers, remove the prisoner."

Henry flushed angrily, and his eyes glared like fire. Advancing a step,
he laid his hand on the hilt of his sword, and drew it from its
scabbard.

The judge rose quietly to his feet, and laying his hand gently on the
foolish boy's shoulder, said, in a voice calm and clear, which all could
hear--

"Henry, Prince of Wales, I arrest thee in the name of the king, your
father, whose laws you have defied, and whose court you have insulted!
Officers, remove the prince in custody."

There was a strange and solemn pause as the judge resumed his seat, and
all eyes turned on Henry. The firmness of the judge had touched the
right chord at last. The sword dropped back into its sheath, the scowl
of passion gave place to the flush of shame, the wild eyes sought the
ground, and the haughty head hung down in confusion. Without a word he
submitted to the officers of the court, and accompanied them to the
place of his confinement, humble and repentant.

Years after this a gay throng of courtiers were assembled at court to do
homage to King Henry the Fifth of England on his accession to the
throne. There were there princes and nobles and ladies--some the
fri