ow. As Max is away, she at
least should have been here."

"So I told her; but she said she had a very particular engagement which
she must keep; and I could see that, relying upon your promise, she
meant to have her own way, so I said nothing."

"I hope they are going to like each other," said the King, his thoughts
carrying on to the meeting which was now near.

"She and the Prince? Oh, yes, I think there's no doubt about it.
Strange, wasn't it, that her running away actually pleased him?"

"I suppose it was so very unusual. We don't as a rule get people to run
away from us. It's generally all the other way. Look at this crowd! I
wonder how the police manage to keep them back."

Smiling and bowing, the Queen replied: "They are so well behaved; and
see, how patient. Many, I daresay, have been here for hours. Doesn't
that show loyalty?"

"It isn't all loyalty, my dear; they like the whole spectacle, the
troops, the coach, the piebald ponies. Last night I went to look at
them; four of them have been left out."

"What a strange thing to do."

"But some have to be."

"No; going to see them, I mean."

"Well, I don't know; they play a very important part in the proceedings,
and in a way they are heroes, for wherever they go with us they share
our danger. I heard quite a lot of interesting things about them."

At this moment they were approaching a part of the route which separated
them for a while from the popular plaudits. In the forefront was a deep
archway, and beyond it was a brief stretch of road shut in by hoardings
and dominated by high masts of scaffolding, behind which new Government
buildings were in process of erection. Across each front to left and
right a few strings of bunting fluttered to give festive relief; for
here there were no stands filled with spectators, no pavements lined
with shouting crowds; and behind the palisades work had been knocked off
for the day. The cry of the populace lulled down to a mere murmur, and
the trampling of the hoofs echoed strangely as they passed under the
vaulted arch and along the walled-in track with its huge baulks of
timber on both sides supporting the growth of stone walls.

Ahead stood a wide gateway opening by a sharp turn into Regency Row,
whose broad thoroughfare of cream-tinted facades, now bright with flags,
formed an ideal rallying-ground for the sightseeing multitude.

"Now there," said the King, pointing ahead to a high triangular building
facing