ight give the king a chance of escape. There
was not a moment to lose, so, seizing the heavy tongs from the
fireplace, she forced them into the king's hand, and motioned him to
remove the flooring and hide in the crypt below. Spurred to desperation
the king seized the tongs, and proceeded to force up the flooring of the
hall; but the sound of his approaching enemies came nearer and nearer,
and the flooring was strong and tough. To give time the women made a
desperate attempt to pull a heavy table in front of the door, but it was
heavier than they could move. In another moment the floor had given way,
and, with a hurried embrace, the king squeezed through the flooring and
dropped into the vault. Then came the replacing of the boards--could
they possibly do it in the time? A clash of arms in the passage showed
that at least one sentinel was true; but the arm of one was but a poor
barrier against so large a force. Another moment and the flooring would
give no evidence of the secret that it held, for the queen and her
bower-maidens were replacing it with all speed. Again the tread of the
approaching conspirators; the sentinel has paid for his fidelity with
death. Is there no arm can save?

At this moment, as with a flash of inspiration, the thought came into
her mind. Catherine Douglas, one of the bower-maidens, rushed forward
and thrust her arm through the staple of the removed bolt, and for a
little while a woman's arm held a hundred men at bay.

It was a terrible moment, and as the poor bruised arm gave way at last
Catherine Douglas fell fainting to the floor.

Sir Richard Graeme and his followers, having forced an entrance, made
hot and eager search, but without avail. One of them placed his dagger
at the queen's breast and demanded to know where the king was, and would
have killed her had not the young Graeme caught back his arm and said,
"She is a woman; we seek the king." At last, tired by their fruitless
search, they left the Hall, and then, unfortunately, the king requested
the women to draw him up from the vault again. This they attempted to
do, with ropes made from the sheets from the bed, but they were not
strong enough, and one of them, a sister of Catherine Douglas, was
pulled down into the vault below. Attracted by the noise of this
attempt, the conspirators returned, and the traitor chamberlain revealed
the secret of the hidden vaults. In a few moments all was over,--the
flooring was torn up, and, more lik