zens of London--or at
any rate those of them that held German doctrines--bore themselves
towards Schmalkaldnerism and the doctrines of Luther.

It was understood that these strangers were of very high degree--of a
degree so high that they might scarce be spoken to by the meaner sort.
And for many days messengers had been going between the house of the
Archbishop at Lambeth and that of the Master Printer, to school him how
this meeting must be conducted.

His old father was by that time dead--having died shortly after his
granddaughter Margot had been put away from the Queen's Court--so that
the house-place was clear. And of all the old furnishings none remained.
There were presses all round the wall, and lockers for men to sit upon.
The table had been cleared away into the printer's chapel; a lectern
stood a-midmost of the room, and before the hearth-place, in the very
ingle, there was set the great chair in which aforetimes the old man had
sat so long.

Early that evening, though already it was dusk, the body of citizens
were assembled. Most of them had haggard faces, for the times were evil
for men of their persuasion, and nearly all of them were draped in black
after the German fashion among Lutherans of that day. They ranged
themselves on the lockers along the wall, and with set faces, in a
funereal row, they awaited the coming of this great stranger. There were
no Germans amongst them, for so, it was given out, he would have
it--either because he would not be known by name or for some other
reason.

The Master Printer, in the pride of his craft, wore his apron. He stood
in the centre of the room facing the hearth-place; his huge arms were
bare--for bare-armed he always worked--his black beard was knotted into
little curls, his face was so broad that you hardly remarked that his
nose was hooked like an owl's beak. And about the man there was an air
of sombreness and mystery. He had certain papers on his lectern, and
several sheets of the great Bible that he was then printing by the
Archbishop's license and command. They sang all together and with loud
voices the canticle called 'A Refuge fast is God the Lord.'

Then, with huge gestures of his hands, he uttered the words--

'This is the very word of God,' and began to read from the pages of his
Bible. He read first the story of David and Saul, his great voice
trembling with ecstasy.

'This David is our King,' he said. 'This Saul that he slew is the Beast
of