olesome as oatmeal porridge."

"Well, your majesty, you must meet subtilty with subtilty."

"I am not sure that the adage holds good, Davie," demurred the king.
"You cannot outrace a Highlandman in his own glen, although you may
fight him fairly in the open. Once this Frenchman's head is off, you
stop his boiling-pot."

"That is quite true, your majesty, but if the French ambassador should
put in a claim for his worthless carcass, you will find yourself on
the eve of a break with France, if you proceed to his execution."

"But I shall have made France throw off its mask."

"It is not France I am thinking about, your majesty. Your own nobles
have gone clean daft over this Italian. He is their goose that lays
the golden eggs, and you saw yourself to-night with what breathless
expectation they watched his experimenting. I am sure, your majesty,
that they will stand by him, and that you will find not only France
but Scotland arrayed against you. A moment's reflection will show you
the danger. These meetings have been going on for months past, yet no
whisper of their progress has reached your majesty's ears."

"That is true; even you yourself, Davie, kept silent."

"I swore an oath of silence, and honestly, I did not think that this
gold-making was an affair of State."

"Very well. I will act with caution. The breath of the money-getter
tarnishes the polish of the sword; and in my dealings I shall try to
recollect that I have to do with men growing rapidly rich, as well as
with nobles who should be too proud to accept unearned gold from any
man. Now, Davie, I'll need your help in this, and in aiding me you
will assist yourself, thus will virtue be its own reward, as is
preached to us. I will give you as many gold pieces as you need, and
instead of paying three pieces at the entrance, give the man three
hundred. Urge all the nobles to increase their wagers; for thus we
shall soon learn the depths of this yellow treasury. If I attempt to
wring the neck of the goose before the eggs are laid, my followers
would be justified in saying that the English part of my nature had
got the better of the Scotch. Meanwhile, I will know nothing of this
man's doings, and I hope for your sake, Davie, that the gold mine will
prove as prolific as my own in the Clydesdale."

The nobles followed the example set to them by the lavish Sir David.
They needed no urging from him to increase their stakes. The fever of
the gambler was on each o