in the courtyard. The
king turned once more to the window, glanced a moment at the commotion
below, then gave utterance to an exclamation of annoyance, his right
hand clenching angrily. Wheeling quickly to the guards at the door he
cried,--

"Bring the chief huntsman here at once, and a prod in the back with a
pike may make up for his loitering in the courtyard."

The men, who stood like statues with long axes at the doorway, made no
move; but two soldiers, sitting on a bench outside, sprang to their
feet and ran clattering down the stair. They returned presently with
the chief huntsman, whom they projected suddenly into the room with a
violence little to the woodman's taste, for he neglected to remove his
bonnet in the royal presence, and so far forgot himself as to turn his
head when he recovered his equilibrium, roundly cursing those who had
made a projectile of him.

"Well, woodlander!" cried the king, his stern voice ringing down again
from the lofty rafters of the great hall. "Are there no deer in my
forests of the north?"

"Deer in plenty, your majesty," answered the fellow with a mixture of
deference and disrespect, which in truth seemed to tinge the manners
of all present. "There are deer in the king's forest, and yet a lack
of venison in the king's larder!"

"What mean you by that, you scoundrel?" exclaimed the king, a flush
overspreading his face, ruddy as his beard. "Have your marksmen lost
their skill with bow and arrow, that you return destitute to the
castle?"

"The marksmen are expert as ever, your majesty, and their arrows fly
as unerringly to their billet, but in these rude times, your majesty,
the sting of an arrow may not be followed by the whetting of a
butcher's knife."

The king took an impatient step forward, then checked himself. One or
two among the group of noblemen near the door laughed, and there was a
ripple of suppressed merriment over the whole company. At first the
frown on the king's brow deepened, and then as suddenly it cleared
away, as a puff of wind scatters the mist from the heights of
Stirling. When the king spoke again it was in a calm, even voice. "As
I understand you, there was no difficulty in capturing the deer, but
you encountered some obstacle between the forest and Stirling which
caused you to return empty-handed. I hope you have not added the
occupation of itinerant flesher to the noble calling of forest
huntsman?"

"Indeed, your majesty," replied the unabash