How! lost,'
said I, in surprise. 'Yes, lost, perished, swallowed up: what can I say
more?' 'What! was the packet-boat cast away then?' said I. 'Oh!
indeed, sir, a great deal worse, as you shall see,' answered he: 'I was
within half a league of Calais yesterday morning, and I was resolved to
go by the sea-side, to make greater haste; but, indeed, they say very
true, that nothing is like the highway; for I got into a quicksand, where
I sunk up to the chin.' 'A quicksand,' said I, 'near Calais?' 'Yes,
sir,' said he, 'and such a quicksand that, the devil take me, if they saw
anything but the top of my head when they pulled me out: as for my horse,
fifteen men could scarce get him out; but the portmanteau, where I had
unfortunately put your clothes, could never be found: it must be at least
a league under ground.'

"This, sire," continued the Chevalier de Grammont, "is the adventure, and
the relation which this honest gentleman has given me of it. I should
certainly have killed him, but I was afraid of making Miss Hamilton wait,
and I was desirous of giving your Majesty immediate advice of the
quicksand, that your couriers may take care to avoid it."

The King was ready to split his sides with laughing, when the Chevalier
de Grammont, resuming the discourse, "apropos, sire," said he, "I had
forgot to tell you, that, to increase my ill-humour, I was stopped, as I
was getting out of my chair, by the devil of a phantom in masquerade, who
would by all means persuade me that the queen had commanded me to dance
with her; and as I excused myself with the least rudeness possible, she
charged me to find out who was to be her partner, and desired me to send
him to her immediately so that your Majesty will do well to give orders
about it; for she has placed herself in ambush in a coach, to seize upon
all those who pass through Whitehall. However, I must tell you, that it
is worth while to see her dress; for she must have at least sixty ells of
gauze and silver tissue about her, not to mention a sort of a pyramid
upon her head, adorned with a hundred thousand baubles."

This last account surprised all the assembly, except those who had a
share in the plot. The queen assured them, that all she had appointed
for the ball were present; and the king, having paused some minutes:
"I bet," said he, "that it is the Duchess of Newcastle." "And I," said
Lord Muskerry, coming up to Miss Hamilton, "will bet it is another fool;
for I am very much