and made prisoner. Elizabeth would have given her her liberty if
she would have renounced her claims to the English crown--but this Mary
would not do. She was kept in prison a number of years. At last some of
her friends began to form plots to get her out, and make her Queen of
England. She was accused of joining in these plots, and so she was
tried, convicted, and beheaded."

"And did she really join in the plots?" asked Waldron.

"I presume so," said Mr. George. "I would have joined in them if I had
been in her place."

"So would I," said Waldron.

"Did Queen Elizabeth order her to be beheaded?" asked Rollo.

"No," said Mr. George, "not directly--or, at least, she pretended that
she did not. She appointed some judges to go and try her, on the charge
of treason, and the judges condemned her to death. Elizabeth might have
saved her if she chose, but she did not; though afterwards, when she
heard that Mary had been executed, she pretended to be in a great rage
with those who had carried the sentence into effect, and to be deeply
grieved at her cousin's death."

"The old hag!" said Waldron.

[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH ON PARADE.]

"Why, no," said Mr. George, "I don't know that we ought to consider her
an old hag for this. It was human nature, that is all. She may have
been sincere in her grief at Mary's death, while yet she consented to
it, and even desired it, beforehand. We often wish to have a thing done,
and yet are very sorry for it after it is done.

"You see," continued Mr. George, "Queen Elizabeth was a very proud and
ambitious woman. She was very fond of the power, and also of the pomp
and parade of royalty; and she could not endure that any one should ever
question her claim to the crown."

"Well," said Waldron, "at any rate I am sorry for poor Mary."

After this, Mr. George and the boys went down the staircase where they
had come up, to the court, and then proceeding along the piazza to the
back corner of it, they passed through an open door that led them to the
ruins of the old abbey, which stood on this spot some centuries before
the palace was built. There was nothing left of this ancient edifice but
the walls, and some of the pillars of the chapel. The roof was gone, and
every thing was in a state of dilapidation and ruin.

There was a guide there who pointed out the place where Mary stood at
the time of her marriage with Lord Darnley. The grass was growing on
the spot, and above, all was