to write a
letter to George, in which she both charged him to express her gratitude
to all the lords who had signed the protestation; and begged them, in
the name of the fidelity they had sworn to her, not to cool in their
devotion, promising them, for her part, to await the result with that
patience and courage they asked of her.

The queen was not mistaken: next day, as she was at her window, Little
Douglas came to play at the foot of the tower, and, without raising his
head, stopped just beneath her to dig a trap to catch birds. The queen
looked to see if she were observed, and assured that that part of the
courtyard was deserted, she let fall the stone wrapped in her letter:
at first she feared to have made a serious error; for Little Douglas did
not even turn at the noise, and it was only after a moment, during
which the prisoner's heart was torn with frightful anxiety, that
indifferently, and as if he were looking for something else, the child
laid his hand on the stone, and without hurrying, without raising his
head, without indeed giving any sign of intelligence to her who had
thrown it, he put the letter in his pocket, finishing the work he had
begun with the greatest calm, and showing the queen, by this coolness
beyond his years, what reliance she could place in him.

From that moment the queen regained fresh hope; but days, weeks, months
passed without bringing any change in her situation: winter came; the
prisoner saw snow spread over the plains and mountains, and the lake
afforded her, if she had only been able to pass the door, a firm road
to gain the other bank; but no letter came during all this time to bring
her the consoling news that they were busy about her deliverance; the
faithful light alone announced to her every evening that a friend was
keeping watch.

Soon nature awoke from her death-sleep: some forward sun-rays broke
through the clouds of this sombre sky of Scotland; the snow melted,
the lake broke its ice-crust, the first buds opened, the green turf
reappeared; everything came out of its prison at the joyous approach
of spring, and it was a great grief to Mary to see that she alone was
condemned to an eternal winter.

At last; one evening, she thought she observed in the motions of the
light that something fresh was happening: she had so often questioned
this poor flickering star, and she had so often let it count her
heart-beats more than twenty times, that to spare herself the pain
o