g a word ran swiftly with him to the place
where they had seen the King. He was still there, alone, his head
resting upon his hands.

* * * * *

In the temple the Queen was upbraiding her lover for his temerity
in having crossed the frontier into the land from which he had been
banished for ever, and for having dared to appear at the court revel
disguised as Pierrot. "Remember," she was saying, "the enemies that
surround us, the dreadful peril, and the doom that awaits us." And her
lover said: "What is doom, and what is death? You whispered to the night
and I heard. You sighed and I am here!" He tore the mask from his face,
and the Queen looked at him and smiled. At that moment a rustle
was heard in the undergrowth, and the Queen started back from him,
whispering: "We are betrayed! Fly!" And her lover put on his mask and
darted through the undergrowth, following a path which he and no one
else knew, till he came to an open space where his squire awaited him
with horses, and they galloped away safe from all pursuit.

Then the King walked into the temple and led the Queen back to the
palace without saying a word; but the whole avenue was full of dark
men bearing torches and armed with swords, who were searching the
undergrowth. And presently they found Pierrot who, ignorant of all that
had happened, had been listening all night to the song of the night-jar.
He was dragged to the palace and cast into a dungeon, and the King
was told. But the revel did not cease, and the dancing and the music
continued softly as before. The King sent for Columbine and told her she
should have speech with Pierrot in his prison, for haply he might
have something to confess to her. And Columbine was taken to Pierrot's
dungeon, and the King followed her without her knowing it, and concealed
himself behind the door, which he set ajar.

Columbine upbraided Pierrot and said: "All this was my work. I have
always known that you loved the Queen. And yet for the sake of past
days, tell me the truth. Was it love or a joke, such as those you love
to play?"

Pierrot laughed inanely. "It was a joke," he said. "It is my trade to
make jokes. What else can I do?"

"You love the Queen nevertheless," said Columbine, "of that I am sure,
and for that I have had my revenge."

"It was a joke," said Pierrot, and he laughed again.

And though she talked and raved and wept, she could get no other answer
from him. Then she left him, and the King entered the