outside the fence behind which they were walking, was a dense mass of
angry people muttering curses on the queen and the Dauphin.

All at once, the mother's heart almost stopped beating from fright and
horror. A man had extended his bare, powerful arm through the paling of
the fence, to bar the Dauphin's way when he should try to pass it.

The boy saw the arm, hesitated a little, then went bravely forward. The
queen hurried that she might be near him when he reached the danger
point. On walked the Dauphin in proud courage. On hurried the queen and
as she reached him, she cried:

"Come here, my son. Give me your hand."

But instead of responding to her cry, the little prince sprang forward
and stood directly in front of the outstretched arm, and reaching out
his small white hand, laid it on the brown clenched fist that had been
ready to clutch him as in a vise, while a chorus of cheers at his
courage went up from outside the wall.

"Good-day sir," he said in a loud voice, "Good-day!" As he spoke he
took hold of the great rough hand and shook it.

"Little fool," roared the man, "what do you mean, and how dare you lay
your puny paw in the claws of a lion?"

The Dauphin smiled. "Sir, I thought you were stretching out your hand
to reach me with it, and so I give you mine and say good-day, sir!"

"And if I wanted, I could crush your fingers with my fist," cried the
man, still holding the little hand firmly.

But from a hundred throats outside the fence came the cry "You shall
not do it, Simon. You shall not hurt the boy!"

"Who can hinder me if I choose to do it?" asked the cobbler, whose name
was Simon, with a coarse laugh. "See, I hold the hand of the future
King of France, and I can break it if I choose, and make it so it can
never lift the sceptre of France. The little monkey thought he would
take hold of my hand and make me draw it back, but now my hand has got
hold of his, and holds it fast. And mark this, boy, the time is past
when kings seized us and trod us down, now we seize them, and do not
let them go unless we will."

"But, Mr. Simon," said Louis, "you see very plainly that I do not want
to do any harm, and I know you do not want to do me any harm, and I ask
you to be so good as to take away your arm, that my mamma can go on
with her walk."

"But suppose I do not do as you want me to?" asked the man defiantly.
"I suppose then your mamma would dictate to me, and perhaps call some
soldiers and order