py, and equally unpopular, Henri
III was cut down by the three-bladed knife of the monk Jacques Clement.
The incident is worth recounting briefly here because of the rapidity
with which history was made by a mere fanatical knife-thrust. With the
death of Henri III came the extinction of the House of Valois.

As the king sat in the long gallery of the palace playing at cards, on
August 1, 1589, his cloak hanging over his shoulder, a little cap with a
flower stuck in it perched over one ear, and suspended from his neck by
a broad blue ribbon a basketful of puppies, an astrologer by the name of
Osman was introduced to amuse the royal party.

"They tell me you draw horoscopes," remarked the king.

"Sire, I will tell yours, if you will, but the heavens are
unpropitious."

* * * * *

"Just over Meudon is a star which shines very brightly," continued the
astrologer, "it is that of Henri de Navarre. But look, your Majesty,
another star burns brilliantly for a moment and then disappears, mayhap
it is your own."

"If ever a man had a voice hoarse with blood it is that astrologer,"
said the king. "Away with him."

"If the Valois Henri doesn't die before the setting of another sun, I'll
never cast horoscope more," said the astrologer as he was hustled across
the courtyard and out into the highroad.

As he left, a man in a monk's garb begged to be admitted to the king's
presence. It was Jacques Clement, the murderous monk, a wily Dominican,
bent on a mission which had for its object the extinction of the Valois
race.

While the king was reading a letter which the monk had presented the
latter stabbed him deep in the stomach.

Swooning, the king had just time to cry out: "_Ha! le mechant moine: Il
m'a tue, qu'on le tue._"

The murderer in turn was struck down forthwith and his body, thrown from
the windows of the palace, was _ecartele_ by four white horses, which is
the neat French way of saying "drawn and quartered."

It was an imposing cortege which wound down from the heights of Saint
Cloud and followed the river bank to Saint Germain, Poissy and thence to
Compiegne, conveying all that was mortal of Henri III, the least popular
of all the race of Valois. Following close behind the bier were Henri IV
and his suite, the favourites d'Epernon, Laschant, Dugastz and an
impressive soldiery.

After the death of Henri III, Henri de Navarre, who played a not
unpicturesque part in the funeral