bring it to you in half a minute," gasped Edmund.

"Nay," returned the other, "I will accompany thee. Ha! here he is,
coming up again. He's crossing the yard now, and Sir Nicholas Bacon is
with him, I perceive."

Edmund had played his last card, and the game was lost. Fortune had
forsaken him at every turn; not one of his efforts had met with any
success, and after all his endeavours he found himself as securely
caught as the rat which was even then writhing within a few inches of
his feet, in its last vain endeavour to free itself from the trap in
which it was held.

For a moment or two he stood irresolute, but then, quickly gaining
a mastery over the feeling of despair which had at first stolen over
him, he made for the ladder, only to find, as he put his foot on the
topmost step, that Sir George had set his foot upon the one at the
bottom.

There was no help for it. He could neither advance nor retreat, so he
stood at the top, carefully selecting the darker side, to await the
course of events which could bring him no good fortune, but only evil
in a greater or lesser degree. The completeness of his disguise, which
had so completely deceived Sir Thomas, encouraged him to hope, for
the moment, that he might also pass unrecognised even before the eagle
eyes of the King of the Peak, and he solaced himself by trusting that
if he were discovered the landlord might dismiss him in as summary a
manner as he had done the ostler before him.

As Sir George passed him by, deep in conversation with Sir Nicholas
Bacon, Edmund's hopes were considerably augmented, but the same
ill-luck which had followed him heretofore did not desert him now.
His hopes were dashed as soon as they had arisen, for the eye of the
worthy Boniface was fixed upon him ere that person had fully entered
the room.

Had he been attired in a manner more befitting his station, Edmund
would undoubtedly have received a more befitting reception; but
clothed as he was in shabby knee-breeches, loosely tied at the knees,
a coat which was out at the elbows, a hat minus a portion of its brim,
and with a dilapidated ruffle round his neck, which had been in its
prime years ago, he presented a striking similarity in appearance
to the ordinary marauding beggar of the period, such as were then so
exceedingly common, and for one of whom, indeed, the landlord took him
to be.

As soon as this worthy had ascended, Edmund coolly made for the
ladder, but he was motioned b