place as the one he had destroyed. It was laconical
enough, for it had but one word, and that was

REVENGE!

He laid the body in the grave, and put some plants upon the top, and
then, after watering them with the tears which copiously ran down his
cheeks, he turned his back on Haddon, and started for Nottingham with
few regrets, leaving behind him little enough to love, and much to be
revenged.

Footsore and weary he hastened to the Chapel Bar, glad indeed to
find himself so near the end of his journey; but before he had quite
reached it he had the mortification to hear the sound of the closing
bell, and when he arrived there the gates were shut.

"Ho, ho, there, porter!" he cried, and he violently kicked the iron
post by way of emphasis to the call.

"Aye, aye, there; steady now, thou'rt over late," replied the burly
porter as he tantalisingly rattled the heavy keys in his hand.

"Yes, but only a minute," Edmund replied; "you can let me in, and you
will."

"Nay, master, not till next sunrise," he returned. Edmund groaned.

"But I cannot stay outside all night," he said. "Come, open the gate,
there's a good fellow."

"I were like to lose my position if I did," answered the other. "I
cannot unless--," and he significantly jingled some coins in his
pocket.

"Unless what?"

The gatekeeper thought Edmund Wynne uncommonly dull of comprehension,
and with a little hesitation he suggested that it were surely worth a
trifle if he did break through the rule.

"Here, here's a groat then," exclaimed the smith, bringing out his
last coin as he saw the other moving away.

"Pooh, a sorry groat!" said the keeper, "Make it two, and then!"

"But I must get in to-night," expostulated Edmund, "I have urgent
business with Sir Ronald Bury. It is important, it is a matter of the
State."

At the mention of Sir Ronald's name the key was inserted in the lock,
and by the time the sentence was completed the great gate was swung
open, and the visitor found himself, to his great satisfaction, beyond
the barrier.

"I was but jesting," humbly said the man as he re-locked the gate;
"for you must well know that we are not allowed to take bribes, though
where the harm of it would be, I confess I cannot see."

Having succeeded in passing the barrier, Edmund did not stay to argue
the question with the gatekeeper. He turned his steps towards the
Castle, and in a very few minutes found himself at its embattled
entrance.

The gat