apt at the trick as I am,' he said, replacing the ring upon
his finger.

'I think, Colonel, that I could venture upon it,' said a voice; and
looking round, we found that Monmouth had entered the room and was
standing quietly on the outskirts of the throng, unperceived in
the general interest which our contention had excited. 'Nay, nay,
gentlemen,' he continued pleasantly, as we uncovered and bowed with
some little embarrassment; 'how could my faithful followers be better
employed than by breathing themselves in a little sword-play? I prythee
lend me your rapier, Colonel.' He drew a diamond ring from his finger,
and spinning it up into the air, he transfixed it as deftly as Saxon
had done. 'I practised the trick at The Hague, where, by my faith, I had
only too many hours to devote to such trifles. But how come these steel
links and splinters of wood to be littered over the floor?'

'A son of Anak hath appaired amang us,' said Ferguson, turning his
face, all scarred and reddened with the king's evil, in my direction. 'A
Goliath o' Gath, wha hath a stroke like untae a weaver's beam. Hath he
no the smooth face o' a bairn and the thews' o' Behemoth?'

'A shrewd blow indeed,' King Monmouth remarked, picking up half the
stool. 'How is our champion named?'

'He is my captain, your Majesty,' Saxon answered, resheathing the sword
which the King had handed to him; 'Micah Clarke, a man of Hampshire
birth.'

'They breed a good old English stock in those parts,' said Monmouth;
'but how comes it that you are here, sir? I summoned this meeting for my
own immediate household, and for the colonels of the regiments. If every
captain is to be admitted into our councils, we must hold our meetings
on the Castle Green, for no apartment could contain us.'

'I ventured to come here, your Majesty,' I replied, 'because on my way
hither I received a commission, which was that I should deliver this
small but weighty package into your hands. I therefore thought it my
duty to lose no time in fulfilling my errand.'

'What is in it?' he asked.

'I know not,' I answered.

Doctor Ferguson whispered a few words into the King's ear, who laughed
and held out his hand for the packet.

'Tut! tut!' said he. 'The days of the Borgias and the Medicis are over,
Doctor. Besides, the lad is no Italian conspirator, but hath honest blue
eyes and flaxen hair as Nature's certificate to his character. This
is passing heavy--an ingot of lead, by the feel. Lend