ed greatness, honour, glory, and
power. The gifts, no, the more than well-earned payments for which he
was indebted to the King, were only a bodiless shadow, a caricature of
these lofty gifts of Heaven.

His mother, alarmed, cried in terror, "What an ambition!"

But Don John, with increasing excitement, exclaimed: "Yes, mother! I
am so ambitious that, if I knew there was another man who more ardently
desired renown and honour, I would throw myself out of this window. 'Who
does not struggle ward, falls back!' has long been my motto, and I am
struggling upward and know the goal."

A startling suspicion seized Barbara, and with anxious caution she
whispered:

"Do I see aright? You have learned from Flanders and Brabant how
bitterly King Philip is hated there, and you now hope to contend with
him for the crown of the Netherlands? The victory you, my hero, my
general, you would surely attain--" But here she was interrupted.

Don John cut short her words with the cry, "Mother!" and then went on
indignantly: "If any one else had given me this advice, I would
deprive him of any inclination to repeat it. God granted Don Philip the
sovereignty. My oath, my honour, forbid me to rise against him. He has
lost all claim to my love, my gratitude, but he is sure of the fidelity
of his ill-treated brother. Besides," he added proudly, "my wishes mount
higher."

Barbara had listened to her son with the utmost eagerness; now, taking a
locket from the breast of his doublet, he whispered:

"Do you know whom this lovely picture represents? No? Well, these are
the features of the fairest and most unfortunate of women. Mary Stuart,
the hapless Queen of Scotland, the devout, patient sufferer for our holy
faith, looks at you from this frame. She does not refuse me her hand.
The Holy Father in Rome and the Guises in France approve the bold
enterprise; but I shall take the army under my command by sea to
England. I am sure of victory in this conflict. With the most beautiful
of women, I shall gain the crown which I need and which will best suit
me."

"John!" Barbara exclaimed, carried away by the daring of this proposal,
and her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "This desire is worthy of you and
your great father. If I can aid you in its realization----"

"You can," Don John eagerly interrupted; "for the first step is to gain
the consent of the States-General to despatch the army, which must now
be sent back to Spain, thither by sea. When t