, it worked well. Perkin had not been long in the
Tower before the quick-silver of his nature began to declare itself. His
insinuating address gained him the favor of his keepers, whom he soon
began to offer lofty bribes to aid his escape. Into this plot he managed
to draw the young earl. The plan devised was that the four keepers
should murder the lieutenant of the Tower in the night, seize the keys
and such money as they could find, and let out Perkin and the earl.

It may be that the king himself had arranged this plot, and instructed
the keepers in their parts. Certainly it was quickly divulged. And by
strange chance, just at this period a third pretender appeared, this
time a shoemaker's son, who, like the baker's son, pretended to be the
Earl of Warwick. His name was Ralph Wilford. He had been taught his part
by a priest named Patrick. They came from Suffolk and advanced into
Kent, where the priest took to the pulpit to advocate the claims of his
charge. Both were quickly taken, the youth executed, the priest
imprisoned for life.

And now Henry doubtless deemed that matters of this kind had gone far
enough. The earl and his fellow-prisoner were indicted for conspiracy,
tried and found guilty, the earl beheaded on Tower Hill, and Perkin
Warbeck hanged at Tyburn. This was in the year 1499. It formed a
dramatic end to the history of the fifteenth century, being the closing
event in the wars of the White and the Red Roses, the death of the last
Plantagenet and of the last White Rose aspirant to the throne.

In conclusion, the question may be asked, Who was Perkin Warbeck? All we
know of him is the story set afloat by Henry VII., made up of accounts
told by his spies and a confession wrested from a boy threatened with
death. That he was taught his part by Margaret of Burgundy we have only
this evidence for warrant. He was publicly acknowledged by this lady,
the sister of Edward IV., was married by James of Scotland to a lady of
royal blood, was favorably received by many English lords, and was
widely believed, in view of the mystery surrounding the fate of the
princes, to be truly the princely person he declared himself. However
that be, his story is a highly romantic one, and forms a picturesque
closing scene to the long drama of the Wars of the Roses.

_THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD._

It was the day fixed for the opening of the most brilliant pageant known
to modern history. On the green space in front