as the other, although withal no little man
himself, and very well built and straight.

His tabard was black, without sleeves, and his doublet was scarlet
silk. His collar and wrist-bands were white Holland linen turned loosely
back, and his face was frank and fair and free. He was not old, but his
hair was thin upon his brow. His nose and his full, high forehead were
as cleanly cut as a finely chiseled stone; and his sensitive mouth had a
curve that was tender and sad, though he smiled all the while, a glimpse
of his white teeth showing through, and his little mustache twitching
with the ripple of his long upper lip. His flowing hair was
chestnut-colored, like his beard, and curly at the ends; and his
melancholy eyelids told of study and of thought; but under them the
kindly eyes were bright with pleasant fancy.

"What, there, all of you!" said he; "a good investment for your ears!"

"Out with it, Will!" they cried, and whirled around.

"The Queen hath made Lord Hunsdon chamberlain," the big man said.

An instant's hush fell on the garden. No one spoke; but they caught each
other by the hand, and, suddenly, the silence there seemed somehow
louder than a shout.

"We'll build the new Globe play-house, lads, and sweep the Bankside
clean from end to end!" a sturdy voice broke sharply on the hush. And
then they cheered--a cheer so loud that people on the river stopped
their boats, and came ashore asking where the fire was. And over all the
cheering rose the big man's voice; for the quiet man was silent, and the
big man cheered for two.

"Pull up thy rose-bushes, Will," cried one, "and set out laurels in
their stead--thou'lt need them all for crowns."

"Ay, Will, our savor is not gone--Queen Bess knows salt!"

"With Will and Ben for meat and crust, and the rest of us for seasoning,
the court shall say it never ate such master pie!"

"We'll make the walls of Whitehall ring come New Year next, or Twelfth
Night and Shrove Tuesday."

"Ay, that we will, old gossip! Here's to thee!"

"Here's to the company, all of us!"

"And a health to the new Lord Chamberlain!"

"God save the Queen!"

With that, they shook each other's hands, as merry as men could be, and
laughed, because their hearts ran short of words; for these were young
Lord Hunsdon's men, late players to the Queen in the old Lord
Chamberlain's troupe; who, for a while deprived of favor by _his_ death,
were now, by this succession of his son, restored to p