ion
that, learned as he is, he must yield the palm to his gracious Sovereign.'

A few more flattering speeches were tendered; but a keen observer might
have noticed that there was a touch of irony, even of distrust, in the
tone, if not in the words, of the ambassadors' chief spokesman.

For if Philip Sidney's fame as a scholar and a statesman had reached
France, his fame also as a staunch defender of the Reformed Faith had also
reached it, with the report that he had been, a few years before, bold
enough to remonstrate with the Queen when the proposal of her marriage with
the Duke had been formally made, and that his opposition had been strong
enough to turn the scale against it, at the time.

* * * * *

The silence of night had fallen over Whitehall, and those who had won, and
those who had been beaten in the tourney were resting their tired, and, in
many cases, their bruised limbs, in profound repose, when the porter of the
quarters assigned to Philip Sidney's gentlemen and esquires was roused from
his nap by loud and continued knocking at the gate.

The porter was very wrathful at being disturbed, and looking out at the
small iron grating by the side of the gate, he asked,--

'Who goes there?'

'One who wants speech with Master Humphrey Ratcliffe.'

'It will keep till morning, be off; you may bide my time,' and with that
the porter shambled back to his seat in a recess of the entrance, and
composed himself to sleep again. But the man who sought admittance was not
to be so easily discouraged. He began to knock again with the staff in his
hand, more loudly than before.

The porter in vain tried to take no further notice, and finding it
impossible to resume his sleep, heavy as it was with the strong potations
of the previous night, he rose once more, and, going to the grating, poured
out a volley of oaths upon the would-be intruder, which was enough to scare
away the boldest suitor for admission.

His loud voice, combined with the thundering rap on the heavy oaken gate or
door which still continued, roused Humphrey Ratcliffe from his dreams, on
the upper floor, and he presently appeared on the stone staircase which led
into the outer hall, where the porter kept guard, and said,--

'What is all this commotion about? Who demands admission? Open the gate,
and let us see.'

'Open the gate, Master, yourself,' was the rough reply, 'and let in a
parcel of murderers or thieves, for al