in his voice, "all you have got is the colic, and it is no more
than you deserve. Get up, I say, and beg his Majesty's pardon!"

"But," the King remonstrated in a tone of anger, "the man is dying!"

"He is no more dying than you are, sire," the other answered. "Or, if
he is, it is of fright. There, he can stand as well as you or I!"

And to be sure, as he spoke, La Trape scrambled to his feet, and with a
mien between shame and doubt stood staring at us, the very picture of a
simpleton. It was no wonder that his jaw fell and his impudent face
burned; for the room shook with such a roar of laughter, at first low,
and then as the King joined in it, swelling louder and louder, as few
of us had ever heard, Though I was not a little mortified by the way in
which we had deceived ourselves, I could not help joining in the laugh;
particularly as the more closely we reviewed the scene in which we had
taken part, the more absurd seemed the jest. It was long before
silence could be obtained; but at length Henry, quite exhausted by the
violence of his mirth held up his hand. I seized the opportunity.

"Why, you rascal!" I said, addressing La Trape, who did not know which
way to look, "where are the ten crowns of which you defrauded the
scullion?"

"To be sure," the King said, going off into another roar. "And the
third puppy?"

"Yes," I said, "you scoundrel; and the third puppy?"

"Ay, and the gipsy girl?" the King continued. "The butler's wench,
what of her? And of your evil living? Begone, begone, rascal!" he
continued, falling into a fresh paroxysm, "or you will kill US in
earnest. Would nothing else do for you but to die in my chamber?
Begone!"

I took this as a hint to clear the room, not only of La Trape himself
but of all; and presently only I and Du Laurens remained with the King.
It then appeared that there was still a mystery, and one which it
behoved us to clear up; inasmuch as Du Laurens took the cat's death
very seriously, insisting that it had died of poison administered in a
most sinister fashion, and one that could not fail to recall to our
minds the Borgian popes. It needed no more than this to direct my
suspicions to the Florentines who swarmed about the Queen, and against
whom the King had let drop so many threats. But the indisposition
which excitement had for a time kept at bay began to return upon me;
and I was presently glad to drop the subject; and retire to my own
apartments, leaving t