suspended,' added Atub.

'So be it,' said Gyp agreeably. 'The metrical system is hereby
suspended for the rest of the evening. Have another tankard of ale,
Brother Yellow-cap?'

'I don't care if I do--with a Head on it,' returned Yellow-cap,
putting an emphasis on the 'Head.' And when the ale was brought he
arose, with a frown on his brow, and spoke to them in a bold voice as
follows:--

'Yes, I am your Head, for no one of you is so unreal as I. When I was
a little boy I sat blowing soap-bubbles, and saw the Appanage of
Royalty appear amidst the clouds of the wash-tub. He promised me this
cap, and now the cap is mine. I have paid for it all I had in the
world, and now I mean to get my profit out of it. You have waited for
me: I have never waited for you; for I could succeed without you; but,
without me, you would be nothing!'

'Hear! hear!' exclaimed the Brethren in chorus, seeming much pleased
with Yellow-cap's eloquence.

'Now, Brother Gyp, you may state the object of this meeting,' said
Yellow-cap, resuming his seat.

Gyp bowed and pulled a roll of parchment out of Brother Dubsix's
pocket, which was written all over with musical notes in the bass and
treble clefs.

'The object is a twofold one,' he began.

'I object to that expression,' interrupted Dubb.

'Why?' demanded Gyp in a mortified tone.

'Only for the sake of speaking out of metre,' replied Dubb; at which
the Brethren looked at one another and lifted their eyebrows.

'Well, at all events,' said Gyp, recovering his good-humour, 'we want
to get the King out and put the usurper in his place.'

'Has anything been done to prepare the people for this change?'
inquired Yellow-cap. 'Are they on our side?'

'We've got fifty paid _claqueurs_--I know that,' said Atub.

'And we have suspended the rule about full-dress in the stalls,' added
Dubsix.

'Ah!' exclaimed Menin, nodding his head and crossing his feet on the
table in republican style, 'there is a great deal in that.'

'How are you going to depose him?' Yellow-cap asked.

'In the usual way,' said Gyp: 'by finding a rhyme to him, and then
putting him under foot.'

'But suppose he won't be deposed?'

'Ah, it will be our turn then,' said Ruba gloomily. 'He will appoint a
successor, and we shall be repeated backwards.'

At this all the Brethren curled their moustachios and sighed deeply.

'Who is to find the rhyme to "King Ormund?"' inquired Yellow-cap, to
whom this affair began to look ra