ds in the
center, and against the wall is that of the great Leicester and the
Countess, his wife.

"Look here," called Mrs. Pitt. "Here lies their son, the little boy
who wore the armor which you saw over at the castle. The inscription
speaks of him as 'That noble impe, the young Lord Denbigh, their
infant son and heir.' 'Impe' in those days had no such meaning of
mischievous as we give it to-day. It then simply signified a young
boy."

Betty was much impressed by a small flight of winding stairs, just off
the chapel, which are entirely worn down in the middle.

"Was it because so many monks went up there?" she asked.

"Yes, so it is said," was Mrs. Pitt's reply. "Perhaps it may have been
a kind of confessional, where the monks knelt."

There was one more thing in the church which they paused to note; that
is, the tomb of Fulke Greville, the first Lord Brooke, who was stabbed
by a valet, in 1628. Greville was "servant to Queene Elizabeth,
conceller to King James, and frend to Sir Philip Sidney," as the
inscription tells us; and it would seem that the greatest emphasis and
respect was even then given the fact that he was "frend to" the noble
Sir Philip Sidney.

Nearby, the quaint buildings of Leicester's Hospital still stand. Here
was a monastery until the Dissolution, or the breaking up, of all the
religious houses, under Henry VIII. When the property came into the
hands of Leicester in 1571, he made the house into a hospital for
twelve men. The present brethren have all been soldiers of the Crown,
who now receive a pension and are spending the remainder of their
days in the sunny nooks and corners of the old timbered houses. One of
these brethren who showed the party about, was a most curious old
character, and afforded the young people no end of amusement. He
invariably gave his information in a very loud voice, which was
absolutely without expression, and his eyes were kept steadily fixed
upon some distant point.

He showed them the ancient hall in which Sir Fulke Greville once
received King James, and it seemed to give him the keenest pleasure to
describe how that King was "right royally entertained."

"Oh, ye're right, lady," he panted, "the 'ospital was founded by
Robert Dudley, Lord Leicester, 'e 'o was much at Elizabeth's court,
h'as you all know. And it's a descendant h'of 'is, or of 'is sister,
as you may say, 'o 'as the right to appoint the master 'ere in this
'ospital to this day. 'E's Lord D'Lisl