said Henry.

The courtiers glanced at one another in surprise and followed the King.

They arrived at the scene of combat. The falcon had already begun to
peck at the head of the heron.

Charles sprang from his horse to obtain a nearer view; but on alighting
he was obliged to seize hold of the saddle. The ground seemed to spin
under him. He felt very sleepy.

"Brother! Brother!" cried Marguerite; "what is the matter?"

"I feel," said Charles, "as Portia must have felt when she swallowed her
burning coals. I am burning up and my breath seems on fire."

Charles exhaled his breath and seemed surprised not to see fire issue
from his lips.

The falcon had been caught and hooded again, and every one had gathered
around the King.

"Why, what does it mean? Great Heavens! It cannot be anything, or if it
is it must be the sun which is affecting my head and blinding my eyes.
So on, on, to the hunt, gentlemen! There is a whole flight of herons.
Unhood the falcons, all of them, by Heaven! now for some sport!"

Instantly five or six falcons were unhooded and let loose. They rose in
the direction of the prey, while the entire party, the King at their
head, reached the bank of the river.

"Well! what do you say, madame?" asked Henry of Marguerite.

"That the moment is favorable, and that if the King does not look back
we can easily reach the forest from here."

Henry called the attendant who was carrying the heron, and while the
noisy, gilded avalanche swept along the road which to-day is a terrace
he remained behind as if to examine the dead bird.

CHAPTER LI.

THE PAVILION OF FRANCOIS I.

Hawking was a beautiful sport as carried on by kings, when kings were
almost demi-gods, and when the chase was not only a pastime but an art.

Nevertheless we must leave the royal spectacle to enter a part of the
forest where the actors in the scene we have just described will soon
join us.

The Allee des Violettes was a long, leafy arcade and mossy retreat in
which, among lavender and heather, a startled hare now and then pricked
up its ears, and a wandering stag raised its head heavy with horns,
opened its nostrils, and listened. To the right of this alley was an
open space far enough from the road to be invisible, but not so far but
that the road could be seen from it.

In the middle of the clearing two men were lying on the grass. Under
them were travellers' cloaks, at their sides long swords, and near each
of the