lly habited, beckoned Wyat to follow him, and after many
twistings and turnings brought them to the edge of the lake, where the
skiff was lying, with Fenwolf reclining at full length upon its benches.
He arose, however, quickly at the appearance of Meschines, and asked him
for some provisions, which the latter promised to bring, and while Wyat
got into the skiff he disappeared, but returned a few minutes afterwards
with a basket, which he gave to the keeper.

Crossing the lake, Fenwolf then shaped his course towards a verdant bank
enamelled with wild flowers, where he landed. The basket being opened,
was found to contain a flask of wine and the better part of a venison
pasty, of which Wyat, whose appetite was keen enough after his long
fasting, ate heartily. He then stretched himself on the velvet sod,
and dropped into a tranquil slumber which lasted to a late hour in the
evening.

He was roused from it by a hand laid on his shoulder, while a deep voice
thundered in his ear--"Up, up, Sir Thomas, and follow me, and I will
place the king in your hands!"

VIII.

How the King and the Duke of Suffolk were assailed by
Herne's Band--And what followed the Attack.

Henry and Suffolk, on leaving the forester's hut, took their way for
a sort space along the side of the lake, and then turned into a path
leading through the trees up the eminence on the left. The king was in
a joyous mood, and made no attempt to conceal the passion with which the
fair damsel had inspired him.

"I' faith!" he cried, "the cardinal has a quick eye for a pretty wench.
I have heard that he loves one in secret, and I am therefore the more
beholden to him for discovering Mabel to me."

"You forget, my liege, that it is his object to withdraw your regards
from the Lady Anne Boleyn," remarked Suffolk.

"I care not what his motive may be, as long as the result is so
satisfactory," returned Henry. "Confess now, Suffolk, you never beheld
a figure so perfect, a complexion so blooming, or eyes so bright. As to
her lips, by my soul, I never tasted such."

"And your majesty is not inexperienced in such matters," laughed
Suffolk. "For my own part, I was as much struck by her grace as by her
beauty, and can scarcely persuade myself she can be nothing more than a
mere forester's grand-daughter."

"Wolsey told me there was a mystery about her birth," rejoined Henry;
"but, pest on it; her beauty drove all recollection of the matter out of
m