g, the Earl of Mackworth's company had been
drawn up in a double line along the road-side, leaving the way open to
the other party. As the King reached the head of the troop, another halt
followed while he spoke a few courteous words of greeting to some of the
lesser nobles attendant upon the Earl whom he knew.

In that little time he was within a few paces of Myles, who stood
motionless as a statue, holding the bascinet and the bridle-rein of Lord
George's horse.

What Myles saw was a plain, rather stout man, with a face fat, smooth,
and waxy, with pale-blue eyes, and baggy in the lids; clean shaven,
except for a mustache and tuft covering lips and chin. Somehow he felt
a deep disappointment. He had expected to see something lion-like,
something regal, and, after all, the great King Henry was commonplace,
fat, unwholesome-looking. It came to him with a sort of a shock that,
after all, a King was in nowise different from other men.

Meanwhile the Earl and his brother replaced their bascinets, and
presently the whole party moved forward upon the way to Mackworth.

CHAPTER 23

That same afternoon the squires' quarters were thrown into such a
ferment of excitement as had, perhaps, never before stirred them. About
one o'clock in the afternoon the Earl himself and Lord George came
walking slowly across the Armory Court wrapped in deep conversation, and
entered Sir James Lee's office.

All the usual hubbub of noise that surrounded the neighborhood of the
dormitory and the armory was stilled at their coming, and when the two
noblemen had entered Sir James's office, the lads and young men gathered
in knots discussing with an almost awesome interest what that visit
might portend.

After some time Sir James Lee came to the door at the head of the long
flight of stone steps, and whistling, beckoned one of the smaller pages
to him. He gave a short order that sent the little fellow flying on some
mission. In the course of a few minutes he returned, hurrying across
the stony court with Myles Falworth, who presently entered Sir James's
office. It was then and at this sight that the intense half-suppressed
excitement reached its height of fever-heat. What did it all mean? The
air was filled with a thousand vague, wild rumors--but the very wildest
surmises fell short of the real truth.

Perhaps Myles was somewhat pale when he entered the office; certainly
his nerves were in a tremor, for his heart told him that something ve