daring deed, and her hostage trembled in an uncertain grasp. In Saxony
the banished favourites talked wildly, cursing the counsels of London;
but Saxony was heedless and unmoved. And Piers Gaveston spoke heated
words in vain.

The King, who was in that lethargic state of slumber, between sleep and
waking, heard a shuffle of steps beyond the door; a cold sweat broke
once more on his forehead, and he waved his left hand listlessly.
Outside the sun had risen, and a broad daylight flooded the wet meadows
and the brimming tide of the Severn, catching the sails of the boats
that were heeling and trembling on the ripple of the water, which was
stirred by the South wind. The King looked towards the window with
weariness, expecting, as far as his lethargy allowed, the advent of
another monotonous day.

The door opened. The faces he saw by the gaoler's torch were not
those he expected. The King, I say, looked towards them, and his hands
trembled, and the moisture on them glistened. They were dark, and one of
them was concealed by a silken mask.

Three men entered the dungeon. In the hands of the foremost of the three
glowed a red-hot iron, which was to be the manner of his doom.

THE ISLAND

"Perhaps we had better not land after all," said Lewis as he was
stepping into the boat; "we can explore this island on our way home."

"We had much better land now," said Stewart; "we shall get to Teneriffe
to-morrow in any case. Besides, an island that's not on the chart is too
exciting a thing to wait for."

Lewis gave in to his younger companion, and the two ornithologists, who
were on their way to the Canary Islands in search of eggs, were rowed to
shore.

"They had better fetch us at sunset," said Lewis as they landed.

"Perhaps we shall stay the night," responded Stewart.

"I don't think so," said Lewis; but after a pause he told the sailors
that if they should be more than half an hour late they were not to
wait, but to come back in the morning at ten. Lewis and Stewart walked
from the sandy bay up a steep basaltic cliff which sloped right down to
the beach.

"The island is volcanic," said Stewart.

"All the islands about here are volcanic," said Lewis. "We shan't be
able to climb much in this heat," he added.

"It will be all right when we get to the trees," said Stewart. Presently
they reached the top of the cliff. The basaltic rock ceased and an open
grassy incline was before them covered with myrtle and cact