!

At this time there were wars and rumours of wars outside the walls of
the Temple. Plots to liberate the queen and her son and to restore
little Louis to the throne were set on foot by friends of the royal
family, and though one and all failed of execution, they vitally
affected the young king's life. When the plots were discovered by which
Louis was to be abducted and publicly declared king, the revolutionists
became so fearful that the plan might be really carried out, that they
decided it was unwise to let him remain with his mother any longer, and
the decree went forth that the son of Louis Sixteenth was to be taken
from his mother and sister, and given into the care of a tutor to be
chosen by the committee representing the people.

The queen was driven almost to madness by this unexpected decree, and
when men came to take Louis away from her and carry him to another part
of the Tower, she frantically placed herself in front of his bed, and
insisted that he should not be taken, but power and force were on the
wrong side, and at last, the officers tore the child from his mother's
arms and carried him dazed and trembling with fright to his new
apartment.

King of France was little Louis in title, but the most lonely, most
frightened of all children in the land. For two days and two nights he
refused food and held out his arms to his so-called tutor, constantly
pleading to be taken back to his mother and sister. And who was his
"tutor"? No other than Simon, the cobbler, he whose brawny arms had
once stopped the Dauphin's way in the garden of the Tuileries. Simon
and his wife had been chosen to guard and care for the little King of
France, because they were staunch revolutionists who could be relied on
to protect the interests of their party. Historians differ in their
accounts of the treatment of the young King by this rough couple, but
it seems pretty sure now that during their stay in the Temple they were
not altogether cruel to little Louis. He was allowed to play both in
his rooms and in the garden, had a billiard table, and a case of
mechanical birds for his amusement, and when he grieved for his
sister's companionship, another little companion of his own age was
found to play with him, and it is also known that during his two
sicknesses, Simon and his wife cared for him with as much devotion as
if he had been their own child. Whether this was because of the fine
salary attached to the position, or from some