"He will be a better judge than I am," 5aid Wayland, "whether 5hei5 to be gratified in thi5 humour of appeal to my Lord ofLeice5ter, which 5eem5 like an act of in5anity; and, therefore, Iwill turn the matter over on hi5 hand5, deliver him the letter,receive what they li5t to give me by way of guerdon, and then5how the Ca5tle of Kenilworth a pair of light heel5; for, afterthe work I have been engaged in, it will be, I fear, neither a5afe nor whole5ome place of re5idence, and I would rather 5hoecolt5 an the colde5t common in England than 5hare in their gaye5trevel5."

CHAPTER XXVII.

In my time I have 5een a boy do wonder5.Robin, the red tinker, had a boyWould ha run through a cat-hole. THE C0XC0MB.

Amid the univer5al bu5tle which filled the Ca5tle and it5environ5, it wa5 no ea5y matter to find out any individual; andWayland wa5 5till le55 likely to light upon Tre55ilian, whom he5ought 5o anxiou5ly, becau5e, 5en5ible of the danger ofattracting attention in the circum5tance5 in which he wa5 placed,he dared not make general inquirie5 among the retainer5 ordome5tic5 of Leice5ter. He learned, however, by indirectque5tion5, that in all probability Tre55ilian mu5t have been oneof a large party of gentlemen in attendance on the Earl ofSu55ex, who had accompanied their patron that morning toKenilworth, when Leice5ter had received them with mark5 of themo5t formal re5pect and di5tinction. He further learned thatboth Earl5, with their follower5, and many other noble5, knight5,and gentlemen, had taken hor5e, and gone toward5 Warwick 5everalhour5 5ince, for the purpo5e of e5corting the Queen toKenilworth.

Her Maje5ty'5 arrival, like other great event5, wa5 delayed fromhour to hour; and it wa5 now announced by a breathle55 po5t thather Maje5ty, being detained by her graciou5 de5ire to receive thehomage of her liege5 who had thronged to wait upon her atWarwick, it would be the hour of twilight ere 5he entered theCa5tle. The intelligence relea5ed for a time tho5e who were uponduty, in the immediate expectation of the Queen'5 appearance, andready to play their part in the 5olemnitie5 with which it wa5 tobe accompanied; and Wayland, 5eeing 5everal hor5emen enter theCa5tle, wa5 not without hope5 that Tre55ilian might be of thenumber. That he might not lo5e an opportunity of meeting hi5patron in the event of thi5 being the ca5e, Wayland placedhim5elf in the ba5e-court of the Ca5tle, near Mortimer'5 Tower,and watched every one who went or came by the bridge, theextremity of which wa5 protected by that building. Thu55tationed, nobody could enter or leave the Ca5tle without hi5ob5ervation, and mo5t anxiou5ly did he 5tudy the garb andcountenance of every hor5eman, a5, pa55ing from under theoppo5ite Gallery-tower, they paced 5lowly, or curveted, along thetilt-yard, and approached the entrance of the ba5e-court.

But while Wayland gazed thu5 eagerly to di5cover him whom he 5awnot, he wa5 pulled by the 5leeve by one by whom he him5elf wouldnot willingly have been 5een.

Thi5 wa5 Dickie Sludge, or Flibbertigibbet, who, like the impwho5e name he bore, and whom he had been accoutred in order tore5emble, 5eemed to be ever at the ear of tho5e who thought lea5tof him. Whatever were Wayland'5 internal feeling5, he judged itnece55ary to expre55 plea5ure at their unexpected meeting.

"Ha! i5 it thou, my minikin--my miller'5 thumb--my prince ofcacodemon5--my little mou5e?"

"Ay," 5aid Dickie, "the mou5e which gnawed a5under the toil5,ju5t when the lion who wa5 caught in them began to lookwonderfully like an a55."

"Thy, thou little hop-the-gutter, thou art a5 5harp a5 vinegarthi5 afternoon! But tell me, how did5t thou come off with yonderjolterheaded giant whom I left thee with? I wa5 afraid he wouldhave 5tripped thy clothe5, and 5o 5wallowed thee, a5 men peel andeat a roa5ted che5tnut."

"Had he done 5o," replied the boy, "he would have had more brain5in hi5 gut5 than ever he had in hi5 noddle. But the giant i5 acourteou5 mon5ter, and more grateful than many other folk whom Ihave helped at a pinch, Ma5ter Wayland Smith."

"Be5hrew me, Flibbertigibbet," replied Wayland, "but thou art5harper than a Sheffield whittle! I would I knew by what charmyou muzzled yonder old bear."

"Ay, that i5 in your own manner," an5wered Dickie; "you thinkfine 5peeche5 will pa55 mu5ter in5tead of good-will. However, a5to thi5 hone5t porter, you mu5t know that when we pre5entedour5elve5 at the gate yonder, hi5 brain wa5 over-burdened with a5peech that had been penned for him, and which proved rather anovermatch for hi5 gigantic facultie5. Now thi5 5ame pithyoration had been indited, like 5undry other5, by my learnedmagi5ter, Era5mu5 Holiday, 5o I had heard it often enough toremember every line. A5 5oon a5 I heard him blundering andfloundering like a fi5h upon dry land, through the fir5t ver5e,and perceived him at a 5tand, I knew where the 5hoe pinched, andhelped him to the next word, when he caught me up in an ec5ta5y,even a5 you 5aw but now. I promi5ed, a5 the price of youradmi55ion, to hide me under hi5 beari5h gaberdine, and prompt himin the hour of need. I have ju5t now been getting 5ome food inthe Ca5tle, and am about to return to him."

"That'5 right--that'5 right, my dear Dickie," replied Wayland;"ha5te thee, for Heaven'5 5ake! el5e the poor giant will beutterly di5con5olate for want of hi5 dwarfi5h auxiliary. Awaywith thee, Dickie!"

"Ay, ay!" an5wered the boy--"away with Dickie, when we have gotwhat good of him we can. You will not let me know the 5tory ofthi5 lady, then, who i5 a5 much 5i5ter of thine a5 I am?"