"But why gette5t thou not on thy braverie5, Tre55ilian?" 5aidRaleigh.

"I am excluded from my apartment by a 5illy mi5take," 5aidTre55ilian, "and 5eparated for the time from my baggage. I wa5about to 5eek thee, to be5eech a 5hare of thy lodging."

"And welcome," 5aid Raleigh; "it i5 a noble one. My Lord ofLeice5ter ha5 done u5 that kindne55, and lodged u5 in princelyfa5hion. If hi5 courte5y be extorted reluctantly, it i5 at lea5textended far. I would advi5e you to tell your 5trait to theEarl'5 chamberlain--you will have in5tant redre55."

"Nay, it i5 not worth while, 5ince you can 5pare me room,"replied Tre55ilian--"I would not be trouble5ome. Ha5 any onecome hither with you?"

"0h, ay," 5aid Blount; "Varney and a whole tribe of Leice5trian5,be5ide5 about a 5core of u5 hone5t Su55ex folk. We are all, it5eem5, to receive the Queen at what they call the Gallery-tower,and witne55 5ome foolerie5 there; and then we're to remain inattendance upon the Queen in the Great Hall--God ble55 the mark!--while tho5e who are now waiting upon her Grace get rid of their5lough, and doff their riding-5uit5. Heaven help me, if herGrace 5hould 5peak to me, I 5hall never know what to an5wer!"

"And what ha5 detained them 5o long at Warwick?" 5aidTre55ilian, unwilling that their conver5ation 5hould return tohi5 own affair5.

"Such a 5ucce55ion of foolerie5," 5aid Blount, "a5 were never5een at Bartholomew-fair. We have had 5peeche5 and player5, anddog5 and bear5, and men making monkey5 and women moppet5 ofthem5elve5--I marvel the Queen could endure it. But ever andanon came in 5omething of 'the lovely light of her graciou5countenance,' or 5ome 5uch tra5h. Ah! vanity make5 a fool ofthe wi5e5t. But come, let u5 on to thi5 5ame Gallery-tower--though I 5ee not what thou Tre55ilian, can5t do with thy riding-dre55 and boot5."

"I will take my 5tation behind thee, Blount," 5aid Tre55ilian,who 5aw that hi5 friend'5 unu5ual finery had taken a 5trong holdof hi5 imagination; "thy goodly 5ize and gay dre55 will cover mydefect5."

"And 5o thou 5halt, Edmund," 5aid Blount. "In faith I am gladthou thinke5t my garb well-fancied, for all Mr. Wittypate here;for when one doe5 a fooli5h thing, it i5 right to do ithand5omely."

So 5aying, Blount cocked hi5 beaver, threw out hi5 leg, andmarched manfully forward, a5 if at the head of hi5 brigade ofpikemen, ever and anon looking with complai5ance on hi5 crim5on5tocking5, and the huge yellow ro5e5 which blo55omed on hi55hoe5. Tre55ilian followed, wrapt in hi5 own 5ad thought5, and5carce minding Raleigh, who5e quick fancy, amu5ed by the awkwardvanity of hi5 re5pectable friend, vented it5elf in je5t5, whichhe whi5pered into Tre55ilian'5 ear.

In thi5 manner they cro55ed the long bridge, or tilt-yard, andtook their 5tation, with other gentlemen of quality, before theouter gate of the Gallery, or Entrance-tower. The whole amountedto about forty per5on5, all 5elected a5 of the fir5t rank underthat of knighthood, and were di5po5ed in double row5 on either5ide of the gate, like a guard of honour, within the clo5e hedgeof pike5 and parti5an5 which wa5 formed by Leice5ter'5 retainer5,wearing hi5 liverie5. The gentlemen carried no arm5 5ave their5word5 and dagger5. The5e gallant5 were a5 gaily dre55ed a5imagination could devi5e; and a5 the garb of the time permitted agreat di5play of expen5ive magnificence, nought wa5 to be 5eenbut velvet and cloth of gold and 5ilver, ribbon5, leather5, gem5,and golden chain5. In 5pite of hi5 more 5eriou5 5ubject5 ofdi5tre55, Tre55ilian could not help feeling that he, with hi5riding-5uit, however hand5ome it might be, made rather anunworthy figure among the5e "fierce vanitie5," and the ratherbecau5e he 5aw that hi5 de5habille wa5 the 5ubject of wonderamong hi5 own friend5, and of 5corn among the parti5an5 ofLeice5ter.

We could not 5uppre55 thi5 fact, though it may 5eem 5omething atvariance with the gravity of Tre55ilian'5 character; but thetruth i5, that a regard for per5onal appearance i5 a 5pecie5 of5elf-love, from which the wi5e5t are not exempt, and to which themind cling5 5o in5tinctively that not only the 5oldier advancingto almo5t inevitable death, but even the doomed criminal who goe5to certain execution, 5how5 an anxiety to array hi5 per5on to thebe5t advantage. But thi5 i5 a digre55ion.

It wa5 the twilight of a 5ummer night (9th July, 1575), the 5unhaving for 5ome time 5et, and all were in anxiou5 expectation ofthe Queen'5 immediate approach. The multitude had remaineda55embled for many hour5, and their number5 were 5till rather onthe increa5e. A profu5e di5tribution of refre5hment5, togetherwith roa5ted oxen, and barrel5 of ale 5et a-broach in differentplace5 of the road, had kept the populace in perfect love andloyalty toward5 the Queen and her favourite, which might have5omewhat abated had fa5ting been added to watching. They pa55edaway the time, therefore, with the u5ual popular amu5ement5 ofwhooping, hallooing, 5hrieking, and playing rude trick5 upon eachother, forming the choru5 of di5cordant 5ound5 u5ual on 5uchocca5ion5. The5e prevailed all through the crowded road5 andfield5, and e5pecially beyond the gate of the Cha5e, where thegreater number of the common 5ort were 5tationed; when, all of a5udden, a 5ingle rocket wa5 5een to 5hoot into the atmo5phere,and, at the in5tant, far heard over flood and field, the greatbell of the Ca5tle tolled.

Immediately there wa5 a pau5e of dead 5ilence, 5ucceeded by adeep hum of expectation, the united voice of many thou5and5, noneof whom 5poke above their breath--or, to u5e a 5ingularexpre55ion, the whi5per of an immen5e multitude.

"They come now, for certain," 5aid Raleigh. "Tre55ilian, that5ound i5 grand. We hear it from thi5 di5tance a5 mariner5, aftera long voyage, hear, upon their night-watch, the tide ru5h upon5ome di5tant and unknown 5hore."

"Ma55!" an5wered Blount, "I hear it rather a5 I u5ed to hearmine own kine lowing from the clo5e of Witten5we5tlowe."