The London Miscellany, no. 1-18

"Tash! How many girls haunt the royal oratory?" " A girl, your Majesty, ■whom it might be well to look alter. They name her Bertha, and already ono fruitless search your Majesty has uinde for her, little suspecting that she was hidden in the private apart ments of the queen, and that, by somo jugglery which even I do not understand, her paramour— " Her what ?" " Her paramour, your Majesty, who was so justly condemned to death by the court-martial, escaped." "Escaped?" " Escaped, your Majesty. Ho lives, and was hidden with them all in the queen's oratory." The king mado two random blows at Norris's head, but missed him, in consequenco of his dexterity in ducking to avoid them. " Tash ! man, tash ! You aro mad. We heard the volley." " Yes, your Majesty, and so did tho humblest of your subjects, but—but—" "But what? what?" " By some means, your Majesty, tho Marquis of Charlton, who seems to be in league with them all, and who was hiding with them in the queen's oratory, must have had blank cartridgos only fired at Captain Markham." The king held his hands above his head as he shrieked out— " Foiled ! foiled ! Cheatod ! cajoled ! betrayed ! Be trayed and foiled ! No, no, no, no, no. Thcro is time yet—time yet. What am I ? Am I not a king i a king ? Time yet—time yet. I—I will have them all —all—all." He opened and shut his hands repeatedly, as though grasping somothing in the air, and then, as Non-is had just helped him on with his waistcoat, ho made a divo into one of its pockets for a lozengo. Norris's nerves wero a little over-wrought, and he could not refrain from a strange hysterical laugh, which so fixed the attention of the king, beginning as it did abruptly, and ending with a startling sudden ness, that the n iyal hand remained in the waistcoat pocket without drawing forth the lozenge. " What is tho matter ? Aro you mad ?" " A nnin—a sudden pain," " Ban ! How dare you have pains in our royal pre sence t" " I have to beg your Majesty's gracious pardon, but it began, and went, and went. ' Norrie touched his head, and his breast, and his back. " TosTi ! You have more to tell ':" " I hrive, your MajeBty. Thero was a consultation with th e queen as to how this Captain Markham and the girl Bertha were to mako their escape from Eng land, arad in the midst of that consultation there ar rived a boy—a drummer of the guard—who seems to he a traitorous emissary of them all. He was intro duced by Osborn, the page, concerning whom I hope your Majesty will leave a memorandum." " Leave 'r What do you mean by ' leave ? "' That was a slip of the tongue of Norris's, and he fairly staggered as tho king questioned it. " Did I say ' leave,' your Majesty ?" " You did, idiot !" " Just bo, your Majesty. They wanted to leave England, and this drummer of the guard, who is some connection, of O.-iboru, tho page—I think his brother (they are both thieves)—this drummer, your Majesty, came to say that he had been to Whitehall with hiB drum." " Ah ! -with his drum ? Wc heard him—we heard him. So much fur the phantom drummer of old Whitehall. Go on, Norris, go on." " Ho brought them tho news that thero was one there whom thoy thought dead, but who still lived, and who called himsolf A Mystery in Scarlet." The king uttered a shout. " The other body ! the other body ! I find my dead, but I find them alive. Both tho bodies! both the bodies ! And she knew it. The queen—the queen knew it. And they wero all listening, and heard me offer to reward her. Duplicity ! duplicity ! Treason and duplicity ! Well, Norris, well ?' "Your Majesty, Captain Markham then, with the girl Bertha, and accompanied by tho Marquis of Charlton and the drummer, proceeded to Whitehall, from whence they intend all to escape, along with the man who calls himself tho Mystery in Scarlet, to hatch treason against your Majesty at any continental court that will receive them." "Quick!" yelled tho king. "Quick! A guard— a strong guard, Norris — men upon whom wo can rely." " The palace guard, your Majesty ?" " No, no. Traitors all —traitors all. They know those men, Markham and Charlton, too well. Wo will have a dismounted party of our Light Horse. Quick ! Norris, quick ! Take our royal order to the Horse Guards. A sergeant's parly. ' Bid them bring their holster piBtols and a few carbines. Treason ! treason ! But we will crush it before the daylight. Quick ! Norris, quick ! Ah ! our coat, our sword—our sword. We may need it yet to-night. They shall die, Norris, they shall die. One, two, three, four, live of them, you say. Five of them ! We lost two bodies, but we will have five more. Fly ! Norris, fly ! Take our order. There. A sergeant's guard of the Light Horso. Wo will walk across the park and meet them at Whitehall. Our hat ! our cloak ! Now, Norris, go, go, and bo as sured that you will have your reward in good time— ugh! ugh! ugh! —in good time." "I fly to execute your Majesty's commands, and if in tho meantime your Majesty will muko a memo randum dismissing the page Osborn, and stating it is for lving and dishonesty—" " Tash ! man, tash ! There is time enough to hunt such small gamo as that. Away with you ! away ! We will meet you and the dismounted troopers at Whitehall." Norris had no resource but to go. Tho moment his back was turned a strange expres sion came over tho face of tho king. " This WTetch is useful," he said, " but he has con demned himself to death, and I will not reprieve him. Ugh ! ugh ! ugh ! Kings should sleep with one eye open, as I did—as I did. Ugh ! ugh ! ugh !" Slowly and deliberately the king changed the lozenges from one pocket to the other again. "Ugh! ugh! ugh!" CHAPTER LI. an historical personage. Crash! Another sound of alarm. There could be no doubt whatever but that, per fectly regardless of all noise, uproar, or destruction, some persons were breaking into old Whitehall. Tho report of Dick Martin that those persons con sisted of a party of tho king's Light Horse, dis mounted, hut thoroughly armed, we have now ample reason for knowing was a correct ono. The situation of the fugitives—for we may well call them such—who were in the chamber of Bertha's father, was critical in the extreme. They had no means of knowing exactly what had brought this sudden -danger upon them, but there it was, and it required to be met both with energy and discretion. Bertha flung her arms about her father. It seemed so hard to be separated from him again, after he had come hack to her across that dim chasm which to her mind had represented death. And what a heart-pang it was likewise to him to hear, in that tumultuous attack upon Whitehall, that there was danger to that dear child for whom he had sacrificed so much and suffered so much ! Tho Marquis of Charlton and Captain Markham ex changed glances. " We can hut barricade ourselves," said the marquis, "and fight." Markham shook his head. " Such a siege would not last long, especially if we are attacked by firearms." " Oh ! save him ! save him !" cried Bertha. " Think of some means, I implore vou, to savo my father. Ho is wounded and weak. Oh ! Markham, do you not see?" " I will live with him or die with him, Bertha," exclaimed Markham. " Hush !" said the Mystery in Scarlet. We still so name him, although no longer a mystery to our readers. "Hush! What is that? What is going to hap pen P" " The palace is attacked, sir," replied Markham. " Attacked by a dismounted party of the king's Light Horse," added the Marquis of Charlton. " Then order them, in the king's name, to—to—no, no, that dream has passed away, and I am only king of the affections of those who love me." " Oh ! father, what shall we do ? What shall we do f You, as well as all who love you, will now be lost. They will not let us live together, but it is hard to die in this hour of our re-union, when the sunlight of so much happiness had crossed our path." " We will not die." Another crashing sound, indicating the reckless man ner in which tho Light Horsemen were making their way through the old deserted palace, breaking down every door that opposed their progress with the butt ends of their carbines they had brought with them, echoed now throughout the entire building. " Go, Dick Martin," said the Marquis of Charlton. "Go to one of tho back windows, and see if they have had the precaution to place a guard at the water-gate. If not, wc may yet escape them on to the river in the darkness." The boy disappeared at once to perform this recon noitring. Both tho marquis and Markham drew their swords and stood upon the defensive at the door of the cham ber, for they knew not any minute when the troopers might come that way. It Beemed, however, that they took onother route through the immense pile of building, for, although they were still heard riotously making their way from room to room, tho sounds were evidently further distant. " Now, Dick, what news P" " There are two troopers, colonel, at the water-gate on guard." "Two ?" said Markham. He looked significantly at the Marquis of Charlton. The latter shook his head. " Wo should have to kill them, Markham—we Bhould have to kill them ; and I don't think I can bring my mind to that, except in self-defence." " No," said the Mystery in Scarlet suddenly. " We will have no killing—we will have no more bloodshed. There has been enough, and more than enough, and, thank Heaven, it has been tho blood of tho innocent. Let tho guilty be left to Heaven. It is better to suffer than to inflict." "But, father, father," cried Bertha, "what shall wo do ?" The Mystery in Scarlet staggered to his feet. " I am too weak to fight for you or with you, and I have no power, as I should have, to protect you bv words. I can hide you, however—hide you all until this search has passed away, and until the false king who seeks our lives shall give up in sheer despair his murderous errand." " Where could you hide us, sir ?" asked the Marquis of Charlton. " I fear," said Markham, " that there are no hiding- places here that we can got at which may not be as readily found by our enemies." "You are mistaken," said tho Mystery in Scarlet. " You are all mistaken. I havo possea a strange, dreary, and lonesome time in this ancient royal build ing, and I have made some strange discoveries beneath its roof. I would not take you whither I shall now conduct you except in the very extremity of our fortur. s ; but I made an accidental discovery, of which we will now avail ourselves. Follow me, all of you, and I will conduct you to safety." The Mystery in Scarlet walked with difficully, hut Markham flung his arm about him as he whispered— " Once more, sir, let me support you, and this timo upon a more grateful occasion than the last." " Thank you, thank you. I am very weak, but with your help 1 can lead the way." Through a very noble suite of rooms, and then down a short flight of stairs to another apartment, they went, directed by the Mystery in Scarlet. There was not the slightest hesitation in his manner of guiding them, and it was more than probable that he had some practical acquaintance with Whitehall, either from the, possession of some accurate plan of its intricacies or m consequence of somo accidental visit to it. This room, which bore traces of having been a library, opened into the gallery of pictures, principally por traits, which had before attracted the attention of Markham. Dick Martin carried the lantern, which shod hut a dull aud dubious ray over tho little procession of five persons. The Mystery in Scarlet whispered to Bertha— " You will have courage, dear child, and you will not fear even some sad aud poor memorials of humanity which may meet your eyes f" " What mean you, father ?" " Do you not recollect what our great dramatist says on such a subject—' The sleeping and the dead arc but as pictures ?' " " Yes, father." " You will have to lock on such a picture." " I will have courage." "Wo pause here, gentlemen," added tho Mystery in Scarlet. Ho stopped opposite a full-length portrait of the first Charles, and even as he did so there came so sudden a crash, as a door was burst open immediately contiguous to tho picture gallery, that they all expected on the moment to see the troopers who were in search of them. They heard the voice of somo one who was in com mand, and they could gather from what was being said that a sentinel was posted. " Your orders will bo to prevent any one from pass ing your posts, either up or down (his staircase; and any attempt at force you will repel at once with a pistolshot." The time occupied in giving this brief order was the present salvation of our little party. The Mystery in Scarlet, as though he had been actuated by soiue great anger against the portrait of Ch%rles the First, dealt the edge of the panel on which it was painted as violent a blow as he could give it. Then tho whole panel started from its frame, re volving on its centre, so that tho picture assumed a strange attitude, at an anglo with the elaborate gilt framework about it, and showing a dark orifice beyond. "Quick," whispered the Mystery in Scarlet, "or we aro lost." The recess behind the picture looked perfectly black and cavernous. Any one might well have hesitated about stepping into it across the lower part of the frame, with a well- grounded apprehension that it might lead to unknown depths, and be instantly and fearfully fatal. But there was no time for hesitation now. Certainly the most imminent danger was behind them, and the Mystery in Scarlet himself set. at rest all apprehensions with regard to the recess into which he was leading them by himself enterinf; it first. A few seconds more, and they had all pawed through the opening in the wall.

Dick Martin was the last, and, boylike, lie performed a rather practical joke at the expense of the king's Light Horse. He rapidly lit a small scrap of paper by the flume of tho lantern, and flung it down on tho dark "wood floor of the gallery. There was a flare of light for a moment, and it just caught the eyes of the officer in command of the dis mounted troopers. " Fire ! " he shouted. It might be only that he intended to intimate that he saw a fire, but the troopers took it as an order, and, levelling their carbineB, they discharged a volley from one end of the picture gallery to tho other. The noise in the confined space was tremendous. The smoke considerable. That was very much to the advantage of our fugi tives, who under its cover got safely into their place of refuge, and forced the panel back into its ordinary condition, to which it fitted itself with some noise, which was, however, completely drowned in the echoes produced by the discharge of the carbines. " We are safe," said the Mystery in Scarlet ; "but we are not alone." "Not alone?" exclaimed Markham. " No. There is one here who has played a part in a great tragedy." "Who, Birf" " Behold ! " The Mystery in Scarlet had taken the lantern from Dick Martin, and had partially shrouded it with his hands. He now, however, held it up, and they could soe the full extent of the apartment in which they wore. It was a narrow slip of a room, not above six paces in width, but it was at least four times that extent in length. At its further extremity was a table, on which there appeared some books and some military ac coutrements. Seated on a very ancient-looking high- backed chair at that tablo was undoubtedly something that looked like a human figure. Bertha shrank close to her father as she beheld this spectacle, and the two young officers gazed at it with a gathering accumulating awe. " It is many a long year," said the Mystery in Scarlet, speaking in a low tone, " sinco the breath of life animated that poor form." " Who is it ? " asked Markham. "Perhaps you may guess upon a closer examina tion." Bertha at these words clung to Markham, for Bhe did not wiBh him to leave her side to proceed a step nearer to that object, at once so terrible and so sad. The Marquis of Charlton" took tho lantern from the hand of the Mystery in Scarlet, and slorly approached the table. Tho sight was a very curious one, f part from the kind of interest which was sure to atta ;h to such an object. The form, sitting in tho chair, and with its head resting on the table, looked very shrunl en and skele ton-like. It was attired completely in black, but the principal peculiarity was that the face was completely covered by a black mask. It needed but a glance at the books on the table to see that they were of a religious tendency. There lay an open sheet of paper, likewise, partially held down by one of the skeleton hands of this myste rious figure The Marquis of Charlton held down the lantern with great curiosity, to see what was written on tho paper, which evidently for many a long yeAr had been held down by that dead hand. But tho dust lay so thickly upon it that all the writing was obscured. The marquis felt a disinclination to remove the paper from the sort of custody in which it was held. By successive puffs, however, of his breath, he suc ceeded in scattering the dust that had accumulated upon its surface, and then it would seem as if that dust had acted as a preservative to the writing that was beneath it, which stood out clearly and dis tinctly. Tho words were written in an ancient style, but t^ey were easy enough to decipher, and, to the great sur prise and interest of the marquis, ho read as fol lows : — " January 30, 1649. " The King Charles the Firtt hat been dead half an hour. 1 am hie executioner. I may have done my duty, and I believe that I have, but there is loo much agony in the intense desire to know if 1 have or have not to ptr~ mit me longer to remain in this utorld among men. 1 therefore seek the judgment of Heaven, praying to be forgiven if I seek unbidden and long before that time when J should have been summoned in the ordinary course of nature. My strength is jast fading away, and the film of death is upon my eyes. I tlterefore hasten to subscribe myself .' There was a scrawl where a signature should have been, but it was completely illegible. Indeed, the Inst line or two of the memorandum were written in so infirm and straggling a fashion that it was with great difficulty the Marquis of Charlton could decipher them. He stepped slowly back to the little party, who waited for him. " That is indeed," he said, " a sad memorial of a great event." " Hush!" whispered Markham. The panel containing the picture was not very thick, and, although probably its security was perfect, it sent a painful thrill to the hearts of the little party on the inner side of it to hear how close their enemies were to them on the outer. The king was speaking. There was no mistaking his high croaking passionate voice. "Traitors! traitors all!" he cried. "A thousand piunds for every individual life ! A thousand pounds each for them, dead or alive ! But better dead—better dead." Some murmured reply was made, which none of the fugitive party could catch, and then they heard the tramp of feet, as the troopers left the gallery. It was a matter for curious inquiry, however, whe ther a sentinel had been placed there or not, and they all listened intently, in order to discover the fact. Yes, with slow measured footsteps a sentinel paced to and fro, whistling a low popular tune to himself, probably in some measure to get rid of the loneliness of his situation. (To be continued in our next.)

CHAPTER LII. NOIUII8 CONCLUDES 1118 KOYAL SE11VICE. Two figures wrapped in clonks passed through the Horse Guards, and took their way across the park to wards St. James's Palace, just as some rain began to fall again. They were Norris and the king. The valet kept at a cautious distance from his im perious muster, for, notwithstanding the very full and precise information which Norris had been able to impart to the king, disappointment and disaster had dogged the royal footsteps, and that night seemed to be passing away without any satisfactory results. That rage was in the king's breast was sufficiently manifest by tho manner in which he tugged at the cloak ho wore, and now and then stamped on the soddened gravel of the park. Whenever any of these exhibitions of extraordinary passion took place Norris was careful to increase his distance from the king. Then, as tho royal progress assumed a more placid character, he would gradually creep up closer to him. In this manner they reached the dull wall which bounded the garden of Marlborough House. Tho king then turned abruptly, and Norris gave a start, for he fully expected some ebullition of rage. To his great astonishment, the manner of the king was mild and full of suavity. " Norris. Our good Norris." " Garcious sir T "You have done your utmost. You have tried to bcrvo us." " Oh ! your Majesty, I—' [norris outwitted.] " Wo know, wo know. We consider that to try to serve us is to serve us. The intent, Norris, is sufficient, and we shall soon dispenso with your services for to-night." " I am never fatigued in your Majesty's service." " Tosh ! man, tash ! Thero is such a thing as spurring tho willing horse too much." " Not in my case, your Majesty. It is only too much happiness and too much honour to be able to serve your Majesty night and day." " Well, well, good Norris, well, well, we must all rest. Our nerves may be of iron, and our constitu tions of brass, but we require rest, Norris." " I have still strength and wakefulness sufficient to serve your gracious Majesty." " Ah !" " And oven for the remainder of the night—" The king interrupted him with an impatient gesture of his arm. " The night is passing away, Norris, and already we fancy wo sec a dim twilight like dawn in the eastern sky. Norris." " Your Majesty t" " What does tho preacher say—that Bishop Ash- burnham, who composes tho prayers for the queen ? Ugh ! ugh ! ugh ! Does he not say we are here to-night and gone to-morrow ? Ugh! ugh! ugh!" The king drew his cloak closor around him. Ho crossed the Ambassadors' Court. He tapped at a small door, and was admitted by a confidential page into St. James's. Noma followed him with a strange creeping fear at his heart. What did tho king mean bv saying, " Wo are hero to-night and gone to-morrow r1 Were those words prophetic? And if so, did he apply theni to himself? When he said "we" "did he mean to use the royal plural, or did he include him, Norris ? The valet felt faint and poorly. And yet where was the danger ? Had he not while tho king slept adroitly changed the lozenges from one waistcoat pockot to another ? The poisoned ones occupied the place of those that were wholesome — the wholesome ones that of thoso that were poisoned. Thero could be no mistake about it. And yet what could the king mean by the strange words he had uttered ? Was there one explanation of tliem ? Yes, there was one. That explanation, as it suggested itself to Norris, brought a cold perspiration on his brow and made his knees tremble. Might not the king already has'e partaken of one of his own poisoned lozenges ? Might not the shadow of death be already hovering about him ? That was a possible explanation of his strange words. It was indoed a highly probable one. And so Norris strained his eyes to watch the figure of the king as he followed him the whole length of one of tho galleries of St. James's Palace. Was there any more than usual unsteadiness in his gait? That was difficult to detect, for the royal mode of progression was generally of a weak vacillating sham bling character. Yes, Norris thought there was a something more than usual—a kind of rolling from side to side—an odd movement of the shoulders. Singular sounds, too, half-suppressed, came from the royal lips. Was the king laughing—chuckling ? The idea alarmed Norris exocssively. Ho could not feel quite sure about it, however, for the movements and the strange noises might possibly bo the first indications of physical discomfiture from one of the poisoned lozenges. So Norris followed his master—followed him through the various ante-chambers, just stepping up in his usual adroit manner to push open any door that might impede the royal progress, and then bowing low as the king passed through it—followed him right into his bedchamber—that bedchamber from which Norris hud already abstracted a brilliant fortune in tho jewels ho had concealed about his person. The king sank into a chair with an exhausted look. He was really tired. There was an indomitable energy about that frail frame, but still the fatigues of Unit day and night were

beginning to tell upon it, and there was an exhausted cadaverous look upon tho face of the Majesty of Eng land. " We have failed, Norris." " I will hope nut, your gracious Majesty. Tho fugi tives who are amenable to your Majesty's justico may still be discovered." " No, Norris, no. Mine is a house divided against itself. When the queen sides with traitors the king may well be baffled. " Alas ! alas !" " Tash ! man, tash ! There is no occasion to cry ' Alas !' They havo escaped, that's all." " Nay, your Majesty. If I may obtrude my humble opinion, I should imagine they are still hiding in old Whitehall." " Then thero is but one way of discovering them." " One way, your Majesty ?" " Yes, there is ono way. " Your Majesty is so full of wisdom and of expe dients that no doubt there is one way, which your Ma jesty alone has discovered." • The king seemed now rather to bo speaking to him self than to Norris as ho muttered— "A military cordon round the entire building." Norris projected his head forward like a magpie in search of a beetle, and listened intently. " Yes, a military cordon around the entire building, so that no one can escape, and then—" Norris projected his head still further. " And then set light to it." "Ugh!" "Admirable!" cried Norris. " Admirable! If your Majesty's enemies will hide themselves, and if your Majesty's enemies will not come out of their hiding- places when your Majesty wants them, why then your Majcsty has a perfect right to roast them \. here they are, as a proper reward for their obstinacy." " It might do," still muttered the king. " We don't want Whitehall. It is an old place, full of ol ? and dis agreeable reminiscences to kings. We don'' want it. It may as well burn. We must think—think." " It is an admirablo idea, your Majesty, and in accordance with—with—" " With what?" oriod tho king sharply. " With your Majesty's well-known clemency and mercy to all your Majesty's subjects." "Tash!" Tho king stood up and held his arms in a peculiar attitude, which Norris, from long practice, understood to mean that he was to help him oft' with his coat. Reverently, and as though ho were touching some extremely sacred idol, Norris performed this oilico. That was the full extent of his ministrations as re garded the king before the royal repose. It was his next duty to bring a silk quilted dressing- gown, which he helped the king to put on, after which he was usually dismissed. His Majesty then, by a little romance of the palace, was supposed to be at prayers tor some time, after which, without further attendance, ho would retire to rest. And so Norris, as usual, helped him on with tho dressing-gown, and then retired backward three paces and bowed low. Ho was usually then dismissed by a wavo of tho hand. But the gesture did not come on this occasion. The king sat down again and looked at tho valet. "Norris." " Your gracious Majesty ?" " We do not fool very well. A strange sensation—" Norris almost gave a jump. He felt almost cerluiu now that the king had par taken of one of the poisoned lozenges, und that it wTas doing battle with the royal constitution. The king touched his head, and then his chest. "A strunge sensation, Norris, here, and here : and our thoughts, too, seem to wander back to many things and events of the past which we have long forgotten." Norris advanced a step. " We are weak, too, Is orris, wo are weak." The king affected to attempt to rise from tho chair, but to find the effort too much for him. Norris advanced another step. " It is very strange, Norris, very slrange." " Is your Majesty no better ':" "No, Norris, no. Why—why, our good Norris, if we should cease to bo a king this night, what will become of you f" " Of me) yonr Majesty f" " Yes. How often you havo said it would be im possible for you to survive so good a master !" "Wo arc all in tho hands of Providence, your Majesty." " Yes, yes, that is true ; but we intended to reward your loving and faithful services. Wo intended to bestow upon you, our good Norris, such a reward as would entirely satisfy our own feelings, and yours too, for you would never ask for anything further—never— never." "Your Majesty is too good." "No, no, no." , " Does your Majesty feel fainter r" "Yes, fainter.'' " Might the humblest of your Majesty's subjects advise that you take something i" " What J" " Ono of your Majesty's rostorative lozenges." "Ah! yes. We had'forgotteti them." Tho king plunged both his hands into his waistcoat pockets. Norris brc.it hod hard, and kept his eyes upon every movement of the king. lie had not tho remotest suspicion that his royal master was playing a part, and that they represented a cat and a mouse, lie (Norris) being unquestionably tho mouse. The king held a lozenge between the finger and thumb of each hand. He affected a wonderful half-suppressed chuckle. "Our dear Xorris, if there should be what the con stitution of this realm calls la demise of tho crown' you would die of grief or iudigestiou. Jt may do you good to take a lozenge." " I will take one with pleasure, if your Majesty—" " To be sure, man. T gli ! ugh! ugh! There." The king put one of the lozenges into his mouth. Norris felt quite safe. He would have staked his life at that instant upon the fact that there had been no change, no jugglery, with regard to the lozenges, and that it was a perfectly innocent ono which he now received and commenced sucking, while that which the king was partaking of ho could have sworn (to uso a figure of speech, for Ncrris's oath wotdd not havo cuimted for much), was puivmed. And what a great thing it was, assuming that The king had already partaken of one lozenge and felt in disposed in consequence, to got him to tako a second ! Surely that would do tho business. If he felt something wrong nt his head and some thing wrung at his chest before, what would he fool now ? Ha! ha! what would ho feel now ? Norris stepped up closer to him. The king s faeo seemed to lengthen. His mouth opened to a strange vacant kind of oval. Norris actually laughed. He lost his reverence for monarchy. He was no longer the humble subject—no longer tho worm. He actually laughed aloud, and clapped his hands together in a sharp mid uucourtly manner within an inch of the royal nose. "Ha! ha!* Ha! ha!" The king spoke faintly. " Our—good—Norris." "Tash!" cried Morris, with startling vehemence, close to the royal car. " Wo-"-we feel—" " Of courso you do. Bah! bo!" " We—we think—that if—if—if one of our royal phy—physician,**—' ' " No you won't. He might think of some infernal antidote or another. You'll just sit still and die, you bloodthirsty old ruffian." Norris brought a chair, and set it down with a bang immediately in front of the king, and then, seating himself upon it, with his knees touching those of his royal master, he wagged his head to aud fro and seemed intensely to enjoy the situation. " You old regal rullian ! You cruel ungrateful ovilmindedold beast!" "Oh! oh! oh!" " That's right ! that's music ! How do you feel now ? Ha! hii!" " 111, Norris, ill—ill— ill. Fetch a phys—" " Certainly not. Ha ! ha ! Ha! ha! You'll be found hero dead in the morning, and while you've sense enough to understand me, you old wretch, I'll tell you how 1 did it. Ha ! ha ! You shall hear—you shall bear and know how I did it. With all your cunning, and with all your devilish ingcniuty, 1 —I, Norris—have been one too many for you. Humble! Did I call myself humble r I never was humble. I despised you. Bid I call myself it worm '! I hated you. Listen ! Shake up ! Listen ! Bid you hear me"?" " We—we—we hear." "Well, I changed the lozeDges. I changed them from one pocket to the other." "Oh!" " Why don't you cry ' Tash ':' How do you tool now ? I changed them, I tell you — the harmless for tho poisonous, tho poisonous for the harmless. Ha! ha! ha ! ha! ha !" Norris had been wagging his head at a great rate in such close proximity to tiie king's face that it must have been particularly insulting and offensive. But now he suddenly leant back in the chair, on which he was sitting, and placed his hand upon his brow. " Tash !" said the king faintly. "Oh! you can say—sny 'Tash!' can you? Con you r" " Yes. Wo—we, our good Norris—wc—we—" " We whut ? It is strange, I do not feel very well." " No, because we chniiged the lozenges buck again ■'" Norris tittered a veil. Tho king echoed it, and Hew at his throat in a mo ment. Over went Norris, chair and all, the kinjr having tho greatest difficulty to save himself from tho general wreck. "Murder! winder! mnr—onnr—" Norris rolled on hie back. Further speech Was denied" hhn. A sharp convulsion shook" his frame, a slight froth was upon his lips, and then, with a strange half-stilled scream, the guilty spirit of tho valet fled lor ever. Tho king rung a handbell violently, and he kept on ringing it until there camo a rush of pages and yeomen of the guard into the apartment. "Remove that carrion," ho said. "By searching him you will find sonic of our royal jewels upon his person. Bring them back ; but now, at once, remove that carrion. L'ghlugh! ugh! Ugh! ugh! ugh!" CHAPTER LIII. MILITARY DISCIPLINE. Tiirt aspect of affairs at the old palace of Whitehall was anything but encouraging for those persons in whoso fortunes we are so greatly interested, and who had temporarily escaped, by so rare a chance, from the imminent danger which had beset them. The secret apartment in Whitehall, with its ghastly previous tenant, was anything but a desirable place in which to remain. And yot how to leave it seemed to be a proposition of the most difficult character to answer. To be sure, it might have been comparatively easy for tho Marquis of Charlton and Captain Markham, or either of them, to suddenly sally out and tnke tho life of the scutineh who whs beguiling the tedium of his watch by whistling an air as he paced to and fro in that huge gloomy picture gallery. But that was a courso of proceeding to which neither of them could make up their minds. And yet something must bo done. In open and fair fight they would havo been as ag gressive as was needful or necessary. But, at the same time, although very chivalric, it would have been at once absurd and dangerous for either of them to go out and challenge his attention, in order that ho might put himself upun his guard and kill or be killed in a regular manner. Moreover, they, as officers, knew that it was the duty of a sentinel to give an alarm rather than to fight. They were quite sure that upon the first indication of danger the trooper would fire his carbine. Thoy felt equally sure, too, that in that case an overwhelming force would in a few seconds make its appearance in the gallery. What, then, was to bo done ? It was evident that Bertha was looking with painful and intense emotion at that terrible and ghastly rem nant qf humanity seated at tho table. Moreover, the night was passing away, and that dim grey appearance in the eastern sky which the king hud noticed from the park would soon actually be but too evident, and render escape doubly difficult and doubly hazardous. Markham and the Marquis of Charlton conversed in low tones. "What do you advise, Markham?" "I scarcely know what to say." "I suppose Ave may conclude tlicro is no other out let from this chamber than that by which wo have en tered it ?" " I think that conclusion is pretty evident, but wo will ask the question." Markham whispered to Bertha's father— " Can we possibly leave this room, sir, in any way but by the secret panel through which we came to it :" " No. There is no other exit—tit least, none that I have discovered." " Then, sir, I fear we are in great jeopardy." "Surely, surely there is but one sentinel in the gallery?" " Yes, we could kill him," replied Markham ; " but we shrink from such an act." Bertha stretched out her hand and grasped Mark- ham's. The action spoke more than many words could have uttered. The Mystery in Scarlet saw this mute approval of the sentiment to which the young officer had given utterance. "Do not suppose for a moment," ho whispered, J " that I would counsel any such act." "No, father," said Bertha, *'I am sure von would I not." Markham then bent down to Bertha as he said— " I think we are in safety so long as we remain here." " Yes, oh! ves." She glanced, with a shudder, towards the chair on which sat the dim and dusky figure of tho long shico dead headsman as sho spoke. " Ah ! yes, dear Bertha, I can feel how terrible it is for you to remain in such companionship." " It is terrible, Maikham." " And yet I see no resource. It seems a question of endurance und perseverance, and resolves itself to how long will our enemies keep watch? or how long can wo remain here to battle them r" " Lot me think,'' said Bertha. " Surely there is soma way." Markliam shook his head.

and that his spurs clanked upon the oaken flooring, and that he still whistled, to beguile the loneliness of his watch, it would scarcely seem safe even to converse in the low whispers which the fugitives used. Suddenly then Bertha grasped the arm of Markham and spoke more hurriedly. "1 can perceive," she said, "that the Marquis of Charlton is in full uniform, according to his rank in the army, and, since he has come only from St. James's- Palace, his regimentals are not so smirched and Boiled as yours ore, Markham, by the many adventures you have gone through." " That is true enough, Bertha." " Moreover, Markham, you are known probably to the soldiers as being under arrest and sought for, while the marquis's name may never have been mentioned." " What may all this lead to, Bertha i" " 1 have an idea, Markham. You may call it on extravagant one, and there may be some danger in it." " That we shall not shrink from." " No, I know you will not ; but if it bo that the Marquis of Charlton is not implicated m this search his appearance im Whitehall as a well-known officer of rank might carry with it military authority." " Ah ! I see.'' " Yen, Markham, you understand ; but do not let him rush into peril for my sake, since I will strive to endure— and what ie there that I cannot endure tor your soke, Markham i" " It is a happy thought, Bertha, and may savo us yet. Charlton ! Charlton !" Tho marquis stepped up to them, and Markham ex plained to him Bertha's idea, all the risks and all the chances of which he saw in a moment. There was no hesitation, however, in his mind upon 11 le subject. " If my name has not been compromised already," h« said, " in this search, my military authority must b«.' paramount, since it is not at all probable any officer ox" my rank is present in the building." " You will try it, then, Charlton F" "Indeed will I." ." But be careful." " That I will, for all our sakes. I must consider the best means of getting into the gallery." The marquis considered for somo few moments, and ho spoke again in whispered tones. " Yes. Thero will be no other way. I might fully succeed by stepping boldly out and facing the sentinel, and quietly closing the secret panel behind me, as thuugh that were the way in which I chose to enter the gallery ; but if his orderH go to the length of arrest ing me such a step might compromise us all." " How will you act, then ?" " We can hear that he walks some distance on his post to and fro, and by a little doxterity I think I may emerge into the gallery while his back is towards the panel. He will not know then how I entered it, and I can call to him or meet him face to face." It was quite evident to the mind of Markham, as well as to that of the Marquis of Charlton, that, taking everything into consideration, this was the safest course to pursue. There was no hesitation whatever on the part of the marquis, and he now stood close to the revolving panel listening to the fijotsteps of the sentinel and waiting the most favourable moment for action. There was a perfectly prominent handle on the side of the panel nearest to the secret apartment, for no disguiBO was there attempted of the only mude of egress —that is to say, tho only mode with which the little party there assembled was acquainted. With his hand upon this handle, the Marquis of Charlton listened intently to the Blow measured tread of the sentinel without. He let the soldier take two or three turns, in order that he might thoroughly accustom his ears to the dif ferent gradations of sound before ho moved. Catching tho moment, then, when the sentinel's march was within two or three paces of its furthest distance, the marquis drew the panel sharply open and stepped out into the gallery. This movement was not effected without some noise, nor did the marquis affect unyjinesse in the matter, for rapidity and boldness of action were the only elements of success in what he was about to encounter. The sentinel turned abruptly, but the marquis was free of the panel, and had closed it again. The light in the gallery was very dim, since it only arose from a lantern which the soldiers had placed on the pedestal of a statue. The sentinel challenged at once, and brought his carbine to the " present." " Who goes there ? Stand ! or I fire." " Guard," cried the marquis, as he advanced, with out a moment's hesitation, " guard, recover arms." The command was given in so unhesitating a tone of voice, and the light, dim as it was, so unmistakably showed it was an officer who uttered the words, that the sentinel flung his corbino back upon his arm at once, and stood at " attention." " There is no longer any occasion," said tho mar quis, " to hold this post. Whero is your sergeant ? or have you a commissioned officer on duty hero ?" " It's only a sergeant's party, colonel," replied the Soldier. " Very well. You must summon your sergeant, and I will order him to collect and bring in the sentinels." " Yes, colonel." The manoeuvre was perfectly successful, so far as regarded this sentinel, and he left the gallery at onco to seek his sergeant. Of course the orders from a superior officer did any thing and everything. Tho sergeant soon appeared, accompanied by a couple of troopers, and looking a little suspicious. " Halt !" cried the marquis. The little party obeyed mechanically. * The sergeant then ceremoniously saluted the Mar quis of Charlton. " I know your honour very well," ho said, "but I was afraid for the moment that the sentinel on duty here had made a fool of himself, since one of the per sons whom we ore placed here to arrest is an officer of the guard." " You are quite right, sergeant ; but, as it does not happen to be me, you will tako your orders." " Yes, colonel. I presume they "are in the name of the king?" " Certainly. Every officer of his Majesty gives every order, however minute, in the namo of the long." Tho sergeant thought it necessary to " saluto " again at these words, for they sounded very imposing in deed. " You will collect all the sentinels," added tho mar quis, " both outsido and in this building, and report yourself to the adjutant on duty at the Horse Guards." A third time tho sergeant saluted. " Right about face ! March!" A few moments more, and the Marquis of Charlton was alone in the picture gallery of old Whitehall. He paced slowly to and fro, «over even casting an eye upon tho panel which contained the portrait of the first Charles, for he had no means of feeling perfectly sure that the whole proceeding was not watched by some scrutinising eye. As minuto after minute, however, passed away, and all remained profoundly still, the marquis became re assured as to the success of thn stratajrom, which no doubt by that time had cleared Whitehall of its un welcome intruders. He opened a door at the farther end of the gallery and listened intently. There was not a sound throughout the whole extent of the vast building. It was tolerably clear, therefore, that the sergeant's guard of the king's Light Horse had obeyed the order given them, and duly departed for their quarters at tho Horse Guards. The time for action had come. If escape were to be achieved, the next hour must see the fugitives well on thoir way, for the dawn was very rapidly approaching. CHAPTER LIV. CONCLUSION. The Marquis of Charlton struck heavily upon the panelled picture, in tho way he had seen the Mystery in Scarlet do when introducing tho little party to the secret chamber. The panel yielded at once. The same harsh grating sound that before had very nearly proved a discovery of their placo of seclusion echoed through the dismal gallery. But there were now no ears to listen to those sounds that were at all mimical to tho chances of escape. " Now," cried the marquis, " now is the time. All seems to be well ; but which of us shall say how long such a condition will last ?" Bertha hesitated for a moment, and then, with the instinct of duty even before her best affections, it was her father she clung to. Another moment, and they were all in tho gallery. The marquis thon turned to Dick Martin, tho drum mer, and, placing his hand in a friendly manner on the boy's shoulder, he said— " Make your way to tho back of Whitehall as quick as you can, my boy, and see if all is clear down by tho river. I think that will be the last service we shall want of you to-night." Dick Martin "saluted" wfth military exactitude, and then hastened on his errand. About five minutes elapsed before the boy returned. " All is clear, colonel. Thero is not a soul about, and the rain has even scattered tho watermen, for I could not see one in chargo of the wherries." " Then in good truth our time has come." " Yes," replied Markham, " our time, but not yours, marquis. There can be no reason for you becoming a fugitive." " Nono whatever," added Bertha, "and I do not think wo ought any further to hazard your safety or compromise your good name." " I must, at all ovents," replied tho marquis, "see you safely embarked. You ore well aware, both of you, that duty and affection chain me to England. I do not think that Agnes, Miss Kerr, and I are in any danger, for we may be well assured that the queen will keep our secret inviolate." V It may be remarked here that tho Marquis of Charl ton could have no knowledge of tho treacherous and insidious conduct of Norris the valet. He, as well as Markham, considered the attack upon Whitehall as only another effort upon the part of the king to f^&t possession of Bertha. Dick Martin had found a ready passage to tho back of the building, and he now led the way, as light of foot as he was light of heart. " You will be very happy," whispered Bertha to the Marquis of Charlton, " very happy, as you deserve to be, and who shall say but in somo future time wo may all meet attain ?" She hela out her hand to the marquis as she spoke, who pressed it in silence, for he was very anxious to seo them out of the precincts of Whitehall, and could scarcely control the agitation that possessed him. Out into a long neglected garden, covered with weeds and rank growth of every description—down a narrow paved causeway, upon which moss and creeping plants luxuriated in thick profusion — thon making their way with some trouble through an undergrowth of bushes between some trees—and then, with the cold air of the river blowing upon them, and the black turbid stream heaving in the night light, they stood at tho top of a flight of stone steps, which had in distant times formed a handsome river entrance to tho old palace. In those steps, so as to suit various altitudes of the tido, there were poworful hooks and rings, for the con venience of tho numerous boats and barges which used there to tako up and sot down illustrious person ages. But many years had passed away since those steps had been trodden by the footsteps of tho gay and tho gallant. Not within t&o memory of living man had finely- bedizened boats and barges, with silken canopies and fluttering pennons, thronged that once courtly spot. The jrenius of neglect and desolation had taken pos session of it, nnd the glory of the water-gate of White hall had departed for ever. It was only late at night, when all chance of pas sengers or traffic on the liver had passed away until the next day, that any wherries wero moored at that spot. But at this dim hour of the night there were some eight or ten gently heaving to and fro on the languid tide. Tho fact was that tho place was considered safo and inaccessible ; so those watermen who did not make on apprentice sleep in their bouts at night, as was but too generally the custom, would moor their wherries at these old marble steps, and repair to their various homes in the purlieus of Westminster or Lambeth to rest in perfect security. There was by no means the assortment of twinkling lights upon tho Thames which now may be observed all the night through. On the contrary, you might look right and left for a good half-mile, and scarcely see above two or three pale reflections of some misorable oil lamp at a wharf or jetty. But that dawn which tho fugitives had to dread so much was slowly and surely coming. " It is your only and your best chance," whispered the Marquis of Charlton to Markham. " The tide is evidently on the turn, and will bo soon running strongly down the river. You must take one of these wherries, and row with a stout heart and a strong will." " Neither shall be wanting," replied Markham. " It is difficult to say how far you may have to go, but, if report speaks true, there are always Dutch gal liots plying high up in tho stream, on protence of fish ing, out really for the purpose of taking off Jacobite fugitives." " I shall hardly be able to convince them," said Markham, " that I come under that description." " Well, I can givo you some information on that head. Thero has been, as you know, a special com mission sitting for some time to try somo real or pro tended Jacobite plotters, and a nobleman, a friend of mine, who is a member of that commission, told me their watchwords." " A most valuable piece of information, marquis." " It is just this : —When you run aside any vessel that you think answers your purposo you are to call out. 'There is a King of England. ' " '•la that all?" " Not quite. If they merely staro stupidly at you, and seem not to understand you, you must just go on rind try your fortune elsewhere, but if the reply is, ' Where is he f' you have to answer, ' Not at St. James's,' and then you will be taken on board, and if you have money to pay handsomely the Dutch, Flemish, or French captain, as the case may be, they will take you to any port you like." " A thousand thanks, marquis. Let mo echo Bertha's hopo that we may meet again in happier times." There was no difficulty in securing one of the wher ries, and, with great care and tenderness, Markham seated both Bertha and her father in it. The latter bent his head down and clasped his hands over his face. He seemed to feel that all his dreams of greatness