A Gentleman Player; His Adventures on a Secret Mission for Queen Elizabeth

by Robert Neilson Stephens

  CHAPTER III.

  QUEEN AND WOMAN.

  "And commanded By such poor passion as the maid that milks." --_Antony and Cleopatra._

  Though Queen Elizabeth often swore at her ladies and her favorite lords,it is not to be supposed that she would ordinarily address a stranger insuch terms as she used but now toward Master Marryott.[16] Nor was itthe surprise of finding asleep in her garden a youth, wearing anapprentice's surcoat over a gentleman's velvet doublet,--for Hal hadmoved in his sleep so as to disclose part of the doublet,--and silkenhose, that evoked so curt an expression. Neither was it the possibilitythat the intruder might be another Capt. Thomas Leigh, who had beenfound lurking in the palace, near the door of the privy chamber, a dayor two after the Essex rising, and had been subsequently put to death.Had a thought of assassination taken any root in the queen's mind atsight of the slumbering youth, she would, doubtless, have behaved as ona certain occasion at the time of the Babington conspiracy; when,walking in her garden, and being suddenly approached by one of theconspirators, and finding none of her guards within sight, she held theintruder in so intrepid a look that he shrank back--and the captain ofher guard did not soon forget the rating she afterward gave him for thatshe had been left thus exposed. But on the present occasion she herselfhad petulantly ordered back the little train of gentlemen and ladies inwaiting, guards, and pages, who would have followed her into the alleywhere she now was. They stood in separate groups, beyond the tall hedge,out of view but not out of call, and wondering what had put her majestythis morning into such a choleric desire for solitude. For that is whatshe was in, and what made her words to Hal so unlike those commonly usedby stage royalty at the theatre.

  What the devil _was_ he doing there? Hal asked himself, as he gazedhelplessly up at the queen. "I know not," he faltered. "I mean, I haveno memory of coming hither. But 'tis not the first time, your majesty, Ihave waked up in a strange place and wondered at being there. I--I dranklate last night."

  He put his hand to his aching head, in a manner that unconsciouslyconfirmed his confession; and then he looked at his coarse surcoat withan amazement that the queen could not doubt.

  "What is your name?" asked the queen, who seemed to have her own reasonfor interrogating him quietly herself, instead of calling a guard andturning him over to some officer for examination.

  "Harry Marryott, an it please your Majesty. A player in the lordchamberlain's company, though a gentleman by birth."

  Elizabeth frowned slightly at the mention of the lord chamberlain'scompany; but a moment after, strange to say, there came into her facethe sign of a sudden secret hope and pleasure.

  "Being one of those players," said she, "you are well-wisher to thefoolish men who partook in the late treason?" She watched narrowly forhis answer.

  "Not well-wisher to their treason, madam, I swear!"

  "But to themselves?"

  "As to men who have been our friends, we wish some of them whatever goodmay consist with your Majesty's own welfare, which is the welfare ofEngland, the happiness of your subjects. But that wish makes nodiminution of our loyalty, which for myself I would give my life for achance of proving." He found it not difficult to talk to this queen, sohuman was she, so outright, direct, and to the point.

  "Why," she replied, in a manner half careless, half significant, as ifshe were trying her way to some particular issue, "who knows but youmay yet have that chance, and at the same time fulfil a kind wish towardone of those misguided plotters. An you were to be trusted--but nay,your presence here needs some accounting for. Dig your memory, man;knock your brains, and recall how you came hither. Tis worth while,youth, for you doubtless know what is supposed of men foundunaccountably near our person, and what end is made of them."

  Hal was horrified and heartstricken. "Madam," he murmured, "if my queen,who is the source and the object of all chivalrous thoughts in everygentleman's breast in England, one moment hold it possible that I amhere for any purpose against her, let me die! Call guards, your Majesty,and have me slain!"

  "Nay," said Elizabeth, convinced and really touched by his feeling, "Ispoke not of what I thought, but of what others might infer. Now that Iperceive your quality, it hath come to me that you might serve me in abusiness that needs such a man,--a man not known at court, and whom itwould appear impossible I could have given audience to. Indeed, I waspondering on the difficulty of finding such a man in the time afforded,and in no very sweet humor either, when the sight of you broke in uponmy thoughts."

  "To serve your Majesty in any business would be my supremest joy," saidHal, eagerly--and truly. His feeling in this was that of all youngEnglish gentlemen of his time.

  "But this tells me not how came you into my private garden," said herMajesty.

  "I remember some dispute at the Devil tavern," replied Harry, searchinghis memory. "And roaming the streets with one Captain Bottle, and beingchased out of some neighborhood or other--and there I lose myself. Itseems as if I went lugging forward through the streets, holding to anarm on either side, and then plunged quite out of this world, intocloud, or blackness, or nothing. Why, it is strange--meseems yonderworkman, at the end of this alley, had some part in my goings lastnight."

  The workman was a carpenter, engaged in erecting a wooden framework foran arched hedge that was to meet at right angles the alley in which thequeen and Harry were. The man's work had brought him but now into theirsight.

  The queen, who on occasion could be the most ceremonial monarch inChristendom, could, when necessary, be the most matter-of-fact. She nowgave a "hem" not loud enough for her unseen attendants to hear, butsufficient to attract the carpenter's attention. He stood as ifpetrified, recognizing the queen, then fell upon knees that the presenceof Majesty had caused to quake. Elizabeth motioned him to her, and heapproached, walking on his knees, in expectation of being instantlyturned over to a yeoman of the guard. Hal himself remained in similarposture, which was the attitude Elizabeth required of all who addressedher.

  "What know you of this young gentleman?" she asked the carpenter, in atone that commanded like quietness in his manner of replying.

  The fellow cringed and shook, begged huskily for mercy, and said that hehad meant no harm; explained incoherently that the young gentleman,having fallen in with the carpenters when in his cups, had come withthem to Whitehall in the belief that they were leading him to adrinking-place; that they had been curious to see his surprise when theporters, guards, or palace officers should confront him; that thesefunctionaries had inattentively let him pass as one of the carpenters;that the carpenters had feared to disclaim him after having missed theproper moment for doing so. The fellow then began whimpering about hiswife and eight children, who would starve if he were hanged orimprisoned. The queen cut him short by ordering that he and his comradesshould say nothing of this young man's presence, as they valued theirlives; hinted at dire penalties in case of any similar misdemeanor infuture, and sent him back to his work.

  "God's death!" she then said to Hal. "Watchful porters and officers!I'll find those to blame, and they shall smart for their want of eyes. Aglance at your hose and shoes, muddy though they be, would have made youout no workman. Yet perchance I shall have cause not to be sorry fortheir laxity this once. If it be that you are the man to serve me, Ishall think you God-sent to my hand, for God he knows 'twas little likeI should find in mine own palace a man not known there, and whom itshould not seem possible I might ever have talked withal! Even had Isent for such an one, or had him brought to the palace for secretaudience, there had needs been more trace left of my meeting him thanthere need be of my meeting you."

  Hal perceived not why so absolute a monarch need conduct any matterdarkly, or hide traces of her hand in it; but he said nothing, savethat, if it might fall his happy lot to serve her, the gift from Godwould be to himself.

  As for the queen, she had already made up her mind that he should serveher. It must be he, or no one. Sh
e had come to the garden from her privycouncil, with a certain secret act in her mind, an act possible to herif the right agent could be found; but in despair of finding in thegiven time such an agent,--one through whom her own instigation of theact could never be traced by the smallest circumstance. Here, as ifindeed dropped from heaven, was a possible agent having that mostneeded, least expected, qualification. There need not remain theslightest credible evidence of his present interview with her. Thisqualification found so unexpectedly, without being sought, she waswilling to risk that the young player possessed the other requisites,uncommon though they were. She believed he was loyal and chivalrous;therefore he would be as likely to keep her secret, at any hazard tohimself, as to serve her with all zeal and with as much skill as hecould command. By seeming to hold back her decision as to whether hemight do her errand, she but gave that errand the more importance, andwhetted his ambition to serve her in it.

  "There is much to be said," replied the queen, "and small time to say itin. 'Tis already some minutes since I left my people without the hedgeand came into this alley. They will presently think I am long meditatingalone. They must not know I have seen you, or that you were here. So wemust needs speak swiftly and quietly. As for those carpenters, who areall that know of your presence here. I have thrown that fellow into sogreat a fear, he and his mates will keep silence. Now heed. My privycouncil hath evidence of a certain gentleman's part in the conspiracy ofyour friends who abetted the Lord Essex. 'Tis evidence positive enough,and plenty enough, to take off his head, or twenty heads an he hadthem. He hath not the slightest knowledge that he is betrayed. 'Tis verylike he sits at home, in the country, thinking himself secure, while thewarrant is being writ for his arrest. The pursuivant to execute thewarrant is to set out with men this afternoon. So much delay have Icontrived to cause."

  "Delay, your Majesty?" echoed Hal, thinking he might have wrongly heard.

  "Delay," repeated Elizabeth, using for her extraordinary disclosures aquite ordinary tone. "I have delayed this messenger of the council fortime to plan how the gentleman may escape before the arrest can bemade."

  She waited a moment, till Hal's look passed back from surprise tocareful attention.

  "You wonder that a queen, who may command all, should use secret meansin such a matter. You wonder that I did not put my prohibition, at theoutset, on proceedings against this gentleman. Or that I do not noworder them stopped, by my sovereign right. Or that I do not openlypardon him, now or later. You do not see, young sir, that sometimes amonarch, though all-powerful, may have reason to sanction or evencommand a thing, yet have deep-hidden reason why the thing should beundone."

  Hal bowed. He had little knowledge, or curiosity, regarding themysteries of state affairs, and easily believed that the general wealmight be promoted by the queen's outwardly authorizing a subject'sarrest, and then secretly compassing his escape. And yet he might haveknown that a Tudor's motives in interfering with the natural course ofjustice were more likely to be private than public, and that a Tudor'scircumstances must be unusual indeed to call for clandestine means,rather than an arbitrary mandate, for such interference. It was not tilllong afterward that, by putting two and two together, he formed thetheory which it is perhaps as well to set forth now, at the opening ofour history.

  The Essex conspiracy was not against the person or supremacy of thequeen, but against her existing government, which the plotters hoped toset aside by making her temporarily a prisoner and forcing her decrees.They avowed the greatest devotion to her Majesty's self. As a woman, shehad little or no reason for bitter feelings against them. But the safetyof the realm required that the principals should suffer. Yet she mighthave pardoned her beloved Essex, had she received the ring he sent herin claim of the promise of which it was the pledge.[17] But thinking himtoo proud even to ask the mercy he might have had of her, she let himdie. As for his chief satellites, there were some for whom she carednothing, some against whom there were old scores, and who might as wellbe dead or imprisoned as not, even were public policy out of thequestion. Southampton, for one, had offended her by marrying, and hadlater been a cause of sharp passages between her and Essex. But as tothis mysterious gentleman, of whom she spoke to Master Marryott?

  He was one of those who had contrived to get safe away from London, andwho felicitated themselves that there existed no trace of theirconnection with the plot, but against whom evidence had eventuallyarisen in private testimony before the council. Of these men, it wasdecided by the council to make at least one capital example, and thisparticular gentleman was chosen, for his being a Catholic as well as aconspirator.

  Now the fact seems to have been that Elizabeth, the woman, had softerrecollections of this gentleman than Elizabeth, the queen, was fain toacknowledge to third parties. He was not alone in this circumstance, buthe differed from Essex and other favored gentlemen in severalparticulars. Being a Catholic, he was not of the court. Once, many yearsbefore this March day, the queen, while hunting, sought refuge at hishouse from a sudden storm. She prolonged her stay on pretexts, and thenkept him in attendance during one of her journeyings. Her associationwith him was conducted with unusual concealment. It was not violentlybroken off, nor carried on to satiety and natural death. It was merelyinterrupted and never resumed. Thus it remained sweet in her memory,took on the soft, idealizing tones that time gives, and was nowcherished in her heart as an experience apart from, and more preciousthan, all other such. It was the one serene, perfect love-poem of herlife. The others had been stormy, and mixed with a great deal of prose.This one might have been written by Mr. Edmund Spenser. And it was thedearer to her for its being a secret. No one had ever known of it but atight-mouthed old manservant and a faithful maid of honor, the formernow infirm, the latter dead.

  She could not endure to mar this, her pet romance, by letting its herodie when it was in her power to save him. She had never put forth herhand, nor had he asked her to do so, to shield him from the smallerpersecutions to which his religion had exposed him from neighbors andjudges and county officers, and which had forced him to live most of thetime an exile in France. But death was another matter, a catastrophe sheliked not to think of as overtaking him through operations she couldcontrol; and this was none the less true though she had no hope of evermeeting him again.

  Moreover, this lover had upon her affection one claim that others hadforfeited: he had never married.[18] That alone entitled him at thistime, in her eyes, to a consideration not merited by Essex orSouthampton. And, again, her fortitude had been so drawn upon inconsigning Essex to the block, that she had not sufficient left totolerate the sacrifice of this other sharer of her heart.

  Now that fortitude had been greatly, though tacitly, admired by thelords to whom she wished to appear the embodiment of regal firmness, andshe could not bring herself to confess to them that it was exhausted, orunequal to the next demand upon it. More than ever, in these later days,she desired to appear strong against her inner feelings, or indeed toappear quite above such inner feelings as she had too often shown towardher favorite gentlemen. That she, the Virgin Queen, leader of herpeople, conqueress of the great Armada, had entertained such feelings inthe past, and been so foolish as to disclose them, was the greaterreason why she now, when about to leave her final impression uponhistory, should seem proof against them. To refuse her sanction to thecouncil's decision concerning this gentleman, when there was twofoldpolitical reason for that decision, and no political reason to interposeagainst it, would open the doors upon her secret. And she was as loathto expose her tenderly recollected love to be even suspected or guessedat, such was the ideal and sacred character it had taken in years ofcovert memory, as she was to be thought still prone to her old weakness.As for awaiting events and eventually saving the man by a pardon, sucha course, in view of her having sanctioned the council's choice of himas an example, would disclose her as false to the council, andcapricious beyond precedent, and would betray her secret as well.[19]

  So here was one case in wh
ich she dared not arbitrarily oppose thecouncil's proceeding, though her old lover's arrest meant hisconviction, as sure as verdict was ever decided ere judge and jurysat,--as verdicts usually were in the treason trials of that blessedreign. For her peace as a woman, she must prevent that arrest. For herreputation as a queen, she must seem to favor it, and the preventionmust be secret. One weakness, the vanity of strength and resolution,required that the indulgence of another weakness, undue tenderness ofheart toward a particular object, should be covert. The queen's righthand must not know what the woman's left hand did. To get time for aplan, as she told Hal, she had requested that the pursuivant's men,while in quest of the gentleman, might bear letters to certain justicesin his neighborhood; the preparation of these letters would delay, for afew hours, the departure of the warrant.

  For her purpose she needed a man of courage, adroitness, and celerity;one who would be loyal to the secret reposed in him alone; one so out ofcourt circles, so far from access to or by herself, that if he evershould betray her part in his mission none would believe him; a man whowould take it on faith, as Hal really did, that deep state reasonsdictated the nullification, secretly, of a proceeding grantedopenly,--for this strong queen would not have even the necessaryconfidant, any more than the lords of the council, suspect this weakwoman.

  "The man who is my servant in this," went on the queen, "must seem toact entirely for himself, not for me. There must be no evidence of hishaving served me; so he will never receive the credit of this missionfor his sovereign, save in that sovereign's thoughts alone."

  "Where else should he seek it, your Majesty?" replied Hal, brought tothis degree of unselfish chivalry by the influence of her presence.

  "Where else, truly?" echoed the queen, with a faint smile. "And he mustnever look to me for protection, should he find himself in danger ofprison or death, in consequence of this service. Indeed, if pressuremove him to say 'twas I commissioned him, I shall declare it a lie ofmalice or of deep design, meant to injure me."

  "Your Majesty shall not be put to that shift, an I be your happy choicefor the business," said Hal, thrilling more and more devotedly to thetask as it appeared the more perilous and rewardless.

  "You will be required to go from London," continued the queen,forgetting her pretence that he was not yet certainly her choice for theerrand, "and to give your friends good reason for your absence."

  "'Twill be easy," replied the player. "Our company goes travelling nextweek. I can find necessity for preceding them. One Master Crowe can playmy parts till I fall in with them again."

  "Even this gentleman," resumed the queen, after a moment's thought, anda consultation with pride and prudence, "must not know whom you obey insaving him. Your knowledge of his danger must seem to have come throughspy work, or treachery in the palace, and your zeal for his safety mustappear to spring from your friendship for the Essex party. Thegentleman's mansion is near Welwyn, in Hertfordshire. He is a knight,one Sir Valentine Fleetwood."

  Hal suppressed a cry. "Why, then," he said, "I can truly appear to actfor myself in saving him. He is my friend, my benefactor; his fathersaved my grandfather's life in the days of papistry. I shall not be putto the invention of false reasons for saving Sir Valentine. There isreason enough in friendship and gratitude. I knew not he was back inEngland."

  "That is well," said Elizabeth, checking a too hearty manifestation ofher pleasure at the coincidence. "Now hear what you shall do. Thepursuivant who is to apprehend him will ride forth this afternoon atabout three o' the clock, with a body of men. You must set out earlier,arrive at Fleetwood house before them, warn Sir Valentine that they arecoming, persuade him to fly, whether he will or no, and in everypossible manner aid and hasten his safe departure from the country."

  Hal bowed. His look betrayed some disappointment, as if the businesswere neither as difficult nor as dangerous as he had looked for.

  The queen smiled.

  "You think it a tame and simple matter," she said. "A mere business offast riding 'twixt London and Welwyn, and thence to a seaport. But allowfor the unexpected, young sir, which usually befalleth! Supposeimpediments hinder you, as they hinder many on shorter journeys. Orsuppose Sir Valentine be not at home when you arrive, and requireseeking lest he by chance fall in with the pursuivant ere you meet him.Suppose he be not of a mind to fly the country, but doubt your warning,or choose to stay and risk trial rather than invite outlawry andconfiscation. Suppose, in aiding him, you encounter the pursuivant andhis men.[20] 'Twill be your duty to resist them to the utmost, even withyour life. And should you be overcome and taken, you know what are thepenalties of resisting officers on the queen's business, and of givingaid to her enemies. This business will make you as much a traitor, bystatute, as Sir Valentine himself. Remember, if you be taken I shall notinterfere in your behalf. It shall be that I know naught of you, andthat I hold your act an impudent treason against myself, and call foryour lawful death. So think not 'tis some holiday riding I send you on;and go not lightly as 'twere a-maying. Be ready for grave dangers andobstructions. Look to't ye be not taken! Perchance your own safety mayyet lie in other countries for a time, ere all is done. Look for theunexpected, I tell you."

  "I shall be heedful, your majesty. I crave your pardon,--'tis shame Imust confess it,--there will be horses to obtain, and other matters; Ilack means--"

  "By God's light, 'tis well I came by a purse-full this morning, andforgetfully bore it with me, having much on my mind," said Elizabeth,detaching a purse from her girdle and handing it to Hal. "I'm not wontof late to go so strong in purse.[21] Pour these yellow pieces into yourpocket--no need to count--and leave but two or three to make some noisewithal." When Hal had obeyed her, she took back the purse and replacedit at her girdle. "Use what you need in the necessary costs; supply SirValentine an he require money, and let the rest be payment to yourself.Nay, 'twill be small enough, God's name! Yet I see no more reward foryou--until all be smoothly done, and time hath passed, and you may findnew access to me in other circumstance. Then I shall remember, and findway of favoring you."

  Hal thereupon had vague, distant visions of himself as a gentlemanpensioner, and as a knight, and as otherwise great; but he said only:

  "The trust you place in me is bounteous reward, your Majesty!"

  To which her Majesty replied:

  "Bid yon carpenter lead you from the garden by private ways, that youmay pass out as you entered, in the guise of a workman. Lose no time,thenceforth,--and God bless thee, lad!"

  Hal was in the seventh heaven. She had actually thee'd him! And now sheheld out her hand, which he, on his knees, touched with reverentiallips. It was a shapely, beautiful hand, even to the last of the queen'sdays; and a shapely, beautiful thing it was to remain in Hal's mentalvision to the last of his. In a kind of dream he stepped back, bowing,to the alley's end. When he raised his eyes, the queen had turned, andwas speeding toward the other end of the alley. A March wind wasfollowing her, between the high hedgerows, disturbing two or three tinytwigs that had lain in the frozen path.[22]

  At that moment Hal counted his life a small thing save where it mightserve her; while she, who had read him through in five minutes, wasthanking her stars for the miraculous timely advent of an agent sopeculiarly suited to so peculiar a service,--a youth of some worldlyexperience, yet with all those chivalrous illusions which make him thegreedier of a task as it is the more dangerous, the more zealous in itas it offers the less material reward. The romantic sophistries thatyouth cherishes may be turned to great use by those who know how toemploy them. Indeed, may not the virtue of loyalty and blind devotionhave been an invention of ingenious rulers, for their own convenience?May not that of woman-worship be an invention of subtly clever womenthemselves, when women were wisely content with being worshipped, andwere not ambitious of being elbowed and pushed about in the world'sbusiness; when they were satisfied to be the divinities, not thecompetitors, of men? Elizabeth knew that this player's head, heart, andhand were now all hers for the service en
gaged; and that by entrustinghim with a large amount in gold, in advance, she but increased his senseof obligation to perform her errand without failing in a single point.

  As he passed Charing Cross and proceeded eastward through the Strand,Hal became aware of the pains caused by his sleeping outdoors in Marchweather, and of the headache from last night's wine. In his interviewwith the queen, he had been unconscious of these. But he foresawsufficient bodily activity to rid himself of them, with the aid of acopious warming draught and of a breakfast. He obtained the warmingdraught at the first tavern within Temple Bar, which was none other thanthe Devil. A drawer recognized him, despite the 'prentice's coat andcap,--no one who knew Master Marryott could be much surprised at hishaving got into any possible strange attire in some nocturnalprank,--and notified the landlord, who thereupon restored to Hal therapier taken away the previous night. From the Devil tavern, Hal went tothree or four shops farther in Fleet Street, and when he emerged fromthe last of these he wore a dull green cloth cloak, brown-lined, overhis brown velvet doublet; a featherless brown hat of ample brim on hishead, and high riding-boots to cover the nether part of his brown silktrunk-hose.

  He had already looked his errand in the face, and made some plan fordealing with it. As he would be no match for a band of highway robbers,should he fall in with such between London and Welwyn, he must have atleast one stout attendant. Fortunately. Paul's Walk, the place in whichto obtain either man or woman for any service or purpose whatever, layin his way to his lodging, where he must go before leaving London. Hehastened through Ludgate, with never a glance at the prisoners whiningthrough the iron grates their appeals for charity; and into Paul'sChurchyard, and strode through the southern entrance of the mightycathedral, making at once for the middle aisle.

  It was the fashionable hour for the Paul's walkers,--about noon,--andthe hubbub of a vast crowd went up to the lofty arches overhead. Thegreat minster walk, with its column on which advertisements were hung,its column around which serving-men stood waiting to be hired, its otherparticular spots given over by custom to particular purposes, was toLondon at midday what the interior of the Exchange was bycandle-light,--a veritable place of lounging, gossiping, promenading,trading, begging, pimping, pocket-picking, purse-cutting, everything.Hal threaded a swift way through the moving, chattering, multi-coloredcrowd, with an alert eye for the manner of man he wanted. Suddenly hefelt a pull at his elbow; and turned instantly to behold a dismalattempt at gaiety on the large-boned red face of Captain Bottle. Beneathhis forced grin, old Kit was in sadly sorry countenance, which made hisattire look more poor and ragged than usual.

  "What, old heart!" cried Kit. "Thou'rt alive, eh? Bones of Mary, Ithought thee swallowed up by some black night-walking dragon in Cow Lanethis morning!"

  "We were together last night, I think," said Hal, not with positivecertainty.

  "Together, i' faith, till by my cursing and hard breathing I killed inmine ears the sound of thy steps, so I could not follow thee. Ah, Hal,there was the foul fiend's hand in the separating of us! For, beingalone, and sitting down to rest me in the street, without Newgate, whatshould happen but I should fall asleep, and my purse be cut ere I waked?Old Kit hath not e'en a piece of metal left, to mimic the sound of coinwithal!" Old Kit's look was so blue at this that Hal knew he was trulypenniless, though whether the loss of his money had been as he relatedit, was a question for which Hal had no answer. The captain's eyes werealready inclining toward that part of Hal's costume where his money wascommonly bestowed.

  "This evil town is plainly too much for thy rustical innocence, Kit,"said Hal. "You need a country change. Come with me for a few days. Don'tstare. I have private business, and require a man like thee. There'smeat, drink, and beds in it, while it lasts; some fighting maybe, andperchance a residue of money when costs are paid. If there be, we shalldivide equally. Wilt follow me?"

  "To the other side of the round world, boy! And though old Kit besomething of a liar and guzzler, and a little of a cheater and boaster,thou'lt find him as faithful as a dog, and as companionable a rascal asever lived!"

  "Then take this money, and buy me two horses in Smithfield, allequipped; and meet me with them at two o'clock, in St. John's Street,close without the bar. But first get thyself dinner, and a warm cloak tothy back. Haste, old dog o' war! There will be swift going for us,maybe, ere many suns set!"

  The two left St. Paul's together by the north door. Bottle going onnorthward toward the Newgate,[23] Hal turning eastward toward St.Helen's, where he would refresh himself with a bath and food, and tellMr. Shakespeare of news given him by a court scrivener in drunkenconfidence; of an imperative obligation to go and warn a friend indanger; of money won in dicing; of a willingness to resign his parts toGil Crowe, and of his intention to rejoin the players at the firstopportunity, wherever they might be.

  As he turned out Bishopsgate Street, he thought how clear his way laybefore him, and smiled with benignant superiority to his simple task.And then suddenly, causing his smile to fade a little, came back to himthe words of the queen, "Allow for the unexpected, young sir, whichusually befalleth!"