And pleased with this jest, he removed the chair from the table, took his stand

Behind the king, and proceeded to wait upon him in the courtliest way he was

Capable of.

When the king ate, the rigor of his royal dignity relaxed a little, and with his

growing contentment came a desire to talk. He said:

'I think thou callest thyself Miles Hendon, if I heard thee aright?'

'Yes, sire,' Miles replied then observed to himself, 'If I must humor the poor

lad's madness, I must sire him, I must majesty him, I must not go by halves, I

Must stick at nothing that belongeth to the part I play, else shall I play it ill

and work evil to this charitable and kindly cause.'

The king warmed his heart with a second glass of wine, and said: 'I would

Know thee — tell me thy story. Thou hast a gallant way with thee, and a noble

— art nobly born?'

'We are of the tail of the nobility, good your majesty. My father is a baronet

— one of the smaller lords, by knight service — Sir Richard Hendon, of

Hendon Hall, by Monk's Holm in Kent.'

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'The name has escaped my memory. Go on — tell me thy story.'

''Tis not much, your majesty, yet perchance it may beguile a short half-hour

For want of a better. My father, Sir Richard, is very rich, and of a most

generous nature. My mother died whilst I was yet a boy. I have two brothers:

Arthur, my elder, with a soul like to his father's; and Hugh, younger than I, a