Welcome his majesty to the city. The last verse of his greeting was in these

words:

Welcome, O King! as much as hearts can think;

Welcome again, as much as tongue can tell —

Welcome to joyous tongues, and hearts that will not shrink;

God thee preserve, we pray, and wish thee ever well.

The people burst forth in a glad shout, repeating with one voice what the child

Had said. Tom Canty gazed abroad over the surging sea of eager faces, and his

Heart swelled with exultation; and he felt that the one thing worth living for in

this world was to be a king, and a nation's idol. Presently he caught sight, at a

Distance, of a couple of his ragged Offal Court comrades — one of them the

Lord high admiral in his late mimic court, the other the first lord of the

Bedchamber in the same pretentious fiction; and his pride swelled higher than

ever. Oh, if they could only recognize him now! What unspeakable glory it

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Would be, if they could recognize him, and realize that the derided mock king

Of the slums and back alleys was become a real king, with illustrious dukes

and princes for his humble menials, and the English world at his feet! But he

Had to deny himself, and choke down his desire, for such a recognition might

Cost more than it would come to; so he turned away his head, and left the two

Soiled lads to go on with their shoutings and glad adulations, unsuspicious of