The Winslow mail., 1900-03-29

ported by two pillars of veined marble,
which, although they diminished The size
of the chamber, had good effect. 1he mar
bic flooring, arranged IN a PATCHWORK OF
black and white. was bare of all furniture,
and, as the room gradually tllled, the con-
slant moving of feet, the sound of which
rang sharply on the stone, made 1t appear
as If a lot of masons' hammers were at work,
| let my ewes wander over the groups as
they stood or moved about, wondering II by
chance | should see anyone L knew; but
they were all strangers to me, nosCly FIencu-
men, with fair sprlnkllng OF priests
amongst them. They were one and all try
ing TO jostle past each other, SO as TO gam
as close position as possible to the entrance
door, near to which L stood; ana as l
watched this with some little amusement
l heard whisper in my ear, and glanclng
round, beheld a man standing near me III u
doctors robe, holding heavly-bound mis-
sal in his hand. saw IN moment 1t was
Corte, and he whispered in a low voice:
"Do not look round at present, but near
the pillar to your right are two men, one
dressed half in cloth of gold, and they are
more interested in you than you thlnk. L
overheard a snatch OF conVersatlon-they
are moving this way. BY your leave, sig
norc,' raising his voice, he attempted 10
push by me, and, catching the hint his last
words had thrown out, | answered, loudly;
First come, first served, learned doctor,
and you must bide your turn
II am a man OF peace, and therefore
yield" Corte moved off, and | was free to
look around me. l saw that Corte,s little
piece of acting, to which l had risen, was
due to the fact that the man in the cloth
of gold and his companion were edglng near
er to us, and at the time were barrel y SIX feet
off. Resting my hand lightly on the hilt OF
my sword looked the two full in the face,
but could make nothing of them. The one
who wore a jerkin of gold cloth met my look
for an instant, and then dropped his eyes, a
faint flush rising to his cheek. ! saw that he
was a young man of singularly handsome
| countenance. A short, neatiy-curled mus
tache fell over his upper lip and mouth, but
there was no sign Of beard on the small
and rounded chin, which was cleanly shaven.
On his right cheek he wore black patch,
placed as if to hide the scar OF a wound, al
though his complexion was as delicate as IL
| the sun had never touched 1t. In his ears
he wore earrings, an atfectatlon OF female
adornment hateful to me, and the fingers OF
his small right hand, which he held un
gloved, were covered with rings. The hilt
Of his raper, too, peeping from under the
folds of his gay cloak, was crested with jew
els, and altogether it seemed as if could
have nothing to fear from this painted lily,
who looked more fitted to thrum lutte in a
lady's bower than have aught to do with the
stir of the times. l therefore loosed my
glance from him with some contempt and
turned to his companion, who was robed as
an able, and evidently in sour middle age
His features were bolder than those of his
companion, but distinctly those of the
canaille, and there was nothing in them III
any way remarkable.
Nevertheless, thought it well to be or
the watch, knowing that a dagger thrust is