' He turned,
doffed his plumed cap, bent his body in a low reverence, and began
to step backward, bowing at each step. A prolonged trumpet-blast
followed, and a proclamation, 'Way for the high and mighty, the Lord
Edward, Prince of Wales!' High aloft on the palace walls a long line
of red tongues of flame leaped forth with a thunder-crash; the
massed world on the river burst into a mighty roar of welcome; and Tom
Canty, the cause and hero of it all, stepped into view, and slightly
bowed his princely head.
He was 'magnificently habited in a doublet of white satin, with
a front-piece of purple cloth-of-tissue, powdered with diamonds, and
edged with ermine. Over this he wore a mantle of white
cloth-of-gold, pounced with the triple-feather crest, lined with
blue satin, set with pearls and precious stones, and fastened with a
clasp of brilliants. About his neck hung the order of the Garter,
and several princely foreign orders'; and wherever light fell upon him
jewels responded with a blinding flash. O, Tom Canty, born in a hovel,
bred in the gutters of London, familiar with rags and dirt and misery,
what a spectacle is this!
CHAPTER X
The Prince in the Toils
WE left John Canty dragging the rightful prince into Offal
Court, with a noisy and delighted mob at his heels. There was but
one person in it who offered a pleading word for the captive, and he
was not heeded; he was hardly even heard, so great was the turmoil.
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