The ordinary duties of the
morning dragged upon his hands, and wearied him. Once more he felt the
sense of captivity heavy upon him.
Late in the forenoon he was in a large audience chamber,
conversing with the Earl of Hertford and duly awaiting the striking of
the hour appointed for a visit of ceremony from a considerable
number of great officials and courtiers.
After a little while Tom, who had wandered to a window and
become interested in the life and movement of the great highway beyond
the palace gates- and not idly interested, but longing with all his
heart to take part in person in its stir and freedom- saw the van of a
hooting and shouting mob of disorderly men, women, and children of the
lowest and poorest degree approaching from up the road.
'I would I knew what 'tis about!' he exclaimed, with all a boy's
curiosity in such happenings.
'Thou art the king!' solemnly responded the earl, with a
reverence. 'Have I your grace's leave to act?'
'Oh, blithely, yes! Oh, gladly, yes!' exclaimed Tom, excitedly,
adding to himself with a lively sense of satisfaction, 'In truth,
being a king is not all dreariness- it hath its compensations and
conveniences.'
The earl called a page, and sent him to the captain of the guard
with the order:
'Let the mob be halted, and inquiry made concerning, the
occasion of its movement. By the king's command!'
A few seconds later a long rank of the royal guards, cased in
flashing steel, filed out at the gates and formed across the highway
in front of the multitude.
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