In a moment he stood all alone, without a friend or supporter, a
target upon which was concentrated a bitter fire of scornful and angry
looks. The Lord Protector called out fiercely:
'Cast the beggar into the street, and scourge him through the
town- the paltry knave is worth no more consideration!'
Officers of the guard sprang forward to obey, but Tom Canty
waved them off and said:
'Back! Whoso touches him perils his life!'
The Lord Protector was perplexed in the last degree. He said to
the Lord St. John:
'Searched you well?- but it boots not to ask that. It doth seem
passing strange. Little things, trifles, slip out of one's ken, and
one does not think it matter for surprise; but how a so bulky thing as
the Seal of England can vanish away and no man be able to get track of
it again- a massy golden disk-'
Tom Canty, with beaming eyes, sprang forward and shouted:
'Hold, that is enough! Was it round?- and thick?- and had it
letters and devices graved upon it?- Yes? Oh, now I know what this
Great Seal is that there's been such worry and pother about! An ye had
described it to me, ye could have had it three weeks ago. Right well I
know where it lies; but it was not I that put it there- first.'
'Who, then, my liege?' asked the Lord Protector.
'He that stands there- the rightful king of England. And he
shall tell you himself where it lies- then you will believe he knew it
of his own knowledge. Bethink thee, my king- spur thy memory- it was
the last, the very last thing thou didst that day before thou didst
rush forth from the palace, clothed in my rags, to punish the
soldier that insulted me.
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