50.-AN INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF N al lěged', declared. ex ter' nal, outside. re lue'tançè, unwillingness. Walter Raleigh and his friends, Blount and Tracy, were floating on the princely bosom of the broad Thames, upon which the sun now shone forth with all its splendor. "There are two things scarce matched in the universe," said Walter to Blount,-"the heaven and the Thames on earth." sun in "The one will light us to Greenwich well enough,” said Blount, "and the other would take us there a little faster, if it were ebb-tide." "And this is all thou thinkest-all thou carestall thou deem'st to be the use of the King of Elements, and the King of Rivers,-to guide three such poor caitiffs as thyself, and me, and Tracy, upon an idle journey of courtly ceremony!" "It is no errand of my seeking, faith," replied Blount, "and I could excuse both the sun and the Thames the trouble of carrying me where I have no great mind to go, and where I expect but dog's wages for my trouble;-and by my honor," he added, looking out from the head of the boat, "it seems to me as if our message were a sort of labor in vain; for see, the Queen's barge lies at the stairs, as if her Majesty were about to take to the water." It was even so. The royal barge, manned by the Queen's watermen, richly attired in the regal liveries, and having the banner of England displayed, did indeed lie at the great stairs which ascended from the river, and along with it two or three other boats for transporting such part of her retinue as were not in immediate attendance upon the royal person. The yeomen of the guard, the tallest and handsomest men whom England could produce, guarded with their halberds the passage from the palace gate to the river-side, and all seemed in readiness for the Queen's coming forth, although the day was yet so early. "By my faith, this bodes us no good," said Blount; “it must be some perilous cause puts her Grace in motion at this time. By my counsel, we had best put back again, and tell the Earl what we have seen." "Tell the Earl what we have seen!" said Walter; "why, what have we seen but a boat, and men with scarlet jerkins, and halberds in their hands? Let us do his errand, and tell him what the Queen says in reply." So saying, he caused the boat to be pulled toward a landing place at some distance from the principal one, which it would not, at that moment, have been thought respectful to approach, and jumped on shore, followed, though with reluctance, by his cautious and timid companions. As they approached the gate of the palace, one of the sergeant porters told them that they could not at present enter, as her Majesty was in the act of coming forth. The gentlemen used the name of the Earl of Sussex; N but it proved no charm to the officer, who alleged in reply, that it was as much as his post was worth to disobey in the least tittle the commands which he had received. "Nay, I told you as much before," said Blount; "do, I pray you, my dear Walter, let us take the boat and return." "Not till I see the Queen come forth," returned the youth, composedly. N At this moment the gates opened, and ushers began to issue forth in array, preceded and flanked by the band of Gentlemen Pensioners. After this, amid a crowd of lords and ladies, yet so disposed around her that she could see and be seen on all sides, came Elizabeth herself, then in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called beauty, and who would in the lowest walk of life have been truly judged to possess a noble figure, joined to a striking and commanding physiognomy. She leant on the arm of Lord Hunsdon, whose relation to her by her mother's side often procured him such distinguished marks of Elizabeth's friendship. The young cavalier we have so often mentioned had probably never yet approached so near the person of his sovereign, and he pressed forward as far as the line of warders permitted, in order to avail himself of the present opportunity. His companion, on the contrary, cursing his imprudence, kept pulling him backward, till Walter shook him off impatiently, letting his rich cloak drop carelessly from one shoulder; a natural action, which served, however, to display to the best advantage his well-proportioned person. Unbonneting at the same time, he fixed his |