In Honours Cause | Page 6

under the old city gate, with its horrible,
grinning heads: but I must take you to Fleet Street; so we'll go to
Westminster Stairs and have a boat--it will be nice on the river."
"Yes, glorious on an evening like this," cried Frank excitedly; "and, I
say, we can go round by Queen Anne Street."
"What for? It's out of the way."
"Well, only along by the Park side; I want to look up at our windows."

"But your mother's at the Palace."
"Father might be at home; he often sits at one of the windows looking
over the Park."
"Come along then," cried Andrew mockingly; "the good little boy shall
be taken where he can see his father and mother, and--hark! listen! hear
that?" he cried excitedly.
"Yes. What can it be?"
"The people hooting and yelling at Granthill. They're mobbing his
carriage. Run, run! I must see that."
Andrew Forbes trotted off, forgetting all his dignity as one of the
Princess's pages, and heedless now in his excitement of what any of the
well-dressed promenaders might think; while, laughing to himself the
while, Frank kept step with him, running easily and looking quite cool
when the tall, overgrown lad at his side, who was unused to outdoor
exercise, dropped into a walk panting heavily.
"Too late!" he said, in a tone of vexation. "There the carriage goes,
through Storey's Gate. Look at the crowd after it. They'll hoot him till
the soldiers stop them. Come along, Frank; we shall see a fight, and
perhaps some one will be killed."
CHAPTER THREE.
GETTING INTO HOT WATER.
The excitement of his companion was now communicated to Frank
Gowan, and as fast as they could walk they hurried on toward the gate
at the corner of the Park, passing knot after knot of people talking about
the scene which had taken place. But the boy did not forget to look
eagerly in the direction of the row of goodly houses standing back
behind the trees, and facing on to the Park, before they turned out
through the gate and found themselves in the tail of the crowd hurrying
on toward Palace Ward.

The crowd grew more dense till they reached the end of the street with
the open space in front, where it was impossible to go farther.
"Let's try and get round," whispered Andrew. "Do you hear? They're
fighting!"
Being young and active, they soon managed to get round to where they
anticipated obtaining a view of the proceedings; but there was nothing
to see but a surging crowd, for the most part well-dressed, but leavened
by the mob, and this was broken up from time to time by the passing of
carriages whose horses were forced to walk.
"Oh, if we could only get close up!" said Andrew impatiently. "Hark at
the shouting and yelling. They are fighting with the soldiers now."
"No, no, not yet, youngster," said a well-dressed man close by them;
"it's only men's canes and fists. The Whigs are getting the worst of it;
so you two boys had better go while your heads are whole."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I know a Whig when I see one, my lad."
"Do you mean that as an insult, sir?" said Andrew haughtily.
"No," said the gentleman, smiling; "only as a bit of advice."
"Because if you did--" said Andrew, laying his hand upon his sword.
"You would send your friends to me, boy, and then I should not fight.
Nonsense, my lad. There, off with your friend while your shoes are
good, and don't raise your voice, or some one will find out that you are
from the Palace. Then the news would run like wild fire, and you ought
to know by this time what a cowardly London mob will do. They
nearly tore Sir Marland Granthill out of his carriage just now. There, if
I am not on your side, I speak as a friend."
Before Andrew could make any retort, and just as Frank was tugging at
his arm to get him away, they were separated from the stranger by a

rush in the crowd, which forced them up into a doorway, from whose
step they saw, one after the other, no less than six men borne along
insensible and bleeding from wounds upon the head, while their clothes
were nearly torn from their backs.
Then the shouting and yelling began to subside, and the two lads were
forced to go with the stream, till an opportunity came for them to dive
down a side street and reach the river stairs, where they took a wherry
and were rowed east.
"I should like to know who that man was," said Andrew, after a long
silence, during which they went gliding along with the falling tide.