Three more days passed without result, but on the morning of the fourth day a cavalcade appeared. Francis was delighted to see Mary in their midst. Not as before on a horse but in a coach. As she stood with uncovered head the party swept by her without stopping. The queen bowed and smiled, but when the girl would have darted to the side of the coach she was prevented by the gentlemen of the guard who closed around it. "Oh," cried the girl, tears of disappointment streaming from her eyes, "what shall I do? What can I do?" But the equipage swept on bearing Mary from her sight and Francis gave way to her grief unrestrainedly. "And I thought to have done so much," she murmured when she had become calm. "Ah! my father did well to say that Sir Amyas was an austere man. Little doth it comfort Mary to be a queen when there is such an one to control her actions. Well, I must to the inn." She turned to go back to the town when her eye was caught by a filmy bit of linen which was caught in a bush by the wayside. "'Twas hers," cried Francis catching it up eagerly. "How foolish to repine when I should have known that there would be some sign." Examining the dainty bit of cloth carefully she found it covered over with a lot of characters whose meaning she could not fathom. "I must take it to my father," she said concealing the linen in her bosom. "Mayhap he can decipher it." And she hastened to return to the tavern joyful at having obtained at least a token. "It is written in cipher," remarked Lord Stafford, examining the bit of cloth attentively. "It is my good fortune to have the key to some of the ciphers which she uses. It may be that it is the one that will unravel the meaning of this for us." Francis awaited the result with impatience while her father applied himself to the task of deciphering the characters. Presently he looked up triumphantly. "I have it, child. Mary is in truth on the alert. She knows that we have messages for her. Listen! she says: 'I find no security in writing by carrier; the best recipe for secret writing is alum dissolved in a little clear water twenty-four hours before it is required to write with. In order to read it the paper must be wetted in a basin of water and then held to the fire; the secret writing then appears white and may easily be read until the paper gets dry. You may write in this manner on white taffeta or white linen, especially lawn; and as a token when anything is written on a piece of taffeta or linen a little snip can be cut off from one of the corners. Friend, if so be that you have letters, transcribe their message in the above manner. As to the manner of their delivery I know not. I will this way as often as the disposition of my jailer will permit. Adieu, my friend--though I know not thy name, yet thy features are engraved upon the heart of your queen, 'MARIE, ROYNE.'"