Amongst the agitators in this cause was a man of some note in the former history of the province--the famous Josias Fendall, the governor in the time of the Protectorate--now in a green old age, whose turbulent temper, and wily propensity to mischief had lost none of their edge with the approach of grey hairs. This individual had stimulated some of the hot spirits of the province into open rebellion against the life of the Proprietary and his uncle. His chief associate was John Coode, a coarse but shrewd leader of a faction, who, with the worst inclinations against the Proprietary had the wit to avoid the penalties of the law, and to maintain himself in a popular position as a member of the house of Burgesses. Fendall, a few months before this era, had been arrested with several followers, upon strong proofs of conspiracy, and was now a close prisoner in the gaol. Such is a brief but necessary view of the state of affairs on the date, at which I have presented the Lord Proprietary to my reader. The matter now in hand with the captain of the fort had reference to troubles of inferior note to those which I have just recounted. When Lord Baltimore descried Captain Dauntrees and the ranger approaching the mansion from the direction of the fort, he advanced beyond the threshold to meet them. In a moment they stood unbonneted before him. "God save you, good friends!" was his salutation--"Captain Dauntrees and worthy Arnold, welcome!--Cover,"--he added in a tone of familiar kindness,--"put on your hats; these evening airs sometimes distill an ague upon a bare head." A rugged smile played upon the features of the old forester as he resumed his shaggy cap, and said, "Lord Charles is good; but he does not remember that the head of an old ranger gets his blossoms like the dog-wood,--in the wind and the rain:--the dew sprinkles upon it the same as upon a stone." "Old friend," replied the Proprietary,--"that grizzly head has taken many a sprinkling in the service of my father and myself: it is worthy of a better bonnet, and thou shalt have one, Arnold--the best thou canst find in the town. Choose for yourself, and Master Verheyden shall look to the cost of it." The Fleming modestly bowed, as he replied with that peculiar foreign gesture and accent, neither of which may be described,--"Lord Charles is good.--He is the son of his father, Lord Cecil,--Heaven bless his memory!" "Master Verheyden, bade me attend your lordship," said Dauntrees; "and to bring Arnold de la Grange with me." "I have matter for your vigilance, Captain," replied the Proprietary. "Walk with me in the garden--we will talk over our business in the open air."