"What were the circumstances?" asked Waldron. "O, I could not tell you very well," said Mr. George. "It would take me half a day to tell the whole story. You must get some life of Mary, Queen of Scots, and read it for yourself. You will have to begin at the beginning, and read it all carefully through, and remember all the persons that are mentioned, and consider their characters and motives, and then you will be able to judge for yourself about it. There have been a great many histories of her life written." "And what about her being imprisoned in the castle that we are going to see?" asked Waldron. "O, you must read and find out for yourself about that, too," said Mr. George. "The country got into great difficulty, and two parties were formed, one of which was in favor of Mary, and one was against her. Her enemies proved to be the strongest, and so they shut her up in this castle. But she got away." "How?" asked Waldron. "You will learn all about it," replied Mr. George, "when you come to read the history of her life. When we go to the castle you will see the window where she climbed down into the boat." "Did she escape in a boat?" asked Waldron. "I am positively not going to tell you any more about it," said Mr. George. "You must find out for yourself. Your father has paid ever so much money to send you to school, to have you educated, so that you could read history for yourself, and not be dependent upon any body; and now for me to tell it to you would be ridiculous. You must go to a bookstore, and buy a history of Mary, Queen of Scots, and begin at the beginning, and read the whole story." Mr. George said this in a somewhat jocose sort of manner, and Waldron understood that his refusing to give him more full information about Mary, Queen of Scots, arose, not from any unwillingness to oblige him, but only to induce him to read the story himself, in full, which he knew very well would be far better for him than to receive a meagre statement of the principal points of the narrative from another person. "I mean to get the book," said Waldron, "as soon as we arrive at Edinburgh. But there is one thing I can do," he added; "I can ask the guide. The guide that shows us the castle will tell me how she got away." "Well," said Mr. George, "you can ask the guide; but I don't believe you will get much satisfaction in _that_ way."