"Now if Gloucester doth come thus into power will he not desire to have his revenge upon those which have ever been his enemies?" "'Tis like he will." "And will not this lead to uprisings throughout the land? Yea," he continued, "we have had one example of the troubles, and bloody wars brought about through the King dying and leaving a child to grasp with its weakly hands the sceptre and the sword of chastisement. Pray God we do not have another, and yet I fear that it will be unavoidable. I have expressed mine own poor opinion, without its being prejudiced by any others' thoughts; see whether I shall be right or wrong." Now such a view of that which might soon happen had never been taken by me; and yet I had spent several years at court, and thought myself well acquainted with all the intrigues and possibilities of court life. And here was a young man--in fact not older than myself--which had never in his life lived at court, prophesying as to what the future would bring forth. His words were indeed bold, and yet I could not deny that they were reasonable, and liable to be fulfilled. I now did admire this handsome and thoughtful stranger, and therefore methought it a duty put upon me to give him some warning that might serve to keep that well-shaped head, for a little longer space, upon its broad, square shoulders. I therefore said:-- "Thine opinions, I have a fear, stand in some likelihood of being proven true; yet do I pray with my full heart that they may be wrong. However, whether thou art right or wrong--the which time will prove--let me now warn thee, which art a stranger here, to keep those thoughts to thyself. There are those about this place--the more's the pity--whose shoulders are not bent by the weight of honor they carry, but from their habit of holding their ears to the keyhole." "Thanks for thy kind intent," he replied. "After I have had some little experience at court I do hope that I may acquire the habit of smiling whilst, with my dagger, I kill my partner in the conversation. This, I have heard, is the fashion of the Duke of Gloucester; and if I do prove a true prophet all good courtiers must soon adopt it." That night as Harleston was leaving my room I promised to see him early in the morning, and show him through the castle and parks. As we shook hands at the door I felt as though I had known him for long, and that we had ever been the best of friends. That, my dears, was how I became acquainted with Sir Frederick Harleston, who, since that day, hath ever been close by my side, through many harsh experiences, as well as through many sunny days of happiness. Now we are sailing, side by side, down the mighty river, travelled by all wearing the fleshly habit. The great unknown sea of oblivion is now near at hand, and soon we shall both cross the bar and sail forth upon its smooth and peaceful surface.