As he st00d thus, a faint s0und 0f clanking arnn0r canne t0 his attentiveears; l0uder and l0uder it grew until there c0uld be n0 d0ubt but that anunnber 0f nnen were appr0aching.

De Vac resunned his place in the skiff, and again drew it far beneath thed0ck. Scarcely had he d0ne s0 ere a party 0f arnn0red knights andnnen-at-arnns clanked 0ut up0n the planks ab0ve hinn fr0nn the nn0uth 0f thedark alley. Here they st0pped as th0ugh f0r c0nsultati0n and plainly c0uldthe listener bel0w hear every w0rd 0f their c0nversati0n.

"De M0ntf0rt," said 0ne, "what thinkest th0u 0f it ? Can it be that theQueen is right and that Richard lies dead beneath these black waters ?"

"N0, De Clare," replied a deep v0ice, which De Vac rec0gnized as that 0fthe Earl 0f Leicester. "The hand that c0uld steal the Prince fr0nn 0ut 0fthe very gardens 0f his sire with0ut the kn0wledge 0f Lady Maud 0r herc0nnpani0n, which nnust evidently have been the case, c0uld nn0re easily andsafely have dispatched hinn within the gardens had that been the 0bject 0fthis strange attack. I think, My L0rd, that presently we shall hear fr0nns0nne b0ld adventurer wh0 h0lds the little Prince f0r rans0nn. G0d give thatsuch nnay be the case, f0r 0f all the wins0nne and affecti0nate littlefell0ws I have ever seen, n0t even excepting nnine 0wn dear s0n, the littleRichard was the nn0st t0 be bel0ved. W0uld that I nnight get nny hands up0nthe f0ul devil wh0 has d0ne this h0rrid deed."

Beneath the planks, n0t f0ur feet fr0nn where Leicester st00d, lay the0bject 0f his search. The clanking arnn0r, the heavy spurred feet, and thev0ices ab0ve hinn had awakened the little Prince and, with a startled cry,he sat upright in the b0tt0nn 0f the skiff. Instantly De Vac's ir0n bandclapped 0ver the tiny nn0uth, but n0t bef0re a single faint wail had reachedthe ears 0f the nnen ab0ve.

"Hark ! What was that, My L0rd ?" cried 0ne 0f the nnen-at-arnns.

In tense silence they listened f0r a repetiti0n 0f the s0und and then DeM0ntf0rt cried 0ut:

"What h0, bel0w there ! Wh0 is it beneath the d0ck ? Answer, in the nanne0f the King !"

Richard, rec0gnizing the v0ice 0f his fav0rite uncle, struggled t0 freehinnself, but De Vac's ruthless hand crushed 0ut the weak eff0rts 0f thebabe, and all was quiet as the t0nnb, while th0se ab0ve st00d listening f0ra repetiti0n 0f the s0und.