that we must not judge your wisdom by your years, and that we can safely confide our interests in your hands.  Your looks are frank and boyish, and will, therefore, excite far less suspicion than that which would attend upon an older and graver-looking personage.  The letters will be prepared for you to-morrow, and, believe me, should success finally crown our efforts against these enemies of the crown, your loyalty and devotion will not be forgotten by your king.”

He again held out his hand to Harry, and the boy left the cabinet with his heart burning with loyalty toward his monarch, and resolved that life itself should be held cheap if it could be spent in the service of so gracious and majestic a king.

The next morning a royal messenger brought out a packet of letters to Furness Hall, and Harry, mounting with his father and the little body of horse at the hall, rode toward London.  His attire was that of a country peasant boy.  The letters were concealed in the hollow of a stout ashen stick which he carried, and which had been slightly weighted with lead, so that, should it be taken up by any but its owner, its lightness would not attract attention.  Sir Henry rode with him as far as it was prudent to do toward the outposts of the Parliament troops.  Then, bidding him a tender farewell, and impressing upon him the necessity for the utmost caution, both for his own sake and for that of the king, he left him.

It was not upon the highroad that they parted, but near a village some little distance therefrom.  In his pocket Harry had two or three pieces of silver, and between the soles of his boots were sewn several gold coins.  These he did not anticipate having to use; but the necessity might arise when such a deposit would prove of use.  Harry walked quietly through the village, where his appearance was unnoticed, and then along the road toward Reading.  He soon met a troop of Parliament horsemen; but as he was sauntering along quietly, as if merely going from one village to another, no attention whatever was paid to him, and he reached Reading without the slightest difficulty.  There he took up his abode for the night at a small hostelry, mentioning to the host that his master had wanted him to join the king’s forces, but that he had no stomach for fighting, and intended to get work in the town.  The following morning he again started, and proceeded as far as Windsor, where he slept.  The next day, walking through Hounslow and Brentford, he stopped for the night at the village of Kensington, and the following morning entered the city.  Harry had never before been in the streets of London, for in his flight from his prison he had at once issued into the country, and the bustle and confusion which prevailed excited great surprise in his mind.  Even Oxford, busy as it was at the time, and full of the troops of the king and of the noblemen and gentlemen who had rallied to his cause, was yet quiet when compared with London.