bands of ermine embroidered with gold. Around him were men of all ages,

young and old, seated like him on benches covered with fleurs-de-lis,

and dressed like him in ermine and purple. In front of him other men

were kneeling, clothed in black silk gowns. Some of them were writing;

opposite, and a short distance from him, he observed steps, a raised

platform, a dais, a large escutcheon glittering between a lion and a

unicorn, and at the top of the steps, on the platform under the dais,

resting against the escutcheon, was a gilded chair with a crown over

it. This was a throne--the throne of Great Britain.

Gwynplaine, himself a peer of England, was in the House of Lords. How

Gwynplaine's introduction to the House of Lords came about, we will now

explain. Throughout the day, from morning to night, from Windsor to

London, from Corleone Lodge to Westminster Hall, he had step by step

mounted higher in the social grade. At each step he grew giddier. He had

been conveyed from Windsor in a royal carriage with a peer's escort.

There is not much difference between a guard of honour and a prisoner's.

On that day, travellers on the London and Windsor road saw a galloping

cavalcade of gentlemen pensioners of her Majesty's household escorting

two carriages drawn at a rapid pace. In the first carriage sat the Usher

of the Black Rod, his wand in his hand. In the second was to be seen a

large hat with white plumes, throwing into shadow and hiding the face

underneath it. Who was it who was thus being hurried on--a prince, a

prisoner? It was Gwynplaine.

It looked as if they were conducting some one to the Tower, unless,

indeed, they were escorting him to the House of Lords. The queen had

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The Man Who Laughs