Page:Artabanzanus (Ferrar, 1896).djvu/189

Rh recent battle, and I am not prepared to answer for his hallucinations.'

'We do not believe a word he says,' said the King vehemently.

'Notwithstanding that, your Majesty,' said I calmly, ' I have told you the truth.'

'Be silent, thou caitiff! or, if thou wilt speak, tell us who governs England in these days. Who sits on our throne?'

'Queen Victoria—a good Queen, who never sheds the blood of her subjects.'

'Ha! dost thou say so? Then if she does not shed their blood or mar their white skins, it must be her duty and pleasure to hang or drown a good many of them, judging by your prepossessing countenance.'

'No, sire; only those who commit murder are hanged, and they only after a fair trial and plenty of time for deliberation.'

'I presume to hope your Majesty' said the Doctor, with an evident desire that the King and I should part friends; but he was abruptly interrupted by the sanguinary tyrant.

'Doctor Julius, speak not for him; he is doomed to die, and that within this hour. I can forgive a robber, a murderer, an adulterer, a miser, an incendiary, and a wretch that is poor, but a liar I cannot and will not forgive. Varlet, I convict thee of having told me the greatest lies which it is possible for a man to utter, and therefore I sentence thee to death; away with him to the block! away with him! A liar shall not live!'

I looked round in dismay; the halberdiers approached to lay their ruffianly hands upon me; the buffetiers wagged their jaws and gnashed their teeth. My friend the Doctor seemed as if he could not or would not interfere; but to