"Will you take it off before I lay me down?" she asked of the man whose business it was to strike the cruel blow.

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No, madam," said he; then he kneeled to ask her forgiveness.

Of course the Lady Jane readily pardoned him, for it would have ill-beseemed so earnest and devoted a follower of the One who was crowned with thorns, and spat upon and buffeted, to hesitate in such a matter. She could not forget the "Father, forgive them" of her glorious and beloved "Ensample."

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The fair head was laid upon the hideous block. Once again, in earnest, solemn tones, the sweet voice spoke; its last words on earth, however, were not to man but to God: "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."

*

Then-then. One can hardly write the revolting truth. There was a moment of heart-sickening horror, and all that remained of the gentle girl-queen on this side of the HEAVENLY REST was her tender, mutilated form.

She had gone home to see the "King in His beauty," and to wear, not the disputed and paltry crown of "Jane the Queene," but one whose fine gold is all unalloyed with "SORROW," whose rare gems serve to remind the beatified of words which, mayhap, in years or ages past, they had learned on earth: "BE THOU FAITHFUL UNTO

DEATH, AND I WILL GIVE THEE A CROWN OF LIFE."

The unfortunate husband of the Lady Jane was beheaded at the same time as herself; and on the 21st of that month, her father met with the like fate. The Duke of Northumberland also suffered a similar ignominious death. This was the terrible finale of their mad intrigues, the breaking of their hotly-pursued bubble, the shattering of their "Calf of Gold!"

CHAPTER XIII.

LASHED TO THE MAST.

"Nay, good, be patient."

"When the sea is. Hence! What care these roarers for the

name of king? To cabin: silence; trouble us not."

THE TEMPest.

E left the ship "Lioness" in a perilous position, and to her we now return.

"Hard - a - starboard!" cried Captain Lily again, as his vessel continued to roll heavily in the deep trough of the sea. But the difficulty lay in steering her in the desired direction, for wind and waves were both against her; still the hope of the captain was to get her bows athwart the billows. "Then," said he, "though the waves be so high and angry, the ship will, mayhap, ride o'er them, an' outlive the gale. Courage, my lads! courage, shew ye your metal like men!"

This to the helmsmen. And not without effect fell the words upon their ears, for soon the veins in their temples and the muscles in their arms stood out like cords. If they could but get the storm

ridden "Lioness" out of the trough of the sea there was hope for her. Ah, LIFE was worth an effort; and they worked as perhaps they had never worked before. But, alas! the elements had the best of them. On and on dashed and pitched and rolled the vessel, with mountainous billows on each side of her. Human strength was futile; human arms, however willing, however powerful, were but as the weak arms of infants in comparison to the power of the raging sea. Nothing now could save the ship-nothing but the hand of God.

The Mighty "Hand," however, is not "shortened," and so these brave, sorely-beset seamen found, for suddenly, and just when hope was dying out of their hearts, there was a lull. Not a lasting one, but it was made the most of.

Bestir, lads! HARD-A-STARBOARD! HARD DOWN!" roared Captain Lily, with his own hands eagerly stretched out to help his men.

And "hard down" went the helm to some purpose. At last the good ship was controlled; her bows were bent at the will of her captain and his men; the stout "Lioness" was out of the trough of the wild sea.

Once in this position much of the peril was over, still the vessel rose and fell with every deep surge of the waters, in a manner which struck terror to the hearts of Maud Lily and Dame Bridget, who, it

will be remembered, were below, in the charge of Rowland.

For a time the ship gallantly breasted the waves, billow after billow; but at length it was discovered that during the heavy gale she had sprung a leak.

Now, indeed, the captain was almost at his wits' end. But we will return to Maud and Mistress Bridget.

"Madam," said the mate, as he appeared at the door of the cabin where they were, "I have orders from the captain to conduct you and Mistress Bridget to the deck.”

“My father gave orders only a short time ago that we should by all means remain below!"

"True it is, madam, but the cabin is no longer safe for ye to bide in."

"Art a-going to lash us to the mast?" asked the trembling Bridget.

"Ay, ay, mistress, but what of that? it is the best place for ye now."

"Doth the ship leak then?"

"Come, ladies, speed ye, my orders were to act, an' by no means answer questions."

"Ahoy, there, Maud!" shouted the captain, from the top of the companion-ladder; "and you, Bridget, methinks you are not o'er hasty in obeying my summons. Have no parleying below there, sirs, but straightway carry them, an' they are not able or willing to walk!"