'Ay,' the man said. 'I might do that. What name shall I say?'

'She would not know my name. Merely say that one wishes to speak to her on a matter nearly touching the safety of the General.'

'Hadst thou said that at once,' the man grumbled, 'I might have admitted you before. There are many rumours of plots on the part of the malignants against the life of the General. I will take your message to Madam Cromwell, and she can deal with it as she will.' The man was absent for a few minutes. Then he returned with an officer.

'Can you tell me,' the latter asked, 'what you have to reveal ? '

'No,' Harry replied, 'I must speak with the General himself.'

'Beware,' the officer said, sternly, 'that you trifle not. The General is sick, and has many things on his mind; 'twill be ill for you if you disturb him without cause.'

'The cause is sufficient,' Harry said, 'I would see him in person.'

Without a word, the officer turned and led the way to a room upstairs, where Cromwell was sitting at a table. His wife was near him. A Bible lay open before him. Cromwell looked steadily at Harry.

'I hear that you have a matter of importance to tell me, young man, and one touching my safety. I know that there are many who thirst for my blood. But I am in the hands of the Lord, who has so far watched over His servant. If there be truth in what you have to tell, you will be rewarded.'

'I seek for no reward,' Harry said. 'I have gained knowledge of a plot against your life. Do you wish that I should speak in the presence of this officer.'

'Assuredly,' the General said.

'Briefly then, I have arrived from Hamburg but now to give you warning of a matter which came to my ears. I overheard, how it matters not, a conversation between two rascals who gave themselves out as Royalists, but who were indeed rather escaped criminals, to the effect that men had gone over thence to England with the intention of killing you. The plot was to come off to-night. Whether there be any change in the arrangements or no I cannot say, but the matter was, as they said, fixed for to-night. One of the women servants has been bribed to open the back entrance and to admit them there. More than this I know not.'

'You speak, sir, as one beyond your station,' Cromwell said; and methinks I know both your face and figure, which are not easily forgotten when once seen.'

'It matters not who I am,' Harry replied, so that the news I bring be true. I am no friend of yours, but a servant of King Charles. Though I would withstand you to the death in the field, I would not that a life like yours should be cut short by assassination; or that the Royal cause should be sullied by such a deed, the dishonour of which, though planned and carried out by a small band of desperate partisans, would yet, in the eyes of the world, fall upon all who followed King Charles.'

'You are bold, sir,' Cromwell said. 'But I wonder not, for I know you now. We have met, so far as I know, but once before. That was after Drogheda,

where you defended the church, and where I spared your life at the intercession of my chaplain. I heard of you afterwards as having, by a desperate enterprise, escaped, and afterwards captured a ship with prisoners; and as having inflicted heavy loss and damage upon the soldiers of Parliament. You fought at Dunbar and Worcester, and, if I mistake not, incurred the enmity of the Earl of Argyll.'

'I am Sir Harry Furness,' Harry said, calmly; 'His Majesty having been pleased to bestow upon me the honour of knighthood. Nor are you mistaken touching the other matters, since you yourself agreed at the lonely house on the moor to hand me over to Colonel Campbell, as his price for betraying the post I commanded. That matter, as you may remember, turned out otherwise than had been expected. I am not ashamed of my name, nor have I any fear of its being known to you. I have come over to do you service, and fear not harm at your hands when on such business.'

'Why then did you not tell me at once?' Cromwell asked.

'Simply because I seck no favour at your hands. I would not that you should think that Harry Furness sought to reconcile himself with the Commons, by giving notice of a plot against your life. I am intending to start for Virginia and settle there, and would not stoop to sue for amnesty, though I should. never see Furness Hall or England again.'

Harry spoke in a tone of haughty frankness, which carried conviction with it.

'I doubt you not,' Cromwell said. You have been

a bitter foe to the Commons, Colonel Furness, but it is not of men like you that we need be afraid. You meet us fairly in the field, and fight us loyally and honourably. It is the tricksters, the double-dealers, and the traitors, the men who profess to be on our side but who burrow in the dark against us, who In this matter I am greatly

trouble our peace. beholden to you. Now that you have given us warning of the plot, it will be met if attempted. But should these men's hearts fail them, or for any other cause the attempt be laid aside, I shall be none the less indebted to you. I trust, Colonel Furness, that you will not go to the plantations. England needs honest men here. There is a great work yet to be done before happiness and quiet are restored; and we need all wise and good men in the counsels of the State. Be assured that you are free to return and dwell with the Cavalier, your father, at your pleasure. He drew aside from the strife when he saw that the cause he fought for was hopeless, and none have interfered with him. Charles will, methinks, fight no more in England. His cause is lost, and wise men will adapt themselves to the circumstances. Let me know where you lodge to-night. You will hear further from me to-morrow.'

H

CHAPTER XXVI.

REST AT LAST.

ARRY slept at an inn in Westminster, and the next morning on going down to his breakfast, he found people much excited, a rumour having gone about that an attack had been made upon Cromwell's house during the night, and that several had been killed, but not harm done to the General. An hour afterwards, a messenger brought word that General Cromwell wished to see Colonel Furness. After his breakfast, Harry had at once gone out and purchased clothes suitable to a country gentleman; in these he proceeded to the General, and was at once shown up to his room.

'Your news was trustworthy, Colonel Furness, and Oliver Cromwell owes his life to you. Soon after midnight, one of the serving wenches opened the back-door, and eight men entered. Had no watch been set, they would doubtless have reached my room unobserved, by the staircase which leads from that part of the house. As it was, I had a guard in waiting, and, when the men were fairly inside, they fell upon them. The soldiers were too quick with them,