ROYALTY IMPOUNDED 



by a party of farm-hands, armed with pitch- 

 forks. Having issued instructions to his force to 

 resist any attempt on the part of the entrapped 

 ones to escape, he saluted the discomfited horse- 

 men with " Now I've got 'ee ! " Asked for an 

 explanation, he announced that he claimed a 

 pound for trespass, and gave all concerned to 

 understand that they would remain where they 

 were till it was forthcoming. 



Some one hastened to impart the name of the 

 illustrous personage whom he had impounded, 

 the informant being under the impression that 

 it was only necessary to mention this to ensure 

 an instant release and a humble apology. But 

 " Lawyer " H. was not built that way, and the 

 only response he vouchsafed was : " Prince or 

 no prince, I mean to have a sovereign before any 

 of you go." 



His Royal Highness, who was intensely 

 amused when he grasped the situation, took the 

 affront most good-humouredly. As it happened, 

 not anticipating he would ever be called upon to 

 pay ransom in a land over which he was predestined 

 one day to rule, he had made no privision for such 

 an emergency, and had not so much as a sovereign 

 in his pocket. His friends, happily, were able to 

 come to the rescue, and by satisfying the demand 

 in full, secured the release of their future sovereign 

 and themselves. Perchance, if, some centuries 

 hence, the historical novel comes once more into 

 fashion, the scene in the farmyard at Barton may 

 furnish a striking incident for one of the chapters, 

 and may serve to illustrate the revolutionary 

 tendencies of the nineteenth century in England, 



19 



