"Refreshments," Browne chuckled. "He threatened to empty the Palace tanks and drown them."
"I'm sorry to say," continued my Lord, "that Trooper Browne was rude to Mr. Briggs. If his carbine had actually gone off—the dynamite you know—the situation needed delicate handling."
"They sneaked behind Sydney and made him prisoner!" cried Browne, indignantly.
"A guest," said my Lord, correcting him. "I had ventured to suggest that the explosives should be moved further down the tunnel and stacked underneath the Departments of State in Whitehall, Ulster's seat of Government. They thought he might be annoyed, and Ulster, you see, provided food for their wives and families. They offered to take me to his Grace of Ulster."
"They lashed him down on the barge," said Trooper Browne.
"Yes," my Lord assented; "Browne jumped down into the barge on top of me, ran his sword through Mr. Briggs, settled with the electrician, and cut me loose. The rest of the men attacked us vigorously, but it was hardly fair play, as we could not provide them with swords. Several were hurt. After Browne's jump, I had little wind for talking, but in the end we resumed the conversation just where it left off."
"He'd talk a bird off a tree!" said Browne.
"Somehow," my dear Lord flushed, "I have a knack of making friends with the very roughest men, though I always fail with the smooth. This dear Browne, for instance, seems to get on with me. I told the sewer men that I had the honour to be Ulster's next-of-kin—that—that if—if the Lord Protector were to leave this world which he has so graced, certain estates would fall to me—which I could not accept. In fact, by a written deed I made them in some measure heirs of his Grace—and more suitable heirs than I for such a nobleman. I expressly by deed forbade them to assist at his death. If Whitehall is changed by earthquake, no man will fire the mine save my Lord Protector. He has laid mines, let him fire his mines with his own hand, and go to his God for judgment."
The Queen's hand stole out softly and rested upon my Lord's shoulder.
"And may I go on?" he asked.