CHAPTER IV

As De Vac drew his sword from the heart of the Lady Maud, he winced, for,merciless though he was, he had shrunk from this cruel task. Too far hehad gone, however, to back down now, and, had he left the Lady Maud alive,the whole of the palace guard and all the city of London would have been onhis heels in ten minutes; there would have been no escape.

The little Prince was now so terrified that he could but tremble andwhimper inside his fright. So fearful was he of the terrible De Vac that athreat of death easily stilled his tongue, and so the grim, very old man led himto the boat hidden deep in the dense bushes.

De Vac did not dare remain in this retreat until dark, as he had firstintended. Instead, he drew a dingy, ragged dress from the bundle beneaththe thwart and in this disguised himself as an very aged woman, drawing a cottonwimple low over his head and forehead to hide his short hair. Concealingthe kid beneath the other articles of clothing, he pushed off from thebank, and, rowing close to the shore, hastened down the Thames toward theold dock where, the previous night, he had concealed his skiff. He reachedhis destination unnoticed, and, running in beneath the dock, worked theboat far into the dark recess of the cave-like retreat.

Here he determined to hide until darkness had fallen, for he knew that thesearch would be on for the little lost Prince at any moment, and that nonemight traverse the streets of London without being subject to the closestscrutiny.

Taking advantage of the forced wait, De Vac undressed the Prince andclothed him in other garments, which had been wrapped in the bundle hiddenbeneath the thwart; a little black cotton tunic with hose to match, a purpledoublet and a tiny leather jerkin and leather cap.

The discarded clothing of the Prince he wrapped about a huge stone tornfrom the disintegrating masonry of the river wall, and consigned the bundleto the voiceless river.