of Melchthal--"says he does not like taxes, and that he isn't going to
put up with them any longer."

"Tut-tut!" murmured the executioner.

"See what you can do for him."

"Certainly, your Excellency. Robert," he cried, "is the oil on the
boil?"

"Just this minute boiled over," replied a voice from the other side of
the door.

"Then bring it in, and mind you don't spill any."

Enter Robert, in a suit of armour and a black mask, carrying a large
caldron, from which the steam rose in great clouds.

"Now, sir, if you please," said the executioner politely to Arnold of
Melchthal.

Arnold looked at the caldron.

"Why, it's hot," he said.

"Warmish," admitted the executioner.

"It's against the law to threaten a man with hot oil."

[Illustration: PLATE I]