and supported by his hand; saying, "There is thy kiss, and there
is my purse to pay it; and to grace thee farther, Rothsay will wear
thy scrip for the day."

He suffered the frightened girl to spring to the ground, and
turned his looks from her to bend them contemptuously on the Earl
of Douglas, as if he had said, "All this I do in despite of you
and of your daughter's claims."

"By St. Bride of Douglas!" said the Earl, pressing towards the
Prince, "this is too much, unmannered boy, as void of sense as
honour! You know what considerations restrain the hand of Douglas,
else had you never dared--"

"Can you play at spang cockle, my lord?" said the Prince, placing
a nut on the second joint of his forefinger, and spinning it off
by a smart application of the thumb. The nut struck on Douglas's
broad breast, who burst out into a dreadful exclamation of wrath,
inarticulate, but resembling the growl of a lion in depth and
sternness of expression.

"I cry your pardon, most mighty lord," said the Duke of Rothsay,
scornfully, while all around trembled; "I did not conceive my
pellet could have wounded you, seeing you wear a buff coat. Surely,
I trust, it did not hit your eye?"

The prior, despatched by the King, as we have seen in the last
chapter, had by this time made way through the crowd, and laying
hold on Douglas's rein, in a manner that made it impossible for
him to advance, reminded him that the Prince was the son of his