you as my king, I will do it, but I bow not to you as the head of
the holy Church!

A murmur of surprise flew through the assembly, and every eye was
turned with fear and amazement on this bold young girl, who
confronted the king with a countenance smiling and glowing with
enthusiasm.

At a sign from Henry the kneelers arose and awaited in breathless
silence the terrible scene that was coming.

A pause ensued. King Henry himself was struggling for breath, and
needed a moment to collect himself.

Not as though wrath and passion had deprived him of speech. He was
neither wrathful nor passionate, and it was only joy that obstructed
his breathing--the joy of having again found a victim with which he
might satisfy his desire for blood, on whose agony he might feast
his eyes, whose dying sigh he might greedily inhale.

The king was never more cheerful than when he had signed a death-
warrant. For then he was in full enjoyment of his greatness as lord
over the lives and deaths of millions of other men, and this feeling
made him proud and happy, and fully conscious of his exalted
position.

Hence, as he now turned to Anne Askew, his countenance was calm and
serene, and his voice friendly, almost tender.

"Anne Askew," said he, "do you know that the words vou have now