"Give him his books! You do not want them!" But on that the men turned savagely upon us.

They did not thank us for the part we had already taken; and this they thought was going too far.
They were half drunk and quarrelsome, and being two to one, and two over, began to flourish their weapons in our faces.

Mischief would certainly have been done, and very quickly, had not an unexpected ally appeared on our side.
"Put up! put up!" this gentleman cried in a boisterous voice--he was already in our midst.

"What is all this about?
What is the use of fighting amongst ourselves, when there is many a bonny throat to cut, and heaven to be gained by it! put up, I say!" "Who are you ?" they roared in chorus.
"The Duke of Guise!" he answered coolly.

"Let the gentlemen go, and be hanged to you, you rascals!" The man's bearing was a stronger argument than his words, for I am sure that a stouter or more reckless blade never swaggered in church or street.