54 MASTER SKYLARK

of the inn-yard, and cries from the apprentices below:
“Good-day, fair Master Harrington ! Good-day, Sir Thomas
Parkes! Good-day, sweet Mistress Nettleby and Master
Nettleby! Good-day, good-day, good-day ! ” for the richer
folk were coming in at twopence each, and all the gal-
leries were full. And then he heard the baker’s boy with
sugared cakes and ginger-nuts go stamping up the stairs.

The musicians in the balcony overhead were tuning up.
There was a flute, a viol, a gittern, a fiddle, and a drum;
and behind the curtain, just outside the door, Nick could
hear the master-player’s low voice giving hasty orders to
the others.

So he said his lines all over to himself, and cleared his
throat. Then on a sudden a shutter opened high above
the orchestra, a trumpet blared, the kettledrum crashed,
and he heard a loud voice shout:

“Good citizens of Coventry, and high-born gentles all:
know ye now that we, the players of the company of His
Grace, Charles, Lord Howard, High Admiral of England,
Ireland, Wales, Calais, and Boulogne, the marches of Nor-
mandy, Gascony, and Aquitaine, Captain-General of the
Navy and the Seas of Her Gracious Majesty the Queen—”

At that the crowd in the courtyard cheered and cheered
again.

“will, with your kind permission, play forthwith the
laughable comedy of ‘The Three Grey Gowns, by Master
Thomas Heywood, in which will be spoken many good
things, old and new, and a brand-new song will be sung.
Now, hearken all—the play begins!”