154 MASTER SKYLARK

—ye have sworn. The boy is mine to have and to hold,
with all that he earns, in spite of thy prerogatives.”

For the kings of old had given the masters of this school
the right to take for St. Paul’s choir whatever voices
pleased them, wherever they might be found, by force if
not by favor, barring only the royal singers at Windsor ;
and when men have such privileges it is best to be wary
how one puts temptation in their way.

“Thou hadst mine oath before I even saw the boy,”
said the. precentor, haughtily. ‘Dost think me perjured
—Primus Magister Scholarum, Custos Morum, Quartus
Custos Rotulorum? Pouf! Iknowmy place. My oath’s
my oath. But, soft; enough—here comes the boy. Who
could have told a skylark in such popinjay attire?”