Page:1882. The Prince and The Pauper. A Tale for Young People of All Ages.djvu/359

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CHAPTER XXXI.


THE RECOGNITION PROCESSION.


When Tom Canty awoke the next morning, the air was heavy with a thunderous murmur: all the distances were charged with it.
THE START FOR THE TOWER.
It was music to him; for it meant that the English world was out in its strength to give loyal welcome to the great day.

Presently Tom found himself once more the chief figure in a wonderful floating pageant on the Thames; for by ancient custom the "recognition procession" through London must start from the Tower, and he was bound thither.

When he arrived there, the sides of the venerable fortress seemed suddenly rent in a thousand

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