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STORIES FROM OLD ENGLISH POETRY.

threatened to have both Perdita and her father punished for the share they had had in leading his son from his duty. After this the king marched off in great rage, leaving the poor young lovers quite overwhelmed with astonishment and fear. Camillo lingered behind, and to him Florizel told his immediate resolve, which was to take Perdita and fly with her from the shores of Bohemia, to some far-off land, where love was not treason.

Camillo heard him attentively, and seeing he was resolved on flight, he debated within his mind how he might best serve the king, the prince, and his own wishes, all at once. He hit on this plan. He would advise Florizel to go to Sicily to visit the court of Leontes, who was now so repentant for his conduct to Polixenes, that he would gladly welcome his son. Then Camillo thought, after the departure of Florizel, he would tell Polixenes of his son’s whereabouts, and the king, whose anger would have cooled by this time, could go after Florizel, bring him back, and they would be reconciled: while he, Camillo, could accompany the monarch in his journey to Sicily, and thus behold again his native country, for which he had always secretly pined. It must be confessed that Camillo did not think much about Perdita in the affair, and did not much care whether Polixenes was reconciled to