  The Archbishop paled, then flushed, and passed the
hose to the Lord High Admiral, whispering, “See, my lord!”  The Admiral
passed the hose to the Hereditary Grand Diaperer, and had hardly breath
enough in his body to ejaculate, “See, my lord!”  The hose drifted
backward along the line, to the Chief Steward of the Household, the
Constable of the Tower, Norroy King-at-Arms, the Master of the Wardrobe,
the Chancellor Royal of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Third Groom of the
Stole, the Head Ranger of Windsor Forest, the Second Gentleman of the
Bedchamber, the First Lord of the Buckhounds,--accompanied always with
that amazed and frightened “See! see!”--till they finally reached the
hands of the Chief Equerry in Waiting, who gazed a moment, with a pallid
face, upon what had caused all this dismay, then hoarsely whispered,
“Body of my life, a tag gone from a truss-point!--to the Tower with
the Head Keeper of the King’s Hose!”--after which he leaned upon the
shoulder of the First Lord of the Buckhounds to regather his vanished
strength whilst fresh hose, without any damaged strings to them, were
brought.