CHAPTER XXI
Rove not from pole to pole-the man lives here Whose razor's only equall'd by his beer; And where, in either sense, the cockney-put May, if he pleases, get confounded cut. _On the sign of an Alehouse kept by a Barber._
We are under the necessity of transporting our readers to the habitationof Benjamin Suddlechop, the husband of the active and efficient DameUrsula, and who also, in his own person, discharged more offices thanone. For, besides trimming locks and beards, and turning whiskers upwardinto the martial and swaggering curl, or downward into the droopingform which became mustaches of civil policy; besides also occasionallyletting blood, either by cupping or by the lancet, extracting a stump,and performing other actions of petty pharmacy, very nearly as well ashis neighbour Raredrench, the apothecary: he could, on occasion, drawa cup of beer as well as a tooth, tap a hogshead as well as a vein, andwash, with a draught of good ale, the mustaches which his art had justtrimmed. But he carried on these trades apart from each other.
His barber's shop projected its long and mysterious pole into FleetStreet, painted party-coloured-wise, to represent the ribbons withwhich, in elder times, that ensign was garnished. In the window wereseen rows of teeth displayed upon strings like rosaries--cups with a redrag at the bottom, to resemble blood, an intimation that patientsmight be bled, cupped, or blistered, with the assistance of "sufficientadvice;" while the more profitable, but less honourable operations uponthe hair of the head and beard, were briefly and gravely announced.Within was the well-worn leather chair for customers, the guitar, thencalled a ghittern or cittern, with which a customer might amuse himselftill his predecessor was dismissed from under Benjamin's hands, andwhich, therefore, often flayed the ears of the patient metaphorically,while his chin sustained from the razor literal scarification. All,therefore, in this department, spoke the chirurgeon-barber, or thebarber-chirurgeon.
But there was a little back-room, used as a private tap-room, which hada separate entrance by a dark and crooked alley, which communicated withFleet Street, after a circuitous passage through several by-lanesand courts. This retired temple of Bacchus had also a connexion withBenjamin's more public shop by a long and narrow entrance, conducting tothe secret premises in which a few old topers used to take their morningdraught, and a few gill-sippers their modicum of strong waters, in abashful way, after having entered the barber's shop under pretence ofbeing shaved. Besides, this obscure tap-room gave a separate admissionto the apartments of Dame Ursley, which she was believed to make use ofin the course of her multifarious practice, both to let herself secretlyout, and to admit clients and employers who cared not to be seen tovisit her in public. Accordingly, after the hour of noon, by which timethe modest and timid whetters, who were Benjamin's best customers, hadeach had his draught, or his thimbleful, the business of the tap was ina manner ended, and the charge of attending the back-door passed fromone of the barber's apprentices to the little mulatto girl, the dingyIris of Dame Suddlechop. Then came mystery thick upon mystery; muffledgallants, and masked females, in disguises of different fashions, wereseen to glide through the intricate mazes of the alley; and even the lowtap on the door, which frequently demanded the attention of thelittle Creole, had in it something that expressed secrecy and fear ofdiscovery.
It was the evening of the same day when Margaret had held the longconference with the Lady Hermione, that Dame Suddlechop had directed herlittle portress to "keep the door fast as a miser's purse-strings; and,as she valued her saffron skin, to let in none but---" the name sheadded in a whisper, and accompanied it with a nod. The little domesticblinked intelligence, went to her post, and in brief time thereafteradmitted and ushered into the presence of the dame, that verycity-gallant whose clothes sat awkwardly upon him, and who had behavedso doughtily in the fray which befell at Nigel's first visit toBeaujeu's ordinary. The mulatto introduced him--"Missis, fine younggentleman, all over gold and velvet "--then muttered to herself as sheshut the door, "fine young gentleman, he!--apprentice to him who makesthe tick-tick."
It was indeed--we are sorry to say it, and trust our readers willsympathize with the interest we take in the matter--it was indeed honestJin Vin, who had been so far left to his own devices, and abandoned byhis better angel, as occasionally to travesty himself in this fashion,and to visit, in the dress of a gallant of the day, those places ofpleasure and dissipation, in which it would have been everlastingdiscredit to him to have been seen in his real character and condition;that is, had it been possible for him in his proper shape to have gainedadmission. There was now a deep gloom on his brow, his rich habit washastily put on, and buttoned awry; his belt buckled in a most disorderlyfashion, so that his sword stuck outwards from his side, instead ofhanging by it with graceful negligence; while his poniard, though fairlyhatched and gilded, stuck in his girdle like a butcher's steel inthe fold of his blue apron. Persons of fashion had, by the way, theadvantage formerly of being better distinguished from the vulgar than atpresent; for, what the ancient farthingale and more modern hoop were tocourt ladies, the sword was to the gentleman; an article of dress, whichonly rendered those ridiculous who assumed it for the nonce, withoutbeing in the habit of wearing it. Vincent's rapier got between his legs,and, as he stumbled over it, he exclaimed--"Zounds! 'tis the second timeit has served me thus--I believe the damned trinket knows I am no truegentleman, and does it of set purpose."
"Come, come, mine honest Jin Vin--come, my good boy," said the dame, ina soothing tone, "never mind these trankums--a frank and hearty London'prentice is worth all the gallants of the inns of court."
"I was a frank and hearty London 'prentice before I knew you, DameSuddlechop," said Vincent; "what your advice has made me, you may find aname for; since, fore George! I am ashamed to think about it myself."
"A-well-a-day," quoth the dame, "and is it even so with thee?--nay,then, I know but one cure;" and with that, going to a little cornercupboard of carved wainscoat, she opened it by the assistance of a key,which, with half-a-dozen besides, hung in a silver chain at her girdle,and produced a long flask of thin glass cased with wicker, bringingforth at the same time two Flemish rummer glasses, with long stalks andcapacious wombs. She filled the one brimful for her guest, and the othermore modestly to about two-thirds of its capacity, for her ownuse, repeating, as the rich cordial trickled forth in a smooth oilystream--"Right Rosa Solis, as ever washed mulligrubs out of a moodybrain!"
But, though Jin Vin tossed off his glass without scruple, while the ladysippped hers more moderately, it did not appear to produce the expectedamendment upon his humour. On the contrary, as he threw himself into thegreat leathern chair, in which Dame Ursley was wont to solace herself ofan evening, he declared himself "the most miserable dog within the soundof Bow-bell."
"And why should you be so idle as to think yourself so, silly boy?" saidDame Suddlechop; "but 'tis always thus--fools and children never knowwhen they are well. Why, there is not one that walks in St. Paul's,whether in flat cap, or hat and feather, that has so many kind glancesfrom the wenches as you, when ye swagger along Fleet Street with yourbat under your arm, and your cap set aside upon your head. Thou knowestwell, that, from Mrs. Deputy's self down to the waist-coateers in thealley, all of them are twiring and peeping betwixt their fingers whenyou pass; and yet you call yourself a miserable dog! and I must tellyou all this over and over again, as if I were whistling the chimesof London to a pettish child, in order to bring the pretty baby intogood-humour!"
The flattery of Dame Ursula seemed to have the fate of her cordial--itwas swallowed, indeed, by the party to whom she presented it, and thatwith some degree of relish, but it did not operate as a sedative on thedisturbed state of the youth's mind. He laughed for an instant, halfin scorn, and half in gratified vanity, but cast a sullen look on DameUrsley as he replied to her last words,
"You do treat me like a child indeed, when you sing over and over to mea cuckoo song that I care not a copper-filing for."
"Aha!" said Dame Ursley; "that is t
o say, you care not if you pleaseall, unless you please one--You are a true lover, I warrant, and carenot for all the city, from here to Whitechapel, so you could writeyourself first in your pretty Peg-a-Ramsay's good-will. Well, well, takepatience, man, and be guided by me, for I will be the hoop will bind youtogether at last."
"It is time you were so," said Jenkin, "for hitherto you have ratherbeen the wedge to separate us."
Dame Suddlechop had by this time finished her cordial--it was not thefirst she had taken that day; and, though a woman of strong brain,and cautious at least, if not abstemious, in her potations, it maynevertheless be supposed that her patience was not improved by theregimen which she observed.
"Why, thou ungracious and ingrate knave," said Dame Ursley, "have notI done every thing to put thee in thy mistress's good graces? She lovesgentry, the proud Scottish minx, as a Welshman loves cheese, and hasher father's descent from that Duke of Daldevil, or whatsoever she callshim, as close in her heart as gold in a miser's chest, though sheas seldom shows it--and none she will think of, or have, but agentleman--and a gentleman I have made of thee, Jin Vin, the devilcannot deny that."
"You have made a fool of me," said poor Jenkin, looking at the sleeve ofhis jacket.
"Never the worse gentleman for that," said Dame Ursley, laughing.
"And what is worse," said he, turning his back to her suddenly, andwrithing in his chair, "you have made a rogue of me."
"Never the worse gentleman for that neither," said Dame Ursley, in thesame tone; "let a man bear his folly gaily and his knavery stoutly, andlet me see if gravity or honesty will look him in the face now-a-days.Tut, man, it was only in the time of King Arthur or King Lud, that agentleman was held to blemish his scutcheon by a leap over the lineof reason or honesty--It is the bold look, the ready hand, the fineclothes, the brisk oath, and the wild brain, that makes the gallantnow-a-days."
"I know what you have made me," said Jin Vin; "since I have given upskittles and trap-ball for tennis and bowls, good English ale for thinBordeaux and sour Rhenish, roast-beef and pudding for woodcocks andkickshaws--my bat for a sword, my cap for a beaver, my forsooth fora modish oath, my Christmas-box for a dice-box, my religion for thedevil's matins, and mine honest name for--Woman, I could brain thee,when I think whose advice has guided me in all this!"
"Whose advice, then? whose advice, then? Speak out, thou poor, pettycloak-brusher, and say who advised thee!" retorted Dame Ursley, flushedand indignant--"Marry come up, my paltry companion--say by whose adviceyou have made a gamester of yourself, and a thief besides, as yourwords would bear--The Lord deliver us from evil!" And here Dame Ursleydevoutly crossed herself.
"Hark ye, Dame Ursley Suddlechop," said Jenkin, starting up, his darkeyes flashing with anger; "remember I am none of your husband--and, ifI were, you would do well not to forget whose threshold was sweptwhen they last rode the Skimmington [Footnote: A species of triumphalprocession in honour of female supremacy, when it rose to such a heightas to attract the attention of the neighbourhood. It is described atfull length in Hudibras. (Part II. Canto II.) As the procession passedon, those who attended it in an official capacity were wont to sweepthe threshold of the houses in which Fame affirmed the mistresses toexercise paramount authority, which was given and received as a hintthat their inmates might, in their turn, be made the subject of asimilar ovation. The Skimmington, which in some degree resembledthe proceedings of Mumbo Jumbo in an African village, has been longdiscontinued in England, apparently because female rule has becomeeither milder or less frequent than among our ancestors.] upon suchanother scolding jade as yourself."
"I hope to see you ride up Holborn next," said Dame Ursley, provoked outof all her holiday and sugar-plum expressions, "with a nosegay at yourbreast, and a parson at your elbow!"
"That may well be," answered Jin Vin, bitterly, "if I walk by yourcounsels as I have begun by them; but, before that day comes, youshall know that Jin Vin has the brisk boys of Fleet Street still athis wink.--Yes, you jade, you shall be carted for bawd and conjurer,double-dyed in grain, and bing off to Bridewell, with every brass basinbetwixt the Bar and Paul's beating before you, as if the devil werebanging them with his beef-hook."
Dame Ursley coloured like scarlet, seized upon the half-emptied flask ofcordial, and seemed, by her first gesture, about to hurl it at the headof her adversary; but suddenly, and as if by a strong internal effort,she checked her outrageous resentment, and, putting the bottle to itsmore legitimate use, filled, with wonderful composure, the two glasses,and, taking up one of them, said, with a smile, which better became hercomely and jovial countenance than the fury by which it was animated themoment before--
"Here is to thee, Jin Vin, my lad, in all loving kindness, whateverspite thou bearest to me, that have always been a mother to thee."
Jenkin's English good-nature could not resist this forcible appeal; hetook up the other glass, and lovingly pledged the dame in her cup ofreconciliation, and proceeded to make a kind of grumbling apology forhis own violence--
"For you know," he said, "it was you persuaded me to get these finethings, and go to that godless ordinary, and ruffle it with the best,and bring you home all the news; and you said, I, that was the cockof the ward, would soon be the cock of the ordinary, and would winten times as much at gleek and primero, as I used to do at put andbeggar-my-neighbour--and turn up doublets with the dice, as busily as Iwas wont to trowl down the ninepins in the skittle-ground--and then yousaid I should bring you such news out of the ordinary as should makeus all, when used as you knew how to use it--and now you see what is tocome of it all!"
"'Tis all true thou sayest, lad," said the dame; "but thou must havepatience. Rome was not built in a day--you cannot become used to yourcourt-suit in a month's time, any more than when you changed your longcoat for a doublet and hose; and in gaming you must expect to lose aswell as gain--'tis the sitting gamester sweeps the board."
"The board has swept me, I know," replied Jin Vin, "and that prettyclean out.--I would that were the worst; but I owe for all this finery,and settling-day is coming on, and my master will find my accompt worsethan it should be by a score of pieces. My old father will be called into make them good; and I--may save the hangman a labour and do the jobmyself, or go the Virginia voyage."
"Do not speak so loud, my dear boy," said Dame Ursley; "but tell me whyyou borrow not from a friend to make up your arrear. You could lend himas much when his settling-day came round."
"No, no--I have had enough of that work," said Vincent. "Tunstall wouldlend me the money, poor fellow, an he had it; but his gentle, beggarlykindred, plunder him of all, and keep him as bare as a birch atChristmas. No--my fortune may be spelt in four letters, and these read,RUIN."
"Now hush, you simple craven," said the dame; "did you never hear, thatwhen the need is highest the help is nighest? We may find aid for youyet, and sooner than you are aware of. I am sure I would never haveadvised you to such a course, but only you had set heart and eye onpretty Mistress Marget, and less would not serve you--and what couldI do but advise you to cast your city-slough, and try your luck wherefolks find fortune?"
"Ay, ay--I remember your counsel well," said Jenkin; "I was to beintroduced to her by you when I was perfect in my gallantries, and asrich as the king; and then she was to be surprised to find I was poorJin Vin, that used to watch, from matin to curfew, for one glance ofher eye; and now, instead of that, she has set her soul on this Scottishsparrow-hawk of a lord that won my last tester, and be cursed to him;and so I am bankrupt in love, fortune, and character, before I am out ofmy time, and all along of you, Mother Midnight."
"Do not call me out of my own name, my dear boy, Jin Vin," answeredUrsula, in a tone betwixt rage and coaxing,--"do not; because I am nosaint, but a poor sinful woman, with no more patience than she needs,to carry her through a thousand crosses. And if I have done you wrong byevil counsel, I must mend it and put you right by good advice. And forthe score of pieces that must be made up at settling-day, why, here is,in a
good green purse, as much as will make that matter good; andwe will get old Crosspatch, the tailor, to take a long day for yourclothes; and--"
"Mother, are you serious?" said Jin Vin, unable to trust either his eyesor his ears.
"In troth am I," said the dame; "and will you call me Mother Midnightnow, Jin Vin?"
"Mother Midnight!" exclaimed Jenkin, hugging the dame in his transport,and bestowing on her still comely cheek a hearty and not unacceptablesmack, that sounded like the report of a pistol,--"Mother Midday,rather, that has risen to light me out of my troubles--a mother moredear than she who bore me; for she, poor soul, only brought me into aworld of sin and sorrow, and your timely aid has helped me out of theone and the other." And the good-natured fellow threw himself back inhis chair, and fairly drew his hand across his eyes.
"You would not have me be made to ride the Skimmington then," said thedame; "or parade me in a cart, with all the brass basins of the wardbeating the march to Bridewell before me?"
"I would sooner be carted to Tyburn myself," replied the penitent.
"Why, then, sit up like a man, and wipe thine eyes; and, if thou artpleased with what I have done, I will show thee how thou mayst requiteme in the highest degree."
"How?" said Jenkin Vincent, sitting straight up in his chair.--"Youwould have me, then, do you some service for this friendship of yours?"
"Ay, marry would I," said Dame Ursley; "for you are to know, that thoughI am right glad to stead you with it, this gold is not mine, but wasplaced in my hands in order to find a trusty agent, for a certainpurpose; and so--But what's the matter with you?--are you fool enough tobe angry because you cannot get a purse of gold for nothing? I wouldI knew where such were to come by. I never could find them lying in myroad, I promise you."
"No, no, dame," said poor Jenkin, "it is not for that; for, look you,I would rather work these ten bones to the knuckles, and live by mylabour; but--" (and here he paused.)
"But what, man?" said Dame Ursley. "You are willing to work for what youwant; and yet, when I offer you gold for the winning, you look on me asthe devil looks over Lincoln."
"It is ill talking of the devil, mother," said Jenkin. "I had him evennow in my head--for, look you, I am at that pass, when they say hewill appear to wretched ruined creatures, and proffer them gold for thefee-simple of their salvation. But I have been trying these two days tobring my mind strongly up to the thought, that I will rather sit downin shame, and sin, and sorrow, as I am like to do, than hold on in illcourses to get rid of my present straits; and so take care, Dame Ursula,how you tempt me to break such a good resolution."
"I tempt you to nothing, young man," answered Ursula; "and, as Iperceive you are too wilful to be wise, I will e'en put my purse in mypocket, and look out for some one that will work my turn with betterwill, and more thankfulness. And you may go your own course,--breakyour indenture, ruin your father, lose your character, and bid prettyMistress Margaret farewell, for ever and a day."
"Stay, stay," said Jenkin "the woman is in as great a hurry as a brownbaker when his oven is overheated. First, let me hear that which youhave to propose to me."
"Why, after all, it is but to get a gentleman of rank and fortune, whois in trouble, carried in secret down the river, as far as the Isle ofDogs, or somewhere thereabout, where he may lie concealed until he canescape aboard. I know thou knowest every place by the river's side aswell as the devil knows an usurer, or the beggar knows his dish."
"A plague of your similes, dame," replied the apprentice; "for the devilgave me that knowledge, and beggary may be the end on't.--But what hasthis gentleman done, that he should need to be under hiding? No Papist,I hope--no Catesby and Piercy business--no Gunpowder Plot?"
"Fy, fy!--what do you take me for?" said Dame Ursula. "I am as good achurchwoman as the parson's wife, save that necessary business will notallow me to go there oftener than on Christmas-day, heaven help me!--No,no--this is no Popish matter. The gentleman hath but struck another inthe Park--"
"Ha! what?" said Vincent, interrupting her with a start.
"Ay, ay, I see you guess whom I mean. It is even he we have spoken of sooften--just Lord Glenvarloch, and no one else."
Vincent sprung from his seat, and traversed the room with rapid anddisorderly steps.
"There, there it is now--you are always ice or gunpowder. You sit in thegreat leathern armchair, as quiet as a rocket hangs upon the frame in arejoicing-night till the match be fired, and then, whizz! you are in thethird heaven, beyond the reach of the human voice, eye, or brain.--Whenyou have wearied yourself with padding to and fro across the room, willyou tell me your determination, for time presses? Will you aid me inthis matter, or not?"
"No--no--no--a thousand times no," replied Jenkin. "Have you notconfessed to me, that Margaret loves him?"
"Ay," answered the dame, "that she thinks she does; but that will notlast long."
"And have I not told you but this instant," replied Jenkin, "that it wasthis same Glenvarloch that rooked me, at the ordinary, of every penny Ihad, and made a knave of me to boot, by gaining more than was my own?--Othat cursed gold, which Shortyard, the mercer, paid me that morning onaccompt, for mending the clock of Saint Stephen's! If I had not, by illchance, had that about me, I could but have beggared my purse, withoutblemishing my honesty; and, after I had been rooked of all the restamongst them, I must needs risk the last five pieces with that sharkamong the minnows!"
"Granted," said Dame Ursula. "All this I know; and I own, that as LordGlenvarloch was the last you played with, you have a right to chargeyour ruin on his head. Moreover, I admit, as already said, that Margarethas made him your rival. Yet surely, now he is in danger to lose hishand, it is not a time to remember all this?"
"By my faith, but it is, though," said the young citizen. "Lose hishand, indeed? They may take his head, for what I care. Head and handhave made me a miserable wretch!"
"Now, were it not better, my prince of flat-caps," said Dame Ursula,"that matters were squared between you; and that, through means of thesame Scottish lord, who has, as you say, deprived you of your money andyour mistress, you should in a short time recover both?"
"And how can your wisdom come to that conclusion, dame?" said theapprentice. "My money, indeed, I can conceive--that is, if I comply withyour proposal; but--my pretty Marget!--how serving this lord, whomshe has set her nonsensical head upon, can do me good with her, is farbeyond my conception."
"That is because, in simple phrase," said Dame Ursula, "thou knowest nomore of a woman's heart than doth a Norfolk gosling. Look you, man.Were I to report to Mistress Margaret that the young lord has miscarriedthrough thy lack of courtesy in refusing to help him, why, then, thouwert odious to her for ever. She will loathe thee as she will loathe thevery cook who is to strike off Glenvarloch's hand with his cleaver--andthen she will be yet more fixed in her affections towards this lord.London will hear of nothing but him--speak of nothing but him--thinkof nothing but him, for three weeks at least, and all that outcry willserve to keep him uppermost in her mind; for nothing pleases a girl somuch as to bear relation to any one who is the talk of the whole worldaround her. Then, if he suffer this sentence of the law, it is a chanceif she ever forgets him. I saw that handsome, proper young gentlemanBabington, suffer in the Queen's time myself, and though I was then buta girl, he was in my head for a year after he was hanged. But, aboveall, pardoned or punished, Glenvarloch will probably remain in London,and his presence will keep up the silly girl's nonsensical fancy abouthim. Whereas, if he escapes--"
"Ay, show me how that is to avail me?" said Jenkin. "If he escapes,"said the dame, resuming her argument, "he must resign the Court foryears, if not for life; and you know the old saying, 'out of sight, andout of mind.'"
"True--most true," said Jenkin; "spoken like an oracle, most wiseUrsula."
"Ay, ay, I knew you would hear reason at last," said the wily dame; "andthen, when this same lord is off and away for once and for ever, who, Ipray you, is to be pretty pet's confiden
tial person, and who is to fillup the void in her affections?--why, who but thou, thou pearl of'prentices! And then you will have overcome your own inclinations tocomply with hers, and every woman is sensible of that--and you will haverun some risk, too, in carrying her desires into effect--and what is itthat woman likes better than bravery, and devotion to her will? Then youhave her secret, and she must treat you with favour and observance, andrepose confidence in you, and hold private intercourse with you, tillshe weeps with one eye for the absent lover whom she is never to seeagain, and blinks with the other blithely upon him who is in presence;and then if you know not how to improve the relation in which you standwith her, you are not the brisk lively lad that all the world takes youfor--Said I well?"
"You have spoken like an empress, most mighty Ursula," said JenkinVincent; "and your will shall be obeyed."
"You know Alsatia well?" continued his tutoress.
"Well enough, well enough," replied he with a nod; "I have heard thedice rattle there in my day, before I must set up for gentleman, and goamong the gallants at the Shavaleer Bojo's, as they call him,--the worserookery of the two, though the feathers are the gayest."
"And they will have a respect for thee yonder, I warrant?"
"Ay, ay," replied Vin, "when I am got into my fustian doublet again,with my bit of a trunnion under my arm, I can walk Alsatia at midnightas I could do that there Fleet Street in midday--they will not one ofthem swagger with the prince of 'prentices, and the king of clubs--theyknow I could bring every tall boy in the ward down upon them."
"And you know all the watermen, and so forth?"
"Can converse with every sculler in his own language, from Richmond toGravesend, and know all the water-cocks, from John Taylor the Poet tolittle Grigg the Grinner, who never pulls but he shows all his teethfrom ear to ear, as if he were grimacing through a horse-collar."
"And you can take any dress or character upon you well, such as awaterman's, a butcher's, a foot-soldier's," continued Ursula, "or thelike?"
"Not such a mummer as I am within the walls, and thou knowest thatwell enough, dame," replied the apprentice. "I can touch the playersthemselves, at the Ball and at the Fortune, for presenting any thingexcept a gentleman. Take but this d--d skin of frippery off me, whichI think the devil stuck me into, and you shall put me into nothing elsethat I will not become as if I were born to it."
"Well, we will talk of your transmutation by and by," said the dame,"and find you clothes withal, and money besides; for it will take a gooddeal to carry the thing handsomely through."
"But where is that money to come from, dame?" said Jenkin; "there is aquestion I would fain have answered before I touch it."
"Why, what a fool art thou to ask such a question! Suppose I am contentto advance it to please young madam, what is the harm then?"
"I will suppose no such thing," said Jenkin, hastily; "I know that you,dame, have no gold to spare, and maybe would not spare it if you had--sothat cock will not crow. It must be from Margaret herself."
"Well, thou suspicious animal, and what if it were?" said Ursula.
"Only this," replied Jenkin, "that I will presently to her, and learn ifshe has come fairly by so much ready money; for sooner than connive ather getting it by any indirection, I would hang myself at once. It isenough what I have done myself, no need to engage poor Margaret in suchvillainy--I'll to her, and tell her of the danger--I will, by heaven!"
"You are mad to think of it," said Dame Suddlechop, considerablyalarmed--"hear me but a moment. I know not precisely from whom she gotthe money; but sure I am that she obtained it at her godfather's."
"Why, Master George Heriot is not returned from France," said Jenkin.
"No," replied Ursula, "but Dame Judith is at home--and the strange lady,whom they call Master Heriot's ghost--she never goes abroad."
"It is very true, Dame Suddlechop," said Jenkin; "and I believe you haveguessed right--they say that lady has coin at will; and if Marget canget a handful of fairy-gold, why, she is free to throw it away at will."
"Ah, Jin Vin," said the dame, reducing her voice almost to a whisper,"we should not want gold at will neither, could we but read the riddleof that lady!"
"They may read it that list," said Jenkin, "I'll never pry into whatconcerns me not--Master George Heriot is a worthy and brave citizen, andan honour to London, and has a right to manage his own household as helikes best.--There was once a talk of rabbling him the fifth of Novemberbefore the last, because they said he kept a nunnery in his house, likeold Lady Foljambe; but Master George is well loved among the 'prentices,and we got so many brisk boys of us together as should have rabbled therabble, had they had but the heart to rise."
"Well, let that pass," said Ursula; "and now, tell me how you willmanage to be absent from shop a day or two, for you must think that thismatter will not be ended sooner."
"Why, as to that, I can say nothing," said Jenkin, "I have always servedduly and truly; I have no heart to play truant, and cheat my master ofhis time as well as his money."
"Nay, but the point is to get back his money for him," said Ursula,"which he is not likely to see on other conditions. Could you not askleave to go down to your uncle in Essex for two or three days? He may beill, you know."
"Why, if I must, I must," said Jenkin, with a heavy sigh; "but I willnot be lightly caught treading these dark and crooked paths again."
"Hush thee, then," said the dame, "and get leave for this very evening;and come back hither, and I will introduce you to another implement,who must be employed in the matter.--Stay, stay!--the lad is mazed--youwould not go into your master's shop in that guise, surely? Your trunkis in the matted chamber, with your 'prentice things--go and put them onas fast as you can."
"I think I am bewitched," said Jenkin, giving a glance towards hisdress, "or that these fool's trappings have made as great an ass ofme as of many I have seen wear them; but let line once be rid of theharness, and if you catch me putting it on again, I will give you leaveto sell me to a gipsy, to carry pots, pans, and beggar's bantlings, allthe rest of my life." So saying, he retired to change his apparel.