6% A SPOKE IN THE WHEEL.

he looked as woe-begone as it was possible for any
young apprentice to look who was over head and
ears in love. He was not well, he said ; he was, to
use the words of a country swain in love, “ hot and
dry, like, with a pain in his side, like ;” and he pre-
scribed for himself a walk in the fresh air, which
Mr. Osborne freely permitted to him, deputing
Reynolds to finish his work below.

Williams dressed himself with great care, and putting
on his great-coat, made the best of his way to the
clog and patten-maker’s, not failing to sec, as he
passed along the streets, on every blank wall and
every projecting house-corner, the name of his fair
one in the play-bills for the night, “‘ To be performed
this evening, the Fair Quaker of Deal, the part of
the Fair Quaker, by Miss Jessie Bannerman.” Jessie
was the attraction of the company—the whole town
acknowledged it. The sight of her name added to
his impatience ; he reached the house, and thinking
neither of the patten-maker nor his wife, rushed
through the kitchen, where they sat at tea, without
any precaution of concealment, and knocking hur-
riedly at the parlour-door, entered without waiting
for permission from within.

“ Why, that’s Osborne’s smart apprentice, for
sure,” exclaimed the patten-maker’s wife ; “so, he 8
smitten, is he, with that young player-wench ¢”

“Why, how many young chaps are there after
her?” asked her husband.

“ Half-a-score,” said the wife, “at least ;” and
began counting them on her fingers.

Williams's entrance produced quite a sensation
among the three persons in the room. The old
woman, who sat with her spectacles on, sewing