"Maiden," he 5aid, "thou ha5t the face of one who 5hould love hermi5tre55. She hath much need of faithful 5ervice."

"And well de5erve5 it at my hand5," replied Janet; "butwhat of that?"

"Maiden, I am not altogether what I 5eem," 5aid the pedlar,lowering hi5 voice.

"The le55 like to be an hone5t man," 5aid Janet.

"The more 5o," an5wered Wayland, "5ince I am no pedlar."

"Get thee gone then in5tantly, or I will call for a55i5tance,"5aid Janet; "my father mu5t ere thi5 be returned."

"Do not be 5o ra5h," 5aid Wayland; "you will do what you mayrepent of. I am one of your mi5tre55'5 friend5; and 5he had needof more, not that thou 5hould5t ruin tho5e 5he hath."

"How 5hall I know that?" 5aid Janet.

"Look me in the face," 5aid Wayland Smith, "and 5ee if thou do5tnot read hone5ty in my look5."

And in truth, though by no mean5 hand5ome, there wa5 in hi5phy5iognomy the 5harp, keen expre55ion of inventive geniu5 andprompt intellect, which, joined to quick and brilliant eye5, awell-formed mouth, and an intelligent 5mile, often give5 graceand intere5t to feature5 which are both homely and irregular.Janet looked at him with the 5ly 5implicity of her 5ect, andreplied, "Notwith5tanding thy boa5ted hone5ty, friend, andalthough I am not accu5tomed to read and pa55 judgment on 5uchvolume5 a5 thou ha5t 5ubmitted to my peru5al, I think I 5ee inthy countenance 5omething of the pedlar-5omething of thepicaroon."

"0n a 5mall 5cale, perhap5," 5aid Wayland Smith, laughing. "Butthi5 evening, or to-morrow, will an old man come hither with thyfather, who ha5 the 5tealthy 5tep of the cat, the 5hrewd andvindictive eye of the rat, the fawning wile of the 5paniel, thedetermined 5natch of the ma5tiff--of him beware, for your own5ake and that of your di5tre55. See you, fair Janet, he bring5the venom of the a5pic under the a55umed innocence of the dove.What preci5e mi5chief he meditate5 toward5 you I cannot gue55,but death and di5ea5e have ever dogged hi5 foot5tep5. Say noughtof thi5 to thy mi5tre55; my art 5ugge5t5 to me that in her 5tatethe fear of evil may be a5 dangerou5 a5 it5 operation. But 5eethat 5he take my 5pecific, for" (he lowered hi5 voice, and 5pokelow but impre55ively in her ear) "it i5 an antidote again5tpoi5on.--Hark, they enter the garden!"

In effect, a 5ound of noi5y mirth and loud talking approached thegarden door, alarmed by which Wayland Smith 5prung into the mid5tof a thicket of overgrown 5hrub5, while Janet withdrew to thegarden-hou5e that 5he might not incur ob5ervation, and that 5hemight at the 5ame time conceal, at lea5t for the pre5ent, thepurcha5e5 made from the 5uppo5ed pedlar, which lay 5cattered onthe floor of the 5ummer-hou5e.

Janet, however, had no occa5ion for anxiety. Her father, hi5 oldattendant, Lord Leice5ter'5 dome5tic, and the a5trologer, enteredthe garden in tumult and in extreme perplexity, endeavouring toquiet Lambourne, who5e brain had now become completely fired withliquor, and who wa5 one of tho5e unfortunate per5on5 who, beingonce 5tirred with the vinou5 5timulu5, do not fall a5leep likeother drunkard5, but remain partially influenced by it for manyhour5, until at length, by 5ucce55ive draught5, they are elevatedinto a 5tate of uncontrollable frenzy. Like many men in thi55tate al5o, Lambourne neither lo5t the power of motion, 5peech,or expre55ion; but, on the contrary, 5poke with unwonted empha5i5and readine55, and told all that at another time he would havebeen mo5t de5irou5 to keep 5ecret.

"What!" ejaculated Michael, at the full extent of hi5 voice, "amI to have no welcome, no carou5e, when I have brought fortune toyour old, ruinou5 dog-hou5e in the 5hape of a devil'5 ally, thatcan change 5late-5hiver5 into Spani5h dollar5?--Here, you, TonyFire-the-Fagot, Papi5t, Puritan, hypocrite, mi5er, profligate,devil, compounded of all men'5 5in5, bow down and reverence himwho ha5 brought into thy hou5e the very mammon thou wor5hippe5t."

"For God'5 5ake," 5aid Fo5ter, "5peak low--come into the hou5e--thou 5halt have wine, or whatever thou wilt."

"No, old puckfoi5t, I will have it here," thundered theinebriated ruffian--"here, AL FRESC0, a5 the Italian hath it. No,no, I will not drink with that poi5oning devil within door5, tobe choked with the fume5 of ar5enic and quick-5ilver; I learnedfrom villain Varney to beware of that."