ole. There she lay stretched out upon the sofa, her
angel head leaning upon her hand, so that the raven locks poured
through the little white fingers, a beautiful sight! Her dress was of
silver tissue, through which the bosom and the arms were visible, and
on her feet she had golden slippers. One had fallen off, and showed
that she wore no stockings, so that the naked foot peeped forth from
under the garments. But, my good Mr. Tyss, she is no doubt still lying
on the sofa; and if you will take the trouble of peeping through the
key-hole----"

"What do you say?" interrupted Peregrine with vehemence; "what do you
say? Shall I expose myself to her seductive sight, which might urge me
into all manner of follies?"

"Courage, Peregrine! resist the temptation!" lisped a voice close
beside him, which he instantly recognised for that of Master Flea.

The old woman laughed mysteriously, and after a few minutes' silence
said,--"I will tell you the whole matter, as it seems to me. Whether
the strange lady be a princess or not, thus much is certain, that she
is of rank and rich, and that Mr. Swammer has taken up her cause
warmly, and must have been long acquainted with her. And why did she
run after you, dear Mr. Tyss? I say, because she is desperately in love
with you, and love makes people blind and mad, and leads even
princesses into the strangest and most inconsiderate follies. A gipsy
prophesied to your late mother that you would one day be happy in a
marriage when you least expected it. Now it is coming true."

And with this the old woman began again describing how beautiful the
lady looked. It may be easily supposed that Peregrine felt overwhelmed.
At last he broke out with, "Silence, I pray you, of such things. The
lady in love with me! How silly! how absurd!"

"Umph!" said the old woman; "if that were not the case she would not
have sighed so piteously, she would not have exclaimed so lamentably,
'no, my dear Peregrine, my sweet friend, you will not, you cannot be
cruel to me. I shall see you again, and enjoy all the happiness of
heaven.'--And our old Mr. Swammer! she has quite changed him. Did
I ever use to get any thing of him but a paltry sixpence for a
Christmas-box? And now he gave me this morning a crown, with such a
kind look--no common thing with him--as a douceur beforehand for my
services to the lady. There's something in it all. I'll lay you any
thing that in the end Mr. Swammer is her ambassador to you."