d for the Duddery, the great mart for
wholesale dealers in woollen manufactures, which was to occupy a
considerable portion of the meadow in which the fair was held. In the
vehicles from London were conveyed milliners, toy-sellers, goldsmiths,
turners, haberdashers, mercers, drapers, hatters, and in fact
representatives of all the trades of the metropolis.

At a short distance from Cambridge the drove came fairly to a stop,
when, as it chanced, Brinsmead and Jack found close to them, mounted on
a tall pack-horse, a personage who by the peculiar cut of his somewhat
threadbare garments they took to be a humble student of divinity. He
wore a shabby cassock and a shovel hat, sitting the animal on which he
journeyed sideways with a book in his hand, making a reading-desk
occasionally of a bale of some sort which towered above the horse's
neck. Old Will at once entered into conversation with him, and confided
afterwards to Jack that he had been highly edified by his correct and
judicious remarks. Jack had, however, remarked a peculiar twinkle in
the student's eye when talking to the old man, which made him suspect
his sincerity. He appeared, however, to be very well informed on many
subjects, and still further won Master Brinsmead's heart by showing that
he possessed some knowledge of the art of breeding cattle, and of
healing their diseases, but little understood in those days. They were,
however, again separated, and no more was seen of the divinity student.

At length the towers and spires of Cambridge, rising from the groves and
gardens of the classic Cam, came in sight.

When Jack Deane rode up to the far-famed meadow, he might well be
astonished at the scene he beheld. The sun shone brilliantly on a vast
expanse of canvas, with bright-coloured streamers flying over it, and
appropriate sign-boards, gilt weathercocks, and other painted ornaments,
forming regular streets, and reaching from the high-road which runs
between Cambridge and Newmarket to the river.

The "Duddery" was separated from the rest of the fair, and contained
larger and more substantial buildings for the display of its valuable
bales and its vast pockets of wool, one of which was sufficient to load
a waggon. Here, too, great quantities of Yorkshire clothing were
exhibited for sale, as well as the produce of the hosiery towns, such as
Nottingham, Leicester, and Derby. The sale of wool, however, did not
begin till the lighter goods had been dis