ad passed, seized every opportunity, when he was so placed that
neither the merchant nor his clerk could observe his face to make
grimaces at Harry, indicative of contempt and derision. Harry was sorely
tempted to laugh; but, with an effort, he kept his countenance, assuming
only a grim of wonder which greatly gratified Jacob, who thought that he
had obtained as companion a butt who would afford him infinite
amusement.

After the merchant had continued his writing for an hour, he laid down
his pen, and saying to Harry "Follow me; I will speak to Dame Alice, my
wife, concerning thee," left the shop and entered the inner portion of
the house, followed by Harry. The merchant led him into a sitting-room
on the floor above, where his wife, a comely dame, was occupied with her
needle.

"Dame," he said, "this is a new apprentice whom my nurse, Marjory, has
sent me. A promising-looking youth, is he not?"

His wife looked at him in surprise.

"I have never heard thee speak of thy nurse, Nicholas, and surely the
lad looks not apt to learning the mysteries of a trade like thine."

The merchant smiled gravely.

"He must be more apt than he looks, dame, or he would never have been
chosen for the service upon which he is engaged. Men do not send fools
to risk their lives; and I have been watching him for the last hour, and
have observed how he bore himself under the tricks of that jackanapes,
Jacob, and verily the wonder which I at first felt when he presented
himself to me has passed away, and what appeared to me at first sight a
strange imprudence, seems now to be a piece of wisdom. But enough of
riddles," he said, seeing that his wife's astonishment increased as he
went on. "This lad is a messenger from Oxford, and bears, I doubt not,
important documents. What is thy true name, boy?"

"I am Harry Furness, the son of Sir Henry Furness, one of the king's
officers," Harry said; "and my papers are concealed within this staff."

Thereupon he lifted his stick and showed that at the bottom a piece of
wood had been artfully fitted into a hollow, and then, by being rubbed
upon the ground, so worn as to appear part of a solid whole. Taking his
knife from his pocket, he cut off an inch from the lower end of the
stick, and then shook out on to the table a number of slips of paper
tightly rolled together.

"I will examine these at my leisure," the merchant said; "and now as to
thyself. What instructions have you?"

"I am told, sir,