oisy jests, and finding a laugh for everybody
and everything. Behind them stood a motley throng of sightseers, men,
women, and children, for the most part citizens, but interspersed here
and there with gay groups of gentlefolk, and even some who wore the
bright trappings of the Court. Behind them the beggars and pickpockets
plied their arduous calling; and in the rear of all, at a little
distance, wandered the horses of the gentles, cropping the fresh grass,
with no eye to the achievements of Temple Bar or London Bridge. Beyond
them soared the windmills and the hills of Isledon and Hoxton.

It was a scene familiar to me, for I had often taken it in before; and
yet for a while to-day it seemed new, and my eye, as I waited at the
post, wandered here and there to detect what it could be which made all
seem so strange. After a while I discovered that, wherever else they
roamed, my glances returned always to one bright spot, close by where
stood a maiden.

It seemed to me I had never known what beauty meant till I looked on
her. She was tall, and dressed more simply than many a citizen's wife,
and yet her air was that of a goddess. Every movement of her head bore
the signs of queenliness; and yet in every feature of her face lurked a
sweetness irresistible. At first sight, as you saw her, tall, erect,
with her short clustering hair and fearless eyes of blue, you would have
been tempted to suppose her a boy in disguise. Yet if you looked a
moment longer, the woman in her shone out in every step and gesture.
Her cheeks glowed with health and maidenly modesty; and her eyes, that
flashed on you one moment almost defiantly, dropped the next in coyness
and delicious confusion.

She stood there, conspicuous and radiant amid the jostling crowd, yet
wholly heedless of the glances and whispers and perplexity she drew
forth. As for me, I scarcely knew where I was, and when the alderman
cried, "Make ready, now," I obeyed him as a man in a dream.

But I recovered myself of a sudden when presently I saw the captain of
the Bridge 'prentices, who was a shorter man than I, leap over the bar
as high as his own shoulders, and heard the triumphal shouts of his
fellows. After him, one by one, came the picked men of either side, but
at each leap the bar sprung into the air, and the champions retired
worsted from the contest.

Then came my turn. I dared to dart a hurried glance where stood the
only onlooker whose applause I coveted