f wild rose, honeysuckle, clove pinks
and gilliflowers; the lower parts of the walls were hung with tapestry
representing the adventures of Saint George; the mullioned windows had
their upper squares filled with glass, bearing the shield of the City of
London, that of the Armourers' Company, the rose and portcullis of the
King, the pomegranate of Queen Catharine, and other like devices.
Others, belonging to the Lancastrian kings, adorned the pendants from
the handsome open roof and the front of a gallery for musicians which
crossed one end of the hall in the taste of the times of Henry the Fifth
and Whittington.

Far more interesting to the hungry travellers was it that the long
table, running the whole breadth of the apartment, was decked with snowy
linen, trenchers stood ready with horns or tankards beside them, and
loaves of bread at intervals, while the dishes were being placed on the
table. The master and his entire establishment took their meals
together, except the married men, who lived in the quadrangle with their
families. There was no division by the salt-cellar, as at the tables of
the nobles and gentry, but the master, his family and guests, occupied
the centre, with the hearth behind them, where the choicest of the
viands were placed; next after them were the places of the journeymen
according to seniority, then those of the apprentices, household
servants, and stable-men, but the apprentices had to assist the serving-
men in waiting on the master and his party before sitting down
themselves. There was a dignity and regularity about the whole, which
could not fail to impress Stephen and Ambrose with the weight and
importance of a London burgher, warden of the Armourers' Company, and
alderman of the Ward of Cheap. There were carved chairs for himself,
his mother, and the guests, also a small Persian carpet extending from
the hearth beyond their seats. This article filled the two foresters
with amazement. To put one's feet on what ought to be a coverlet! They
would not have stepped on it, had they not been kindly summoned by old
Mistress Headley to take their places among the company, which
consisted, besides the family, of the two citizens who had entered, and
of a priest who had likewise dropped in to welcome Master Headley's
return, and had been invited to stay to supper. Young Giles, as a
matter of course, placed himself amongst them, at which there were black
looks and whispers among the apprent