the clergy
came up to register the vow, and the good armourer proceeded to bespeak
a mass of thanksgiving on the next morning, also ten for the soul of
Master John Birkenholt, late Verdurer of the New Forest in Hampshire--a
mode of showing his gratitude which the two sons highly appreciated.

Then, climbing up the steps again, and emerging from the cathedral by
the west door, the boys beheld a scene for which their experiences of
Romsey, and even of Winchester, had by no means prepared them. It was
five o'clock on a summer evening, so that the whole place was full of
stir. Old women sat with baskets of rosaries and little crosses, or
images of saints, on the steps of the cathedral, while in the open space
beyond, more than one horse was displaying his paces for the benefit; of
some undecided purchaser, who had been chaffering for hours in Paul's
Walk. Merchants in the costume of their countries, Lombard, Spanish,
Dutch, or French, were walking away in pairs, attended by servants, from
their Exchange, likewise in the nave. Women, some alone, some protected
by serving-men or apprentices, were returning from their orisons, or, it
might be, from their gossipings. Priests and friars, as usual, pervaded
everything, and round the open space were galleried buildings with
stalls beneath them, whence the holders were removing their wares for
the night. The great octagonal structure of Paul's Cross stood in the
centre, and just beneath the stone pulpit, where the sermons were wont
to be preached, stood a man with a throng round him, declaiming a ballad
at the top of his sing-song voice, and causing much loud laughter by
some ribaldry about monks and friars.

Master Headley turned aside as quickly as he could, through Paternoster
Row, which was full of stalls, where little black books, and larger
sheets printed in black, letter, seemed the staple commodities, and
thence the burgess, keeping a heedful eye on his young companions among
all his greetings, entered the broader space of Cheapside, where
numerous prentice lads seemed to be playing at different sports after
the labours of the day.

Passing under an archway surmounted by a dragon with shining scales,
Master Headley entered a paved courtyard, where the lads started at the
figures of two knights in full armour, their lances in rest, and their
horses with housings down to their hoofs, apparently about to charge any
intruder. But at that moment there was a shriek of jo