And this he knows."
As these reflections thronged on his mind, he had nearly reached
the end of his journey, and, with the glee maiden still hanging on
his cloak, exhausted, partly with fear, partly with fatigue, he at
length arrived at the middle of the wynd, which was honoured with
his own habitation, and from which, in the uncertainty that then
attended the application of surnames, he derived one of his own
appellatives. Here, on ordinary days, his furnace was seen to blaze,
and four half stripped knaves stunned the neighbourhood with the
clang of hammer and stithy. But St. Valentine's holiday was an
excuse for these men of steel having shut the shop, and for the
present being absent on their own errands of devotion or pleasure.
The house which adjoined to the smithy called Henry its owner;
and though it was small, and situated in a narrow street, yet, as
there was a large garden with fruit trees behind it, it constituted
upon the whole a pleasant dwelling. The smith, instead of knocking or
calling, which would have drawn neighbours to doors and windows,
drew out a pass key of his own fabrication, then a great and
envied curiosity, and opening the door of his house, introduced
his companion into his habitation.
The apartment which received Henry and the glee maiden was the
kitchen, which served amongst those of the smith's station for the
family sitting room, although one or two individuals, like Simon
Glover, had an eating room apart from that in which their victuals
were prepared.
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