raordinary supply, was too proud to borrow, and too haughty
to run in debt with tradesmen, he devoted those periods of poverty to
the prosecution of his studies, and shone forth again at the revolution
of quarter-day.

In one of these eruptions he and some of his companions went to Windsor,
in order to see the royal apartments in the castle, whither they
repaired in the afternoon; and as Peregrine stood contemplating the
picture of Hercules and Omphale, one of his fellow-students whispered in
his car, "Zounds! Pickle, there are two fine girls!" He turned instantly
about, and in one of them recognized his almost forgotten Emilia; her
appearance acted upon his imagination like a spark of fire that falls
among gun-powder; that passion which had lain dormant for the space of
two years, flashed up in a moment, and he was seized with a trepidation.
She perceived and partook of his emotion; for their souls, like unisons,
vibrated with the same impulse. However, she called her pride and
resentment to her aid, and found resolution enough to retire from such a
dangerous scene.

Alarmed at her retreat, he recollected all his assurance, and, impelled
by love, which he could no longer resist, followed her into the next
room, where, in the most disconcerted manner, he accosted her with "Your
humble servant, Miss Gauntlet;" to which salutation she replied, with
an affectation of indifference, that did not, however, conceal her
agitation, "Your servant, sir;" and immediately extending her finger
toward the picture of Duns Scotus, which is fixed over one of the doors,
asked her companion, in a giggling tone, if she did not think he looked
like a conjurer? Peregrine, nettled into spirits by this reception,
answered for the other lady, "that it was an easy matter to be a
conjurer in those times, when the simplicity of the age assisted his
divination; but were he, or Merlin himself, to rise from the dead now,
when such deceit and dissimulation prevail, they would not be able to
earn their bread by the profession."--"O! Sir," said she, turning
full upon him, "without doubt they would adopt new maxims; 'tis
no disparagement in this enlightened age for one to alter one's
opinion."--"No, sure, madam," replied the youth, with some
precipitation, "provided the change be for the better."--"And should
it happen otherwise," retorted the nymph, with a flirt of her
fan, "inconstancy will never want countenance from the practice of
mankind."-"True,