teen I was bound
apprentice to a shoemaker. Yes, sir, I was--I am a shoemaker; and but
for my curse--my malady--had been an ornament to my profession. I have
measured the foot of a princess, sir; I have made slippers to his
Majesty!" Here his tongue acquired new vigour from the idea of his own
importance. "Yes, sir, I have made slippers to his Majesty; yet I am an
unlucky--I am a bewitched--I am a ruined man. But to proceed with my
history. During the first year of my apprenticeship, I acted in the
capacity of errand boy; and, as such, had to run upon many an unpleasant
message--sometimes to ask money, frequently to borrow it. Now, sir, I am
also a _bashful_ man, and, as I was saying, _bashfulness_ is one of the
blood relations which procrastination has fastened upon me. While acting
in my last-mentioned capacity, I have gone to the house, gazed at every
window, passed it and repassed it, placed my hand upon the rapper,
withdrawn it, passed it and repassed it again, stood hesitating and
consulting with myself, then resolved to defer it till the next day, and
finally returned to my master, not with a direct lie, but a broad
_equivocation_; and this was another of the cousins-german which
procrastination introduced to my acquaintance.

"In the third year of my servitude, I became fond of reading; was
esteemed a quick workman; and, having no desire for money beyond what
was necessary to supply my wants, I gave unrestricted indulgence to my
new passion. We had each an allotted quantity of work to perform weekly.
Conscious of being able to complete it in half the time, and having
yielded myself solely to my ruinous propensity to delay, I seldom did
anything before the Thursday; and the remaining days were spent in
hurry, bustle, and confusion. Occasionally I overrated my abilities--my
task was unfinished, and I was compelled to count a _dead horse_. Week
after week this grew upon me, till I was so firmly saddled, that, until
the expiration of my apprenticeship, I was never completely freed from
it. This was another of my curse's handmaidens."

Here he turned to me with a look of seriousness, and said, "Beware,
young man, how you trust to your own strength and your own talents; for
however noble it may be to do so, let it be in the open field, before
you are driven into a corner, where your arms may come in contact with
the thorns and the angles of the hedges.

"About this time, too, I fell in love--yes, _fell_ in love; for