ctful bow,
departed; saying under his breath as he crossed his horse again, 'No
errand for me to-day!'

But the air of smartness, the cock of the hat to which John Willet had
objected, and the spring nosegay, all betokened some little errand
of his own, having a more interesting object than a vintner or even a
locksmith. So, indeed, it turned out; for when he had settled with the
vintner--whose place of business was down in some deep cellars hard by
Thames Street, and who was as purple-faced an old gentleman as if he
had all his life supported their arched roof on his head--when he had
settled the account, and taken the receipt, and declined tasting more
than three glasses of old sherry, to the unbounded astonishment of the
purple-faced vintner, who, gimlet in hand, had projected an attack upon
at least a score of dusty casks, and who stood transfixed, or morally
gimleted as it were, to his own wall--when he had done all this, and
disposed besides of a frugal dinner at the Black Lion in Whitechapel;
spurning the Monument and John's advice, he turned his steps towards the
locksmith's house, attracted by the eyes of blooming Dolly Varden.

Joe was by no means a sheepish fellow, but, for all that, when he got
to the corner of the street in which the locksmith lived, he could by no
means make up his mind to walk straight to the house. First, he resolved
to stroll up another street for five minutes, then up another street for
five minutes more, and so on until he had lost full half an hour, when
he made a bold plunge and found himself with a red face and a beating
heart in the smoky workshop.

'Joe Willet, or his ghost?' said Varden, rising from the desk at which
he was busy with his books, and looking at him under his spectacles.
'Which is it? Joe in the flesh, eh? That's hearty. And how are all the
Chigwell company, Joe?'

'Much as usual, sir--they and I agree as well as ever.'

'Well, well!' said the locksmith. 'We must be patient, Joe, and bear
with old folks' foibles. How's the mare, Joe? Does she do the four miles
an hour as easily as ever? Ha, ha, ha! Does she, Joe? Eh!--What have we
there, Joe--a nosegay!'

'A very poor one, sir--I thought Miss Dolly--'

'No, no,' said Gabriel, dropping his voice, and shaking his head, 'not
Dolly. Give 'em to her mother, Joe. A great deal better give 'em to her
mother. Would you mind giving 'em to Mrs Varden, Joe?'

'Oh no, sir,' Joe replied, and endeavouring, but not with t