d Mr Tappertit, with a contemptuous look, 'I wonder at YOUR
assurance in making such demands.'

'You have been drinking,' said the locksmith.

'As a general principle, and in the most offensive sense of the words,
sir,' returned his journeyman with great self-possession,
'I consider you a liar. In that last observation you have
unintentionally--unintentionally, sir,--struck upon the truth.'

'Martha,' said the locksmith, turning to his wife, and shaking his head
sorrowfully, while a smile at the absurd figure beside him still played
upon his open face, 'I trust it may turn out that this poor lad is not
the victim of the knaves and fools we have so often had words about, and
who have done so much harm to-day. If he has been at Warwick Street or
Duke Street to-night--'

'He has been at neither, sir,' cried Mr Tappertit in a loud voice, which
he suddenly dropped into a whisper as he repeated, with eyes fixed upon
the locksmith, 'he has been at neither.'

'I am glad of it, with all my heart,' said the locksmith in a serious
tone; 'for if he had been, and it could be proved against him, Martha,
your Great Association would have been to him the cart that draws men
to the gallows and leaves them hanging in the air. It would, as sure as
we're alive!'

Mrs Varden was too much scared by Simon's altered manner and appearance,
and by the accounts of the rioters which had reached her ears that
night, to offer any retort, or to have recourse to her usual matrimonial
policy. Miss Miggs wrung her hands, and wept.

'He was not at Duke Street, or at Warwick Street, G. Varden,' said
Simon, sternly; 'but he WAS at Westminster. Perhaps, sir, he kicked a
county member, perhaps, sir, he tapped a lord--you may stare, sir, I
repeat it--blood flowed from noses, and perhaps he tapped a lord. Who
knows? This,' he added, putting his hand into his waistcoat-pocket,
and taking out a large tooth, at the sight of which both Miggs and Mrs
Varden screamed, 'this was a bishop's. Beware, G. Varden!'

'Now, I would rather,' said the locksmith hastily, 'have paid five
hundred pounds, than had this come to pass. You idiot, do you know what
peril you stand in?'

'I know it, sir,' replied his journeyman, 'and it is my glory. I was
there, everybody saw me there. I was conspicuous, and prominent. I will
abide the consequences.'

The locksmith, really disturbed and agitated, paced to and fro in
silence--glancing at his former 'prentice every now and th