posed of, so that Brinsmead and
Deane had ample time to execute the various commissions with which they
had been entrusted, and to wander about and to enjoy the wonders of the
fair, which Jack did to his heart's content.

One whole street was devoted to hardware of all sorts, from excellent
Dutch delf to the coarse pottery furnished by Staffordshire, with
occasional luxuries in the form of Chelsea tea-services, or costly jars
of grotesque shapes from Pekin, sent by the London china-shops. All
sorts of toys and fancy articles were to be found. Painted mirrors,
which were then greatly in fashion, fans, long leathern gloves, jewelled
snuff-boxes, wooden balls, and whirligigs might be seen, to satisfy the
fancy of those who came rather for amusement than business. The great
characteristic of the fair, however, lay in the enormous quantity of
merchandise of the best quality that was accumulated there from all
parts of England. The price of hops was fixed in Kent and Herefordshire
by their value at Stourbridge Fair, and the horse-market and the
cattle-market were the largest of the year any where. Nearly a thousand
horse-packs of Yorkshire cloths, such as kerseys, fustians, and
pennistons, together with Manchester goods, took up one side and a half
of the Duddery, and it was not uncommon to hear that 100,000 pounds
worth of woollen manufactures had been sold there in less than one
week's time.

Among the tents and sheds were eating-houses and innumerable places of
refreshment, and coarse entertainment to suit the lowest tastes, with
the customary sights and shows popular at such gatherings. Dwarfs and
giants, jugglers and ballet-dancers and rope-dancers with their painted
booths were more common than wonders from foreign lands. Mountebanks
attracted also great attention, and so also did some curious clocks from
Neuremberg, and Dutch figures made to move by concealed machinery.
Play-actors and mummers also were to be found, some of their troupe in
front of their large booths drumming and piping and shouting, and
inviting the passers-by to enter and behold the wonders they had to
exhibit. There were tumblers also, and fat pigs, and learned pigs, and
dancing bears, indeed sufficient exhibitions of all sorts to captivate
and amuse every description of taste.

Brinsmead, as he walked through the fair, kept Jack close to him. The
play-actors especially excited his indignation.

"Don't look that way, lad," he observed;