essed command of a thousand new epithets and words, to say
nothing of the meaningless oaths and blasphemies, which made a part
of the stock in trade of every fashionable man's vocabulary.

And now he stood regarding himself with complaisant satisfaction,
feeling that he could ruffle it with the best of them. He had heard
too much talk of periwigs not to feel resolved to wear one himself.
Unless he did so, he felt he should never take his place in the
world of fashion. His natural hair had therefore been cut close to
his head, the peruke was fitted on, and fell in bushy curls to his
shoulders.

Tom could not forbear a smile as he turned his head this way and
that to judge of the effect. He felt indeed a pretty fellow,
prepared to take his share in the drama of life going on about him.

"Harry Gay shall be your companion," said Cale, who had assisted at
the toilet with the interest of a connoisseur, and who did not
attempt to disguise his satisfaction at the result. "Harry is as
gay as his name, but he is a well-meaning youth, and will neither
rob you himself, nor suffer others to do so without warning you. He
knows London well, and the life has hurt him less than it hurts
most. He is brave without being a bully; he can play, and knows
when to stop. He is afraid of no man, and so he is left alone. He
has a good heart, and is to be trusted; and here he comes in good
time to take you under his care."

The young man who now lounged in with a smiling face and a nod of
recognition to Cale, was not unknown to Tom. He had seen him
several times, and had taken a liking for him, which the other
reciprocated. Harry Gay was the son of a leading merchant citizen,
a man of some importance and mark, who was able to give his son
every advantage that money could purchase, and the means to enter
almost any circle short of that of the court itself.

But he had also transmitted to his son a certain hard-headed
shrewdness, which stood him in good stead in the gay life he was
now leading. Harry had the sense not to try to push himself amongst
the high-born dames and gallants, where he would be regarded as an
interloper, and only admitted to be fleeced of his gold; but
contented himself with a more modest sphere, where he was a man of
some little mark, and could lead as well as follow, if he had the
mind.

Entering the back shop, Harry cast an approving glance at Tom, and
nodded his head towards Cale, at the same time taking a pinch of