He was a shrewd fellow
and a bold one. A humorous and inquisitive cunning lurked in the corner
of his grey and restless eye. His curiosity was insatiable; and as a
cross-questioner, when fairly at work, for worming out a secret he had
not his fellow. His brain was a general deposit for odd scraps, and a
reservoir in which flowed all stray news about the country. He was an
abstract and chronicle of the time; and could tell you where the Earl of
Lancaster mustered his forces, the day of their march, and the very
purposes and projects of that turbulent noble. Even the secrets of my
lady's bower did not elude the prying of this indefatigable artist; at
any rate, he had the credit of knowing all that he assumed, which
amounted very much to the same thing as though his knowledge were
unlimited: a nod and a wink supplying the place of intelligence, when
his wondering neophytes grew disagreeably minute in their inquiries.
Towards this abode did the pilgrim bend his steps. A thick smoke hovered
about the thatch, that appeared very ingeniously adapted for the
reception and nurture of any stray spark that might happen to find there
a temporary lodgment.
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