Well assured by this that
he was certainly about to begin directly, the listener collected
his faculties by a great effort, and distinctly heard Magog express
himself to the following effect:
In the sixteenth century and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth of
glorious memory (albeit her golden days are sadly rusted with
blood), there lived in the city of London a bold young 'prentice
who loved his master's daughter. There were no doubt within the
walls a great many 'prentices in this condition, but I speak of
only one, and his name was Hugh Graham.
This Hugh was apprenticed to an honest Bowyer who dwelt in the ward
of Cheype, and was rumoured to possess great wealth. Rumour was
quite as infallible in those days as at the present time, but it
happened then as now to be sometimes right by accident. It
stumbled upon the truth when it gave the old Bowyer a mint of
money. His trade had been a profitable one in the time of King
Henry the Eighth, who encouraged English archery to the utmost, and
he had been prudent and discreet. Thus it came to pass that
Mistress Alice, his only daughter, was the richest heiress in all
his wealthy ward.
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