beam, overhead. Boys, at the time of which we write, were attired like
men of their own day, or certain charity-children of ours; and the
stripling in question was dressed in black plush breeches, and a gray
drugget waistcoat, with immoderately long pockets, both of which were
evidently the cast-off clothes of some one considerably his senior.
Coat, on the present occasion, he had none, it being more convenient, as
well as agreeable to him, to pursue his avocations in his shirtsleeves;
but, when fully equipped, he wore a large-cuffed, long-skirted garment,
which had once been the property of his master.

In concealing himself behind the timber, Mr. Wood could not avoid making
a slight shuffling sound. The noise startled the apprentice, who
instantly suspended his labour, and gazed anxiously in the direction
whence he supposed it proceeded. His face was that of a quick,
intelligent-looking boy, with fine hazel eyes, and a clear olive
complexion. His figure was uncommonly slim even for his age, which could
not be more than thirteen; and the looseness of his garb made him appear
thinner than he was in reality. But if his frame was immature, his looks
were not so. He seemed to possess a penetration and cunning beyond his
years--to hide a man's judgment under a boy's mask. The glance, which he
threw at the door, was singularly expressive of his character: it was a
mixture of alarm, effrontery, and resolution. In the end, resolution
triumphed, as it was sure to do, over the weaker emotions, and he
laughed at his fears. The only part of his otherwise-interesting
countenance, to which one could decidedly object, was the mouth; a
feature that, more than any other, is conceived to betray the animal
propensities of the possessor. If this is true, it must be owned that
the boy's mouth showed a strong tendency on his part to coarse
indulgence. The eyes, too, though large and bright, and shaded by long
lashes, seemed to betoken, as hazel eyes generally do in men, a