young friend would be entertained; but Forester had scarcely been five
minutes in the laboratory, before Mackenzie, who was lounging about the
room, sneeringly took notice of a large hole in his shoe. "It is easily
mended," said the independent youth; and he immediately left the
laboratory, and went to a cobbler's, who lived in a narrow lane, at the
back of Dr. Campbell's house. Forester had, from his bed-chamber window,
seen this cobbler at work early every morning; he admired his industry,
and longed to be acquainted with him. The good-humoured familiarity of
Forester's manner pleased the cobbler, who was likewise diverted by the
eagerness of _the young gentleman_ to mend his own shoe. After spending
some hours at the cobbler's stall, the shoe was actually mended, and
Forester thought that his morning's work was worthy of admiration. In a
court (or, as such places are called in Edinburgh, a close) near the
cobbler's, he saw some boys playing at ball: he joined them; and, whilst
they were playing, a dancing-master with his hair powdered, and who
seemed afraid of spattering his clean stockings, passed through the
court, and interrupted the ball players for a few seconds. The boys, as
soon as the man was out of hearing, declared that he passed through
_their_ court regularly twice a day, and that he always kicked their
marbles out of the ring. Without staying to weigh this evidence
scrupulously, Forester received it with avidity, and believed all that
had been asserted was true, because the accused was a dancing-master;
from his education he had conceived an antipathy to dancing-masters,
especially to such as wore silk stockings, and had their heads well
powdered. Easily fired at the idea of any injustice, and eager to redress
the grievances of _the poor,_ Forester immediately concerted with these
boys a scheme to deliver them from what he called the insolence of the
dancing-master, and promised that he would compel him to go round by
another street.