When they had paraded the street and all the avenues of the building in
this manner for near two hours, they turned away, and his friend asked
him what he thought of what he had seen, and whether he was prepared
for a good hot piece of work if it should come to that. The hotter the
better,' said Hugh, 'I'm prepared for anything.'--'So am I,' said his
friend, 'and so are many of us; and they shook hands upon it with a
great oath, and with many terrible imprecations on the Papists.
As they were thirsty by this time, Dennis proposed that they should
repair together to The Boot, where there was good company and strong
liquor. Hugh yielding a ready assent, they bent their steps that way
with no loss of time.
This Boot was a lone house of public entertainment, situated in the
fields at the back of the Foundling Hospital; a very solitary spot at
that period, and quite deserted after dark. The tavern stood at some
distance from any high road, and was approachable only by a dark and
narrow lane; so that Hugh was much surprised to find several people
drinking there, and great merriment going on. He was still more
surprised to find among them almost every face that had caught his
attention in the crowd; but his companion having whispered him outside
the door, that it was not considered good manners at The Boot to appear
at all curious about the company, he kept his own counsel, and made no
show of recognition.
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