“From that day to this our fair has been called Goose Fair; and really, Master Pearson, I think you’ll allow that there are some very pretty geese to be seen there.”
Master Pearson laughed at Jack’s account, and at his notion of its importance.
“Well, there are some fairs abroad which I have visited almost on as grand a scale. There is Leipsic in Saxony, Neuremberg, and Augsburg, all great in their way, but not to be compared to Stourbridge as to the value and amount of property sold.”
“What! have you ever been to those places?” asked Jack with surprise, glancing at the rough-looking drover, “or do you only speak from having heard of them?”
“Oh, I have attended the fairs held there myself!” answered Master Pearson. “I have been to many others too, such as that of Frankfort-on-the-Maine; and I tell you, my lad, the great corn-field near Casterton shows a more wonderful sight than any of them. You are lucky in having to make your first business trip there, instead of northward.”
“I do not care greatly which way I ride,” answered Jack cheerily; “all the world is new to me, and I want to see as much of it as I can.”
“You will see a specimen of a good deal of what I call the world in a few days,” said Master Pearson. “We have had such splendid weather, that the corn has been got off the fields, otherwise it would be a bad look out for the farmers. The fair-keepers have a right, you must know, to trample it under foot, and to lay out their streets, and set up their booths on the ground, whether it is standing or not. However, you’ll know all about the fair when you have been there. You’ll have extensive dealings in one way or another for your employer, I doubt not.”
“Yes, probably,” observed Jack. “We shall have a good sum to lay out, I know; for we have done very well with beasts. They say that the drovers from the north have had great losses from the attacks of Ben Nevis and his gang, who have been bolder than ever this year. It is a pity a fellow of that sort cannot be caught and hung. I have no fancy for allowing rogues to disturb honest men in their proper trade. For my part, I should like to organise a bold band of fellows and hunt down the robber. I have learned one thing—that black is black, and white is white; and though, maybe, he is a bold fellow, that is no reason he is not a rogue, and richly deserves hanging.”
Master Pearson laughed as Jack spoke.
“You must catch your hare before you cook him; remember that, lad,” he observed.