Now Dick Taverner had an especial grudge against our two extortioners,
for though he himself, being 'prentice to a bookseller in Paul's
Churchyard, had little concern with them, he was the son of an
inn-keeper--Simon Taverner, of the Emperor's Head, Garlick Hill--who had
been recently mined by their exactions, his licence taken from him, and
his house closed: enough to provoke a less mettlesome spark than Dick,
who had vowed to revenge the parental injuries on the first opportunity.
The occasion now seemed to present itself, and it was not to be lost.
Chancing to be playing at bowls in the alley behind the Three Cranes
with some of his comrades on the day in question, Dick learnt from
Cyprien what was going forward, and the party resolved to have their
share in the sport. If needful, they promised the drawer to rescue his
mistress from the clutches of her antagonists, and to drive them from
the premises. But their services in this respect were not required. They
next decided on giving Sir Francis Mitchell a sound ducking in the
Thames.
Their measures were quickly and warily taken. Issuing from an arched
doorway at the side of the tavern, they stationed some of their number
near it, while the main party posted themselves at the principal
entrance in front. Scouts were planted inside, to communicate with
Cyprien, and messengers were despatched to cry "Clubs!" and summon the
neighbouring 'prentices from Queenhithe, Thames Street, Trinity Lane,
Old Fish Street, and Dowgate Hill; so that fresh auxiliaries were
constantly arriving.
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