THE MAN WITH THE . 425 



ing back and crossing my legs with all the complacency of a man that 

 1 pays his way/ being satisfied of my indubitable right to the tene- 

 ment. 



" Not for the world, sir," said the landlord. 



I stared at the fellow ; and then rejoined, " Is he of such conse- 

 quence to the prosperity of your establishment that you would thus 

 infringe the laws of right ?" 



" I must own that he is, sir ; why 'tis the Man with the I meant 

 to say sir, I beg your pardon, the gentleman is your fellow pas- 

 senger." 



Down went the paper from my hold in a twinkling. " The man 

 with the what?" said I. 



" Dear me, sir, is it possible ! Did you never notice his " 

 ce Landlord fill us another bottle, look sharp, and let it be of the 

 right sort, d'ye hear ?" hiccupped a young spark in a high key, 

 seated amid a knot of officers. 



This was another man of consequence, I suppose, for Boniface 

 immediately left me to attend him, at which my equanimity was so 

 disturbed that I resolved to take possession of my room coute qui 

 coute, and bar it against all intruders whether in canvas jackets or in 

 the livery of Beelzebub himself. Full of ire, I sprung up the stair- 

 case, and on reaching the landing place, I found my door open and 

 the man of tar coolly seated within. He had a huge purse before 

 him, made of the same materiel as his dress, into which he was 

 thrusting divers handfuls of Napoleons. 



" Who's there ? oh, come in/' said the occupant of my apartment 

 in a breath, " I was just balancing my accounts, and find that I owe 

 you a shilling, (he had borrowed one for some purpose or other on 

 the road,) there it is ; and now die where I may, no man can point 

 at my grave and say I owe him a shilling, ha ! ha ! eh ?" so saying 

 lie put a shilling into my hand. 



" You are an irresistible person be you who you may," said I, my 

 mortified feelings brightening into good humour, " and you must 

 know human nature well to make such use of it." 



" I don t know that my method is simpler than you suppose. 

 Human nature seems to me to be very like a pack of cards, conti- 

 nually shifting positions and playing odd tricks; nevertheless always 

 having its share of trumps, which reconciles me to it. Yes, sir, there 

 are hearts of gold every where ; yet there is a lust after wealth 

 abroad that commits an infernal lot of mischief. When young I was 

 reckoned a virtuous youth ; but was poor ; so the noses of folks who 

 passed me turned astronomers ; you understand ? they gazed intently 

 on the heavens whenever I was near. With that I damned them for 

 a set of money-loving asses, and very consistently turned my own 

 thoughts towards the scraping up of riches. In process of time I got 

 me a sack, of canvas, mind, and I crammed it with stores of gold, 

 and when I told the world what I had done, good lord ! how the 

 disinterested creatures flocked around me, and I laughed mightily in 

 my sleeve. I was soon, however, heartsick, and dropping the super- 

 fluity of a name, I set out, upon my travels, taking with me the talis- 

 man to the hearts of all men GOLD. Since then all climates have 

 M.M. No. 94. 3 I 



