 certain it must have been some good Angel that sent him
hither, and tempted me to do it.«
    »I am afraid, Sir,« said the old Gentleman to Jones, »that I have nothing in
this House which you can either eat or drink, unless you will accept a Dram of
Brandy; of which I can give you some most excellent, and which I have had by me
these thirty Years.« Jones declined this Offer in a very civil and proper
Speech, and then the other asked him »Whither he was travelling when he mist his
Way;« saying, »I must own myself surprized to see such a Person as you appear to
be journeying on Foot at this Time of Night. I suppose, Sir, you are a Gentleman
of these Parts: for you do not look like one who is used to travel far without
Horses.«
    »Appearances,« cried Jones, »are often deceitful; Men sometimes look like
what they are not. I assure you, I am not of this Country, and whither I am
travelling, in reality I scarce know myself.«
    »Whoever you are, or whithersoever you are going,« answered the old Man, »I
have Obligations to you which I can never return.«
    »I once more,« replied Jones, »affirm, that you have none: For there can be
no Merit in having hazarded that in your Service on which I set no Value. And
nothing is so contemptible in my Eyes as Life.«
    »I am sorry, young Gentleman,« answered the Stranger, »that you have any
Reason to be so unhappy at your Years.«
    »Indeed I am, Sir,« answered Jones, »the most unhappy of Mankind.« -
»Perhaps you have had a Friend, or a Mistress,« replied the other. »How could
you,« cries Jones, »mention two Words sufficient to drive me to Distraction?«
»Either of them are enough to drive any Man to Distraction,« answered the old
Man. »I enquire no farther, Sir. Perhaps my Curiosity hath led me too far
already.«
    »Indeed, Sir,« cries Jones, »I cannot censure a Passion, which I feel at
this Instant in the highest Degree. You will pardon me, when I assure you, that
every Thing which I have seen or heard since I first entered this House, hath
conspired to raise the greatest Curiosity in me. Something very extraordinary
must have determined you to this Course of Life, and I have reason to
