and that I had done no more than every man ought
to have done upon such an occasion. _Old puff and swill_, the lord
of the night, declared that I must have acted with malice
afore-thought--that I was a pal in the concern, and that I had been
instrumental in the design of effecting a rescue; and, after a very
short deliberation, he concluded that I must be a notorious rascal, and
desired me to make up my mind to remain with him for the remainder of
the night. Not relishing this, I proposed to send for bail, assuring him
of my

1 Scouts--Watchmen.

3 Stump up the rubbish--Meaning she (or he) shall pay, or
find money.

3 Flash covey--A fancy man, partner or protector

4 Jarvey--A coachman.

~94~~attendance in the morning; but was informed it could not be
accepted of, as it was clearly made out against me that I had committed
a violent breach of the peace, and nothing at that time could be
produced that would prove satisfactory. Under these circumstances, and
partly induced by a desire to avoid being troublesome in other quarters,
I submitted to a restraint which it appeared I could not very well
avoid, and, taking my seat in an arm-chair by the fire-side, I soon fell
fast asleep, from which I was only aroused by the occasional entrances
and exits of the guardians, until between four and five o'clock, when
a sort of general muster of the Charleys took place, and each one
depositing his nightly paraphernalia, proceeded to his own habitation.
Finding the liberation of others from their duties would not have the
effect of emancipating me from my confinement, which was likely to
be prolonged to eleven, or perhaps twelve o'clock, I began to feel
my situation as a truly uncomfortable one, when I was informed by the
watch-house keeper, who resides upon the spot, that he was going to
_turn in_,{1} that there was fire enough to last till his wife turn'd
out, which would be about six o'clock, and, as I had the appearance of a
gentleman, if there was any thing I wanted, she would endeavour to make
herself useful in obtaining it. "But Lord," said he, "there is no such
thing as believing any body now-a-days--there was such sets out, and
such manouvering, that nobody knew nothing of nobody."

"I am obliged to you, my friend," said I, "for this piece of
information, and in order that you may understand something of the
person you are speaking to beyond the mere exterior view, here is
half-a-crown for your