uld put up; and when 'mine host' gave token of
being a gentleman, his companionship would generally be requested, through
a card by the waiter, bearing the compliments of the guest, with a hope
that it might be convenient for the landlord to favor him with his company
over a bottle of wine. This was the almost invariable plan adopted, when
he was unaccompanied with his 'better half.' It will readily be conceived
that in these tete-a-tete gossipings, a great fund of anecdote and
legendary tales had been gleaned, which were made subservient to the
entertainment of friends when assembled around the social board. It is
from this fund of gossip to which I have so often listened, that I propose
to select one which, owing to my close relationship to the stout
gentleman, has been to me a source of no little interest, even as a
'thrice-told tale.' The incident occurred at the time when he was in
search of the estate to which I have alluded in the commencement of this
sketch.

It was late in the evening, in the spring of the year, when he arrived at
the destined stopping-place for the night, which if I remember rightly was
the ancient borough of St. Albans. Here he selected an inn according to
his usual taste; an old rambling disjointed patch-work piece of
architecture, the gradual accumulation of many preceding generations,
where might be seen rude carvings of grinning nondescript monsters
supporting the projecting stories as they each hung over the side-walk;
large and small casement windows, with square mullions and gothic arches,
and many a gabled roof fronting on the street, where at their junction the
continuous gutters projected in the form of long pipes, which in rainy
weather discharged cataracts of water, deluging the unfortunate pedestrian
who should unwittingly prefer the side-walk to the rough paved road. In
the centre of this pile of buildings was the gate-way, large enough to
admit coaches with outside passengers; and under its ample, shadowy
shelter would be found the entrance to the building itself. On one side
was the door to the tap-room, used by post-boys, servants, and the like
class, while on the opposite side the glazed door led to the coffee-room
and the more respectable apartments. Here Boniface would present himself
whenever a carriage drove up, to give a hearty welcome to his guests. The
interior, in accordance with the outside, was composed of low, spacious
rooms, wainscoated in oaken pannels, blackened