open. Now these D----s are just the sort
of natives it is pleasant to pick at, because their shells are lined
with pearls. Well, since you won't take a hint, I must speak plainly.
Dine to-day at the table-d'hote of the _Hotel W----_. The D----s are
staying there, and you are safe to fall in with them. Renew your
acquaintance, or strike up a fresh one, whichever you please. You are
a fellow of good address, and will have no difficulty in making
friends with two such Johnny Newcomes. Ply them with Burgundy, bring
them here or to my rooms, we will get Lowther and Ringwood, and it
shall be a hundred pounds in your pocket.'

"I must have been a fool indeed, had I doubted for another instant the
meaning and intentions of my respectable ally. As by touch of
enchanter's wand, the scales fell from my eyes; illusions vanished,
and I saw myself and my associates in the right colours, myself as a
miserable dupe, them as vile sharpers. So confounded was I by the
suddenness of the illumination, that for a moment I stood speechless
and motionless, gazing vacantly into the tempter's face. He took my
silence for acquiescence, and opened his lips to continue his base
hints and instructions. Roused into vehement action by the sound of
his odious voice, I grasped his collar, and seizing a horsewhip that
lay opportunely near, I lashed the miscreant round the room till my
arm could strike no longer, and till the inmates of the house, alarmed
by his outcries, assembled at the door of my apartment. Too infuriated
to notice them, I kicked the fellow out and remained alone, to
meditate at leisure upon my past folly and present embarrassments. The
former was irreparable, the latter were speedily augmented. I know
not what Darvel told the master of the house (I subsequently found he
had had an interview with him after his ejection from my room), but
two days later, the month being at an end, I received a heavy bill,
with an intimation that my apartments were let to another tenant, and
a request for my speedy departure. I was too proud to take notice of
this insolence, and too poor, under any circumstances, to continue in
so costly a lodging. Money I had none, and it took the sacrifice of my
personal effects, including even much of my wardrobe, to satisfy my
landlord's demand. I settled it, however, and removed, with a heavy
heart, a light portmanteau, and a hundred francs in my pocket, to a
wretched garret in a cheap faubourg.

"You will think,