Cadwallader, and a few more
gentlemen, to whom he had thought proper to communicate the plan, went
to the coffee-house, and seated themselves near the place that was
destined for their meeting.

The hope of getting money had such an evident effect upon their
punctuality, that one of them arrived a considerable time before the
hour; and having reconnoitred the room, took his station according to
the direction he had received, fixing his eye upon a dock that stood
before him, and asking of the barkeeper, if it was not too slow. He,
had not remained in this posture many minutes, when he was joined by a
strange figure that waddled into the room, with a bundle of papers in
his bosom, and the sweat running over his nose. Seeing a man in the box
to which he had been directed, he took it for granted that he was the
lender; and as soon as he could recover his breath, which was almost
exhausted by the despatch he had made, "Sir," said he, "I presume
you are the gentleman I was to meet about that loan." Here he was
interrupted by the other, who eagerly replied, "A. B., sir, I suppose."
"The same," cried the last-comer: "I was afraid I should be too late;
for I was detained beyond my expectation by a nobleman at the other end
of the town, that wants to mortgage a small trifle of his estate, about
a thousand a year; and my watch happens to be in the hands of the maker,
having met with an accident a few nights ago, which set it asleep.
But, howsomever, there is no time lost, and I hope this affair will be
transacted to the satisfaction of us both. For my own part, I love to do
good offices myself, and therefore I expect nothing but what is fair and
honest of other people."

His new friend was exceedingly comforted by this declaration, which he
considered as a happy omen of his success; and the hope of fingering
the cash operated visibly in his countenance, while he expressed his
satisfaction at meeting with a person of such candour and humanity. "The
pleasure," said he, "of dealing with an easy conscientious man is, in my
opinion, superior to that of touching all the money upon earth; for what
joy can be compared with what a generous mind feels in befriending its
fellow-creatures? I was never so happy in my life, as at one time, in
lending five hundred pounds to a worthy gentleman in distress, without
insisting upon rigid security. Sir, one may easily distinguish an
upright man by his countenance: for example now, I think I could
t