like to become a stock-jobber,
and he said there was a power of money tu be made at the business; I
said I guessed not, but he seemed tu be anxious tu do a little at it
himself, and he asked me to lend him a hundred dollars which he would
give back tu me when his brother came; after he had give me three or
four more glasses of cider, which, by this time, he poured out of
bottles, I handed him my money-puss and told him tu help himself; he
opened it and took out all there was in it, which was ten dollars; he
asked me if that was all I had got, and I told him that my calculations
bad been jest right; that when I started from hum I had an idee that I
should land with jest ten dollars in my puss; he then asked me if I had
brought any checks or drafts, and I told him no; so he said he would
borrow the ten, and he went into the stock business pretty heavy, and I
watched to see how he made in the speculation, but after takin' three or
four more glasses of that cider, I kinder lost the run of the
speculation; he then said it would be a good idee tu go out and get some
fresh air, which we did, after taking a little more of that cider; as we
went along the streets, I thought that we didn't have tu move our
feet--that the street moved up and down tu save us the trouble; the
houses kinder got to playin' blind man's buff, and the streets got to
heaving up and down orfully, and when I was wonderin' what on airth made
it, I missed the gentleman; that, squire, is about all I recollect; but
the fun of the matter is this, that I was cute enough not tu tell the
gentleman I had three hundred dollar bills tucked behind the strap of my
boot, in the leg.'

"Mr. Pettingill then took one of his boots from the floor, drew out the
three hundred dollar bills, and held them up as a triumph of St.
Lawrence cuteness.

"'Now,' said he, 'squire, I want you tu show me a tarvern where nobody
won't want tu borrow money of me. I am a little 'spicious of that man's
brother. I don't believe he intended to pay me.'

"I told him that his present quarters were as desirable, in all points
of view, as any he could find in the city, after which I informed him,
much to his astonishment, that he had been taken to a gambling-house,
and it was owing to his 'cuteness,' which, it seems, did not forsake him
when drunk, that he had not lost all his money.

"Mr. Pettingill thanked me for the part I had taken in his behalf, and
gave me a pressing invitation to come to h