Purchase!" said I, "purchase! I came not to purchase, but to barter;
such was my instruction, and how can I barter if I have lost the book?"

The other made no answer, and turning away I made for the door; all of a
sudden I started, and turning round, "Dear me," said I, "it has just come
into my head, that if the book was lost by my negligence, as it must have
been, I have clearly a right to make it good."

No answer.

"Yes," I repeated, "I have clearly a right to make it good; how glad I
am! see the effect of a little reflection. I will purchase a Bible
instantly, that is, if I have not lost--" and with considerable agitation
I felt in my pocket.

The prim-looking man smiled: "I suppose," said he, "that he has lost his
money as well as book."

"No," said I, "I have not;" and pulling out my hand I displayed no less a
sum than three half-crowns.

"O, noble goddess of the Mint!" as Dame Charlotta Nordenflycht, the
Swede, said a hundred and fifty years ago, "great is thy power; how
energetically the possession of thee speaks in favour of man's
character!"

"Only half-a-crown for this Bible?" said I, putting down the money, "it
is worth three;" and bowing to the man of noble features, I departed with
my purchase.

"Queer customer," said the prim-looking man, as I was about to close the
door--"don't like him."

"Why, as to that, I scarcely know what to say," said he of the
countenance of a lion.

CHAPTER XLVI.

The Pickpocket--Strange Rencounter--Drag Him Along--A Great
Service--Things of Importance--Philological Matters--Mother of
Languages--Zhats!

A few days after the occurrence of what is recorded in the last chapter,
as I was wandering in the City, chance directed my footsteps to an alley
leading from one narrow street to another in the neighbourhood of
Cheapside. Just before I reached the mouth of the alley, a man in a
great coat, closely followed by another, passed it; and, at the moment in
which they were passing, I observed the man behind snatch something from
the pocket of the other; whereupon, darting into the street, I seized the
hindermost man by the collar, crying at the same time to the other, "My
good friend, this person has just picked your pocket."

The individual whom I addressed, turning round with a start, glanced at
me, and then at the person whom I held. London is the place for strange
rencounters. It appeared to me that I recognised both individuals--the
man whose pocket