; and after all, I was better provided than any
private man in the regiment. In this urgency of my affairs, I wrote to
my uncle in England, though my hopes from that quarter were not at all
sanguine, for the reasons I have already explained; and in the meantime
had recourse to my old remedy patience, consoling myself with the
flattering suggestions of a lively imagination, that never abandoned me
in my distress.

One day, while I stood sentinel at the gate of a general officer, a
certain nobleman came to the door, followed by a gentleman in mourning,
to whom, at parting, I heard him say, "You may depend upon my good
offices." This assurance was answered by a low bow of the person
in black, who, turning to go away, discovered to me the individual
countenance of my old friend and adherent Strap. I was so much
astonished at the sight, that I lost the power of utterance, and, before
I could recollect myself, he was gone without taking any notice of me.
Indeed, had he stayed, I scarcely should have ventured to accost him;
because, though I was perfectly well acquainted with the features of his
face, I could not be positively certain as to the rest of his person,
which was very much altered for the better since he left me at London,
neither could I conceive by which means he was enabled to appear in the
sphere of a gentleman, to which, while I knew him, he had not even
the ambition to aspire. But I was too much concerned in the affair to
neglect further information, and therefore took the first opportunity
of asking the porter if he knew the gentleman to whom the marquis spoke.
The Swiss told me his name was Monsieur d'Estrapes, that he had been
valet-de-chambre to an English gentleman lately deceased, and that he
was very much regarded by the marquis for his fidelity to his master,
between whom and that nobleman a very intimate friendship had subsisted.
Nothing could be more agreeable to me than this piece of intelligence,
which banished all doubt of its being my friend, who had found means to
frenchify his name as well as his behaviour since we parted. As soon,
therefore, as I was relieved, I went to his lodging, according to a
direction given me by the Swiss, and had the good fortune to find him
at home. That I might surprise him the more, I concealed my name and
business, and only desired the servant of the house to tell Monsieur
d'Estrapes that I begged the honour of half-an-hour's conversation with
him. He was confounde