n air of scorn and resentment, I saw he was resolved
that I should not be long in his books; while Strap, who stood by, and
knew my circumstances, wrung his hands in secret, gnawed his nether lip,
and turned yellow with despair. Whatever appearance of indifference my
vanity enabled me to put on, I was thunderstruck with this demand, which
I had no sooner satisfied, than I hastened into company, with a view of
beguiling my cares with conversation, or drowning them with wine.

After dinner, a party was accordingly made in the coffee-house, from
whence we adjourned to the tavern, where, instead of sharing the mirth
of the company, I was as much chagrined at their good humour as a damned
soul in hell would be at a glimpse of heaven. In vain did I swallow
bumper after bumper! the wine had lost its effect upon me, and, far from
raising my dejected spirits, could not even lay me asleep. Banter, who
was the only intimate I had (Strap excepted), perceived my anxiety, and,
when we broke up, reproached me with pusillanimity, for being cast
down at my disappointment that such a rascal as Strutwell could be the
occasion of. I told him I did not at all see how Strutwell's being a
rascal alleviated my misfortune; and gave him to understand that my
present grief did not so much proceed from that disappointment, as from
the low ebb of my fortune, which was sunk to something less than two
guineas. At this declaration he cried, "Psha! is that all?" and assured
me there were a thousand ways of living in town without a fortune, he
himself having subsisted many years entirely by his wit. I expressed
an eager desire of being acquainted with some of these methods, and he,
without farther expostulation, bade me follow him. He conducted me to a
house under the piazzas in Covert Garden, which we entered, and having
delivered our swords to a grim fellow who demanded them at the foot of
the staircase, ascended to the second story, where I saw multitudes of
people standing round two gaming-tables, loaded, in a manner, with gold
and silver. My conductor told me this was the house of a worthy Scotch
lord, who, using the privilege of his peerage, had set up public gaming
tables, from the profits of which he drew a comfortable livelihood.
He then explained difference the between the sitters and the bettors;
characterised the first as old rooks, and the last as bubbles; and
advised me to try my fortune at the silver table, by betting a crown at
a time. Be