rge. I took my place in the
mail for that evening, sent a letter of thanks, with a few bank notes,
to my counsel, and then sat down and wrote a long letter to O'Brien,
acquainting him with the events which had taken place.

I had just finished, and sealed it up, when in came Mrs Trotter. "Oh my
dear Mr Simple! I'm so sorry, and I have come to console you. There's
nothing like women when men are in affliction, as poor Trotter used to
say, as he laid his head in my lap. When do you go to town?"

"This evening, Mrs Trotter."

"I hope I am to continue to attend the ship?"

"I hope so too, Mrs Trotter, I have no doubt but you will."

"Now, Mr Simple, how are you off for money? Do you want a little? You
can pay me by-and-by. Don't be afraid. I'm not quite so poor as I was
when you came down to mess with Trotter and me, and when you gave me the
dozen pair of stockings. I know what it is to want money, and what it is
to want friends."

"Many thanks to you, Mrs Trotter," replied I; "but I have sufficient to
take me home, and then I can obtain more."

"Well, I'm glad of it, but it was offered in earnest. Good-bye, God
bless you! Come, Mr Simple, give me a kiss; it won't be the first time."

I kissed her, for I felt grateful for her kindness; and with a little
smirking and ogling she quitted the room. I could not help thinking,
after she was gone, how little we know the hearts of others. If I had
been asked if Mrs Trotter was a person to have done a generous action,
from what I had seen of her in adversity, I should have decidedly said,
No. Yet in this offer she was disinterested, for she knew the service
well enough to be aware that I had little chance of being a first
lieutenant again, and of being of service to her. And how often does it
also occur, that those who ought, from gratitude or long friendship, to
do all they can to assist you, turn from you in your necessity, and
prove false and treacherous! It is God alone who knows our hearts. I
sent my letter to O'Brien to the admiral's office, sat down to a dinner
which I could not taste, and at seven o'clock got into the mail.

When I arrived in town I was much worse, but I did not wait more than an
hour. I took my place in a coach which did not go to the town near which
we resided; for I had inquired and found that coach was full, and I did
not choose to wait another day. The coach in which I took my place went
within forty miles of the vicarage, and I intended to pos