by T. Smollett
He attends his Uncle with great Affection during a Fit of Illness--Setsout again for London--Meets with his Friend Godfrey, who is prevailedupon to accompany him to Bath; on the Road to which Place they chanceto Dine with a Person who entertains them with a curious Account of acertain Company of Adventurers.
Thus determined, he took leave of Emilia and her mother, on pretence ofgoing to London upon some urgent business, and returned to the garrison,leaving the good old lady very much concerned, and the daughter incensedat his behaviour, which was the more unexpected, because Godfrey hadtold them that the commodore approved of his nephew's passion.
Our adventurer found his uncle so ill of the gout, which, for the firsttime, had taken possession of his stomach, that his life was in imminentdanger, and the whole family in disorder. He therefore took the reinsof government in his own hands, sent for all the physicians in theneighbourhood, and attended him in person with the most affectionatecare, during the whole fit, which lasted a fortnight, and then retiredbefore the strength of his constitution.
When the old gentleman recovered his health, he was so penetrated withPeregrine's behaviour, that he actually would have made over to him hiswhole fortune, and depended upon him for his own subsistence, had notour youth opposed the execution of the deed with all his influenceand might, and even persuaded him to make a will, in which his friendHatchway, and all his other adherents, were liberally remembered,and his aunt provided for on her own terms. This material point beingsettled, he, with his uncle's permission, departed for London, afterhaving seen the family affairs established under the direction andadministration of Mr. Jolter and the lieutenant; for, by this time, Mrs.Trunnion was wholly occupied with her spiritual concern.
On his first arrival at London, he sent a card to the lodgings ofGauntlet, in consequence of a direction from his mother; and that younggentleman waited on him next morning, though not with that alacrity ofcountenance and warmth of friendship which might have been expectedfrom the intimacy of their former connection. Nor was Peregrine himselfactuated by the same unreserved affection for the soldier which he hadformerly entertained. Godfrey, over and above the offence he had takenat Pickle's omission in point of corresponding with him, had beeninformed, by a letter from his mother, of the youth's cavalier behaviourto Emilia, during his last residence at Winchester; and our younggentleman, as we have already observed, was disgusted at the supposeddiscovery which the soldier had made in his absence to the commodore.They, perceived their mutual umbrage at meeting, and received each otherwith that civility of reserve which commonly happens between two personswhose friendship is in the wane.
Gauntlet at once divined the cause of the other's displeasure, and, inorder to vindicate his own character, after the first compliments werepassed, took the opportunity, on inquiring after the health of thecommodore, to tell Peregrine, that, while he tarried at the garrison,on his return from Dover, the subject of the conversation, one night,happening to turn on our hero's passion, the old gentleman had expressedhis concern about that affair; and, among other observations, said,he supposed the object of his love was some paltry hussy, whom he hadpicked up when he was a boy at school. Upon which, Mr. Hatchway assuredhim, that she was a young woman of as good a family as any in thecounty; and, after having prepossessed him in her favour, ventured,out of the zeal of his friendship, to tell who she was. Wherefore, thediscovery was not to be imputed to any other cause; and he hoped Mr.Pickle would acquit him of all share in the transaction.
Peregrine was very well pleased to be thus undeceived; his countenanceimmediately cleared up, the formality of his behaviour relaxed intohis usual familiarity; he asked pardon for his unmannerly neglect ofGodfrey's letter, which he protested, was not owing to any disregard,or abatement of friendship, but to a hurry of youthful engagements, inconsequence of which he had procrastinated his answer from time to time,until he was ready to return in person.
The young soldier was contented with this apology and, as Pickle'sintention, with respect to his sister, was still dubious and undeclared,he did not think it was incumbent upon him, as yet, to express anyresentment on that score; but was wise enough to foresee, that therenewal of his intimacy with our young gentleman might be the means ofreviving that flame which had been dissipated by a variety of newideas. With those sentiments, he laid aside all reserve, and theircommunication resumed its former channel. Peregrine made him acquaintedwith all the adventures in which he had been engaged since theirparting; and he, with the same confidence, related the remarkableincidents of his own fate; among other things, giving him to understand,that, upon obtaining a commission in the army, the father of his dearSophy, without once inquiring about the occasion of his promotion, hadnot only favoured him with his countenance in a much greater degree thanheretofore, but also contributed his interest, and even promised theassistance of his purse, in procuring for him a lieutenancy, which hewas then soliciting with all his power; whereas, if he had not beenenabled, by a most accidental piece of good fortune, to lift himselfinto the sphere of an officer, he had all the reason in the world tobelieve that this gentleman, and all the rest of his wealthy relations,would have suffered him to languish in obscurity and distress; and byturning his misfortune into reproach, made it a plea for their want ofgenerosity and friendship.
Peregrine, understanding the situation of his friend's affairs, wouldhave accommodated him upon the instant with a sum to accelerate thepassage of his commission through the offices; but, being too wellacquainted with his scrupulous disposition, to manifest his benevolencein that manner, he found means to introduce himself to one of thegentlemen of the War Office, who was so well satisfied with thearguments used in behalf of his friend, that Godfrey's business wastransacted in a very few days, though he himself knew nothing of hisinterest being thus reinforced.
By this time, the season at Bath was begun; and our hero, panting withthe desire of distinguishing himself at that resort of the fashionableworld, communicated his design of going thither to his friend Godfrey,whom he importuned to accompany him in the excursion; and leave ofabsence from his regiment being obtained by the influence of Peregrine'snew quality friends, the two companions departed from London in apost-chaise, attended, as usual, by the valet-de-chambre and Pipes, whowere become almost as necessary to our adventurer as any two of his ownorgans.
At the inn, when they alighted for dinner, Godfrey perceived a personwalking by himself in the yard, with a very pensive air, and, uponobserving him more narrowly, recognised him to be a professed gamester,whom he had formerly known at Tunbridge. On the strength of thisacquaintance, he accosted the peripatetic, who knew him immediately;and, in the fulness of his grief and vexation, told him, that he wasnow on his return from Bath, where he had been stripped by a companyof sharpers, who resented that he should presume to trade upon his ownbottom.
Peregrine, who was extremely curious in his inquiries, imagining thathe might learn some entertaining and useful anecdotes from this artist,invited him to dinner, and was accordingly fully informed of all thepolitical systems at Bath. He understood that there was at London onegreat company of adventurers, who employed agents in all the differentbranches of imposition throughout the whole kingdom of England, allowingthese ministers a certain proportion of the profits accruing from theirindustry and skill, and reserving the greatest share for the benefit ofthe common stock, which was chargeable with the expense of fittingout individuals in their various pursuits, as well as with the losssustained in the course of their adventures. Some whose persons andqualifications are by the company judged adequate to the task, exerttheir talents in making love to ladies of fortune, being accommodatedwith money and accoutrements for that purpose, after having given theirbonds payable to one or other of the directors, on the day of marriage,for certain sums, proportioned to the dowries they are to receive.Others versed in the doctrine of chances, and certain secretexpediences, frequent all those places where games of hazard areallowed: and such as are masters in the arts of billiards, tennis
,and bowls, are continually lying in wait, in all the scenes ofthese diversions, for the ignorant and unwary. A fourth class attendhorse-races, being skilled in those mysterious practices by which theknowing ones are taken in. Nor is this community unfurnished with thosewho lay wanton wives and old rich widows under contribution, and extortmoney, by prostituting themselves to the embraces of their own sex,and then threatening their admirers with prosecution. But their mostimportant returns are made by that body of their undertakers whoexercise their understandings in the innumerable stratagems of the cardtable, at which no sharper can be too infamous to be received, and evencaressed by persons of the highest rank and distinction. Among otherarticles of intelligence, our young gentleman learned, that thoseagents, by whom their guest was broke, and expelled from Bath, hadconstituted a bank against all sporters, and monopolized the advantagein all sorts of play. He then told Gauntlet, that, if he would puthimself under his direction, he would return with them, and lay such ascheme as would infallibly ruin the whole society at billiards, as heknew that Godfrey excelled them all in his knowledge of that game.
The soldier excused himself from engaging in any party of that kind, andafter dinner the travellers parted; but, as the conversation betweenthe two friends turned upon the information they had received, Peregrineprojected a plan for punishing those villainous pests of society,who prey upon their fellow-creatures; and it was put in execution byGauntlet in the following manner.
CHAPTER LXIX.