ADVENTURES OF A BANK NOTE. A CHA P. I. The unfortunate captain. FTER being foak'd for two days in the corner of a butcher's greafy pocket, and paffing two evenings in a room no bigger than a fhip's cabbin, with twenty people fmoaking in it, I was delivered into the hands of a Smithfield falefman, for fat sheep; with him I drank fix bowls Myers 26 May 1943-4 Vol VOL. IV. B bowls of punch at the Grey-hound, in about four hours; then was given to a country farmer, who, the next morning, carried me to a gentleman of fortune. This gentleman, for fhortnefs, I fhall call Mr. Derbyshire, though his real name is a monofyllable. With this Mr. Derbyshire did I pass many a merry hour; his heart was as light as a feather, and the natural benevolence that furrounded it, kept it always chearful; neither envy, hatred, or malice, ever approached within gun-fhot of it. As he was chatting with a friend one evening on a bench at Ranelagh, and making remarks on the curious figures that kept continually paffing by, the most contemptible of which feemed to be moft in its own good good graces, they fpied an agreeable, genteel, fashionable woman, gallanted by the strangest figure of a moveable that had ever made its appearance, either in that or any other breadand-butter-meeting, fince the first invention of hot rolls; his face was fo fun-burnt, that it was difficult to dif tinguish whether it or his hat was the browneft; his beard, indeed, which was a week long, and jet black, proved fo fine a foil to his face, by making it appear a fhade fairer than it really was, that the poor hat had not fair play; but, in my opinion, it ftill had the brighter complexion of the two: it was covered with a lace an inch and an half broad, which had formerly been filver, but time, and the damp of fea-water, had made it blacker than the hat itfelf; to preferve B 2 serve a proper medium of light and fhade, under this hat, and down each fide of this face, the captain wore a long milk-white Adonis, with about two pound of hair in it; his coat was of a fuperfine white cloth, with fleeves turned up as high as his elbows; the waift was not above a foot, though the skirts were three quarters of a yard long; his fhoes buckled at the toes with a plain filver buckle that weighed at least fix ounces; he likewife wore a brass-hilted hanger, which, instead of dangling by his fide, feemed to be stuck through the waistband of his breeches. As he paffed by the two friends, the croud meeting them pretty thick, they heard him fay, "Avast heaving, coufin Lovely, we shall "never be able to ply up to wind"ward; my advice, therefore, look " you |