his bed, had the brutality to tell his nephew, in very plain terms, that
if ever he found that Brummagem gent in Poole's rooms again, Poole would
never again see the colour of Uncle Sam's money. Dolly beginning to
blubber, the good man relenting patted him on the back, and said, "But as
soon as you are well, I'll carry you with me to my country-box, and keep
you out of harm's way till I find you a wife, who will comb your head for
you;" at which cheering prospect Poole blubbered more dolefully than
before. On retiring to his own lodging in the Gloucester Coffee-house,
Uncle Sam, to make all sure, gave positive orders to Poole's landlady,
who respected in Uncle Sam the man who might pay what Poole owed to her,
on no account to let in any of Dolly's profligate friends, but especially
the chap he had found there; adding, "'T is as much as my nephew's life
is worth; and, what is more to the purpose, as much as your bill is."
Accordingly, when Jasper presented himself at Poole's door again that
very evening, the landlady apprised him of her orders; and, proof to his
insinuating remonstrances, closed the door in his face. But a French
chronicler has recorded that when Henry IV. was besieging Paris, though
not a loaf of bread could enter the walls, love-letters passed between
city and camp as easily as if there had been no siege at all. And does
not Mercury preside over money as well as Love? Jasper, spurred on by
Madame Caumartin, who was exceedingly anxious to exchange London for St.
Petersburg as soon as possible, maintained a close and frequent
correspondence with Poole by the agency of the nurse, who luckily was not
above being bribed by shillings. Poole continued to reject the villany
proposed by Jasper; but, in course of the correspondence, he threw out
rather incoherently--for his mind began somewhat to wander--a scheme
equally flagitious, which Jasper, aided perhaps by Madame Caumartin's yet
keener wit, caught up, and quickly reduced to deliberate method. Old Mr.
Latham, amongst the bills he discounted, kept those of such more bashful
customers as stipulated that their resort to temporary accommodation