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CHAP. X.

In which our travellers meet with a very extraordi

nary adventure. .

JUST as Jones and his friend came to the end of their dialogue in the preceding chapter, they arrived at the bottom of a very steep hill. Here Jones stopt short, and directing his eyes upwards, stood for a while silent. At length he called to his companion, and said, Partridge, I wish I was at the top of this hill; it must certainly afford a most charming prospect, especially by this light; for 'the solemn gloom which the moon casts on all ob'jects, is beyond expression beautiful, especially to an imagination which is desirous of cultivating 'melancholy ideas.'- Very probably,' answered Partridge; but if the top of the hill be properest

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to produce melancholy thoughts, I suppose the 'bottom is the likeliest to produce merry ones, and these I take to be much the better of the two. I protest you have made my blood run cold with the very mentioning the top of that mountain; which seems to me to be one of the highest in the world. No, no, if we look for any thing, let it be for a place under ground, to screen our'selves from the frost. Do so,' said Jones; let it be but within hearing of this place, and L 'will halloo to you at my return back.'-Surely, sir, you are not mad,' said Partridge. Indeed 'I am,' answered Jones, if ascending this hill be 'madness; but as you complain so much of the cold already, I would have you stay below. I will certainly return to you within an hour.'-Pardon 'me, sir,' cries Partridge; I have determined to fol⚫ low you wherever you go.' you go.' Indeed he was now afraid to stay behind; for though he was coward enough in all respects, yet his chief fear was that of

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ghosts, with which the present time of night, and the wildness of the place, extremely well suited.

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At this instant Partridge espied a glimmering light through some trees, which seemed very near to them. He immediately cried out in a rapture, ‘Oh, 'sir, Heaven hath at last heard my prayers, and hath brought us to a house; perhaps it may be an inn. 'Let me beseech you, sir, if you have any compassion either for me or yourself, do not despise 'the goodness of Providence, but let us go directly to yon light. Whether it be a public-house or no, I am sure if they be christians that dwell there, they will not refuse a little houseroom to persons in our miserable condition.' Jones at length yielded to the earnest supplications of Partridge, and both together made directly towards the place whence the light issued.

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They soon arrived at the door of this house, or cottage; for it might be called either, without much impropriety. Here Jones knocked several times without receiving any answer from within; at which Partridge, whose head was full of nothing but of ghosts, devils, witches, and such like, began to tremble, crying, Lord have mercy upon us! sure the people must be all dead. I can see no light neither now, and yet I am certain I saw a candle burning but a moment before.-Well! I have heard of 'such things.'-'What hast thou heard of?' said Jones. The people are either fast asleep, or probably, as this is a lonely place, are afraid to open their door.' He then began to vociferate pretty loudly, and at last an old woman opening an upper casement, asked, Who they were, and what they wanted? Jones answered, They were travellers who had lost their way, and having seen a light in the window, had been led thither in hopes of finding some fire to warm themselves. Whoever you are,' cries the woman, you have no business here; nor shall I open the door to any body at this time of night,'

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Partridge, whom the sound of a human voice had recovered from his fright, fell to the most earnest supplications to be admitted for a few minutes to the fire, saying, He was almost dead with the cold;' to which fear had indeed contributed equally with the frost. He assured her that the gentleman who spoke to her was one of the greatest squires in the country; and made use of every argument, save one, which Jones afterwards effectually added; and this was, the promise of half a crown;-a bribe too great to be resisted by such a person, especially as the genteel appearance of Jones, which the light of the moon plainly discovered to her, together with his affable behaviour, had entirely subdued those apprehensions of thieves which she had at first conceived. She agreed, therefore, at last, to let them in; where Partridge, to his infinite joy, found a good fire ready for his reception.

The poor fellow, however, had no sooner warmed himself, than those thoughts which were always uppermost in his mind, began a little to disturb his brain. There was no article of his creed in which he had a stronger faith than he had in witchcraft, nor can the reader conceive a figure more adapted to inspire this idea, than the old woman who now stood before him. She answered exactly to that picture drawn by Otway in his Orphan. Indeed, if this woman had lived in the reign of James the First, her appearance alone would have hanged her, almost without any evidence.

Many circumstances likewise conspired to confirm Partridge in his opinion. Her living, as he then imagined, by herself in so lonely a place; and in a house, the outside of which seemed much too good for her; but its inside was furnished in the most neat and elegant manner. To say the truth, Jones himself was not a little surprised at what he saw; for, besides the extraordinary neatness of the room, it was adorned with a great number of nicknacks

and curiosities, which might have engaged the attention of a virtuoso.

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While Jones was admiring these things, and Partridge sat trembling with the firm belief that he was in the house of a witch, the old woman said, 'I hope, gentlemen, you will make what haste you 'can; for I expect my master presently, and I 'would not for double the money he should find you here.' Then you have a master,' cried Jones. 6 Indeed, you will excuse me, good woman, ⚫ but I was surprised to see all those fine things in < your house.'-' Ah, sir,' said she, if the twentieth 'part of these things were mine, I should think my'self a rich woman. But pray, sir, do not stay 'much longer, for I look for him in every minute.'

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Why sure he would not be angry with you,' said Jones, for doing a common act of charity?' -Alack-a-day, sir,' said she,' he is a strange man, 'not at all like other people. He keeps no company with any body, and seldom walks out but by night, for he doth not care to be seen; and all 'the country people are as much afraid of meeting him; for his dress is enough to frighten those who ' are not used to it. They call him, The Man of 'the Hill (for there he walks by night), and the 'country people are not, I believe, more afraid of ⚫ the devil himself. He would be terribly angry if he found you here.'- Pray, sir,' says Partridge, 'don't let us offend the gentleman; I am ready to ⚫ walk, and was never warmer in my life. Do, pray 'sir, let us go. Here are pistols over the chimney: who knows whether they be charged or no, or 'what he may do with them?'-Fear nothing, Partridge,' cries Jones; I will secure thee from danger. Nay, for matter o' that, he never doth any mischief,' said the woman; but to be sure it is necessary he should keep some arms for his own safety; for his house hath been beset more than and it is not many nights ago that we

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thought we heard thieves about it: for my own 'part, I have often wondered that he is not murdered by some villain or other, as he walks out ' by himself at such hours; but then, as I said, the people are afraid of him, and besides they think, 'I suppose, he hath nothing about him worth taking. I should imagine, by this collection of "rarities,' cries Jones, that your master had been ́ a traveller.'—Yes, sir, answered she, he hath been a very great one: there be few gentlemen that know more of all matters than he. I fancy ' he hath been crossed in love, or whatever it is I 'know not; but I have lived with him above these 'thirty years, and in all that time he hath hardly spoke to six living people.' She then again solicited their departure, in which she was backed by Partridge; but Jones purposely protracted the time, for his curiosity was greatly raised to see this extraordinary person. Though the old woman, therefore, concluded every one of her answers with desiring him to be gone, and Partridge proceeded so far as to pull him by the sleeve, he still continued to invent new questions, till the old woman, with an affrighted countenance, declared she heard her master's signal; and at the same instant more than one voice was heard without the door, crying, 'D-n your blood, 'show us your money this instant. Your money, you villain, or we will blow your brains about your ears.'

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Oh, good heaven!' cries the old woman, some villains, to be sure, have attacked my master. O la! what shall I do? what shall I do?' How!' cries Jones, how!-Are these pistols loaded?'Oh, good sir, there is nothing in them, indeed. pray don't murder us gentlemen!' (for in reality she now had the same opinion of those within as she had of those without). Jones made her no answer; but snatching an old broad-sword which hung in the room, he instantly sallied out, where he found

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