the heap of silver with one hand, whilst he pocketed the guinea with the other.  The thimble-engro stood, for some time, like one transfixed, his eyes glaring wildly, now at the table, and now at his successful customers; at last he said, “Arrah, sure, master!—­ no, I manes my lord—­you are not going to ruin a poor boy!” “Ruin you!” sail the other; “what! by winning a guinea’s change? a pretty small dodger you—­if you have not sufficient capital, why do you engage in so deep a trade as thimbling? come, will you stand another game?” “Och, sure, master, no! the twenty shillings and one which you have cheated me of were all I had in the world.”  “Cheated you,” said Jack, “say that again, and I will knock you down.”  “Arrah! sure, master, you knows that the pea under the thimble was not mine; here is mine, master; now give me back my money.”  “A likely thing,” said Jack; “no, no, I know a trick worth two or three of that; whether the pea was yours or mine, you will never have your twenty shillings and one again; and if I have ruined you, all the better; I’d gladly ruin all such villains as you, who ruin poor men with your dirty tricks, whom you would knock down and rob on the road, if you had but courage; not that I mean to keep your shillings, with the exception of the two you cheated from me, which I’ll keep.  A scramble, boys! a scramble!” said he, flinging up all the silver into the air, with the exception of the two shillings; and a scramble there instantly was, between the rustics who had lost their money and the urchins who came running up; the poor thimble-engro tried likewise to have his share; and though he flung himself down, in order to join more effectually in the scramble, he was unable to obtain a single sixpence; and having in his rage given some of his fellow-scramblers a cuff or two, he was set upon by the boys and country fellows, and compelled to make an inglorious retreat with his table, which had been flung down in the scuffle, and had one of its legs broken.  As he retired, the rabble hooted, and Jack, holding up in derision the pea with which he had outmanoeuvred him, exclaimed, “I always carry this in my pocket in order to be a match for vagabonds like you.”

The tumult over, Jack gone, and the rabble dispersed, I followed the discomfited adventurer at a distance, who, leaving the town, went slowly on, carrying his dilapidated piece of furniture; till coming to an old wall by the roadside, he placed it on the ground, and sat down, seemingly in deep despondency, holding his thumb to his mouth.  Going nearly up to him, I stood still, whereupon he looked up, and perceiving I was looking steadfastly at him, he said, in an angry tone, “Arrah! what for are you staring at me so?  By my shoul, I think you are one of the thaives who are after robbing me.  I think I saw you among them, and if I were only sure of it, I would take the liberty of trying to give you a big bating.”  “You have had enough of trying to give people