READER, did you ever want twenty pounds? You have--you have!--I see it--I
know it! Nay, never blush! Your hand--your hand!

READER.--Sir, I--

Silence!--nonsense--stuff; don't, don't prevaricate--own it as I do,--own
it and rejoice.

READER.--Really, sir, this conduct--

Is strange. Granted; don't draw back; come, a cordial gripe. We are
friends; we have both suffered from the same cause. There, that's
right--honest palm to palm. Now, how say you--have you ever wanted twenty
pounds?

READER.--Frankly, then, I have.

Mind to mind, as hand to hand. Have you felt as I did? Did its want cloud
the sun, wither the grass, and blight the bud?

READER.--It did.

But how, marry, how? What! you decline confession--so you may--I'll be
more explicit. I was abroad, far from my "father-land"--there's a magic in
the word!--the turf we've played on, the hearts we love, the graves we
venerate--all, all combine to concentrate its charm.

READER.--You are digressing.

Thank you, I am; but I'll resume. While I could buy them, friends indeed