away from him with as gallant an appearance of indifference as I
could command, and began to take, as I thought, the path which he
had pointed out to me.

His deep voice immediately sounded after me to recall me. 'Stay,
young man, stay--you have mistaken the road already.--I wonder
your friends sent out such an inconsiderate youth, without some
one wiser than himself to take care of him.'

'Perhaps they might not have done so,' said I, 'if I had any
friends who cared about the matter.'

'Well, sir,' he said, 'it is not my custom to open my house to
strangers, but your pinch is like to be a smart one; for, besides
the risk from bad roads, fords, and broken ground, and the night,
which looks both black and gloomy, there is bad company on the
road sometimes--at least it has a bad name, and some have come to
harm; so that I think I must for once make my rule give way to
your necessity, and give you a night's lodging in my cottage.

Why was it, Alan, that I could not help giving an involuntary
shudder at receiving an invitation so seasonable in itself, and
so suitable to my naturally inquisitive disposition? I easily
suppressed this untimely sensation; and as I returned thanks, and
expressed my hope that I should not disarrange, his family, I
once more dropped a hint of my desire to make compensation for
any trouble I might occasion. The man answered very coldly,
'Your presence will no doubt give me trouble, sir, but it is of a
kind which your purse, cannot compensate; in a word, although I
am content to receive you as my guest, I am no publican to call a