Gauntlet argued against this frantic determination with all the
vehemence of expostulating friendship; but his remonstrances did
not produce the desired effect upon our desperate hero, who calmly
refuted all his arguments, and asserted the rectitude of his design
from the pretended maxims of reason and true philosophy. While this
dispute was carried on with eagerness on one side, and deliberation
on the other, a letter was brought to Peregrine, who threw
it carelessly aside unopened, though the superscription was in a
handwriting to which he was a stranger; and, in all probability, the
contents would never have been perused, had not Gauntlet insisted
upon his waiving all ceremony, and reading it forthwith. Thus
solicited, Pickle unsealed the billet, which, to his no small
surprise, contained the following intimation:--
Sir,--This comes to inform you, that, after many dangers
and disappointments, I am, by the blessing of God, safely
arrived in the Downs, on board of the Gomberoon Indiaman,
having made a tolerable voyage; by which I hope I shall be
enabled to repay, with interest, the seven hundred pounds
which I borrowed of you before my departure from England.
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