"In Lambeth, sir."
"Then why are you here this morning?" said the merchant.
"I do not like to tell you," said the man. "I am ashamed to tell a gentleman like you."
"Why so?" replied the merchant.
"Well, sir," replied the man, "as I had not a single penny, and did not know how to get one, I came here to drown myself, although I knew 't was wicked!"
The merchant was astonished and appalled, and after a long silence, said, "Sir, I am overwhelmed with wealth, and yet I am so miserable that I came here this morning for the same purpose as yourself. There's something more in this than I can understand at present. Let me go with you to see your family."
The man made every excuse to hinder the merchant, but he would go.
"Have you lost your character?" said the merchant.
"No, sir," replied the man, "but I am so miserably poor and wretched—and, for anything I know, my wife and children may be turned into the street."
"Why are you out of work and pay?" resumed the merchant.