“‘One like yourself,’ was my answer, ‘if you really correspond to your appearance.’
“‘That is not the way out? What are you looking for here?’
“‘What is that to you?’ retorted I, insolently.
“The man considered me twice from top to toe. It seemed as though he wished to compare my figure with his own, and my answer with my figure. ‘You speak as rudely as a beggar,’ he said at last.
“‘Perhaps so. I was a beggar yesterday.’
“The man laughed. ‘One could swear you did not want to pass for any thing better now.’
“‘For something worse then.’—I wished to proceed.
“‘Softly friend, why in such a hurry? What time have you to lose?’
“I reflected for a moment. How the words came to my tongue I do not know. ‘Life is short,’ said I, slowly, ‘and hell lasts for ever!’
“He stared at me. ‘May I be d—d,’ he said at last, ‘if thou hast not brushed close by a gallows.’