Stephen was highly enraged that his fidelity should be called in question by the old woman, and determined upon revenge; so stealing a larger quantity of charcoal than usual, he filled the empty parts with powder, and sealed them with black wax. The old woman kindled a fire of them, and it being a very cold frosty night, sat down before the fire in the usual manner, to warm her starving body. But scarcely had the heat begun to operate, when the powder catching fire, off flew the kettle from the grate, the codlings and the water sprang about the old woman’s ears, and, in the midst of fire and smoke, she cried out in the most piteous manner, which brought a great mob about her to assist her in the hour of misfortune and distress. Fortunately, however, the chief injury that the old woman received was a hole burnt in her gown, a scalding to her chin, and the trouble of picking up her codlings. But Stephen was not long to remain in correspondence with apple wives and such low gentry. Arrived at the years of a stripling, he went into a coffee-house, and called for a dish of tea. Meanwhile, rustling among the newspapers, he picked up the lid of a silver box, and paying for his tea, went and instantly got his own initials engraven upon it. Then, with the greatest assurance, he went back, saying, “Gentlemen, have not I left the bottom of my tobacco-box?” Thereupon rummaging among the papers, he found it, exclaiming, as he put the lid on, “Oh, here it is!” Upon this the owner claimed it as his property, but Stephen impudently showing his cipher upon it, claimed and retained it as his own. At one time Bunce was benighted at Branyard in Hertfordshire, and being destitute of money, was at infinite loss how to proceed. But a fertile invention is a necessary qualification in a deceiver, and Stephen’s was acquiring considerable strength. He called at the parson’s door, and requested the maid to tell her master that a stranger wished to have the honor of speaking with him. When the clergyman made his appearance, Stephen, in an eloquent and affecting tone, informed him that he was a poor student from Oxford, going home to his friends, and as he was benighted, he entreated that he would afford him the friendly aid of his roof for one night. The generous-hearted parson, pleased with his appearance and pitying his distress, kindly received him and entertained him according to the best of his household.