"What shall we do with these fellows?" asked our men of Captain Levee. "Leave them to get off how they can," replied Captain Levee. "I will not be stopped on my journey by such a matter as this. I dare say they don't deserve hanging more than half the people we meet. Let us push on and get into quarters for the night. After all, Mr Elrington," said Captain Levee to me, as we were setting off, "it's only a little land privateering, and we must not be too hard upon them." I confess, Madam, when I recalled all that I had witnessed on board of the Revenge, that I agreed with Captain Levee, that these highwaymen were not worse than ourselves. No other adventure occurred during our journey, and when we arrived in London we directed our horses' steps to a fashionable tavern in Saint Paul's, and took possession of apartments, and as Captain Levee was well-known, we were cordially greeted and well attended. The tavern was in great repute, and resorted to by all the wits and gay men of the day, and I soon found myself on intimate terms with a numerous set of dashing blades full of life and jollity, and spending their money like princes; but it was a life of sad intemperance, and my head ached every morning from the excess of the night before, and in our excursions in the evenings we were continually in broils and disturbances, and many a broken head, nay, sometimes a severe wound, was given and received. After the first fortnight, I felt weary of this continual dissipation, and as I was dressing a sword-cut which Captain Levee had received in an affray, I one morning told him so. "I agree with you," he replied, "that it is all very foolish and discreditable, but if we live with the gay and pretty fellows, we must do as they do. Besides, how could I get rid of my money, which burns in my pocket, if I did not spend as much in one day as would suffice for three weeks?" "Still I would rather dress a wound gained in an honourable contest with the enemy than one received in a night brawl, and I would rather see you commanding your men in action than reeling with other drunkards in search of a quarrel in the streets." "I feel that it is beneath me, and I'm sure that it's beneath you. You are a Mentor without a beard," replied Captain Levee. "But still it requires no beard to discover that I have made an ass of myself. Now, what do you say, shall we take lodgings and live more reputably, for while in this tavern we never shall be able to do so?" "I should prefer it, to tell you the honest truth," I replied, "for I have no pleasure in our present life." "Be it so, then," he replied. "I will tell them that I take lodgings, that I may be near to a fair lady. That will be a good and sufficient excuse."