--You call him rightly, said _Eugenius_, --for by sin, we are told, he enter'd the world ----I care not which way he enter'd, quoth I, provided he be not in such a hurry to take me out with him--for I have forty volumes to write, and forty thousand things to say and do which no body in the world will say and do for me, except thyself; and as thou seest he has got me by the throat (for _Eugenius_ could scarce hear me speak across the table), and that I am no match for him in the open field, had I not better, whilst these few scatter'd spirits remain, and these two spider legs of mine (holding one of them up to him) are able to support me--had I not better, _Eugenius_, fly for my life? 'Tis my advice, my dear _Tristram_, said _Eugenius_ --Then by heaven! I will lead him a dance he little thinks of----for I will gallop, quoth I, without looking once behind me, to the banks of the _Garonne_; and if I hear him clattering at my heels ----I'll scamper away to mount _Vesuvius_----from thence to _Joppa_, and from _Joppa_ to the world's end; where, if he follows me, I pray God he may break his neck----
--He runs more risk _there_, said _Eugenius_, than thou.
_Eugenius's_ wit and affection brought blood into the cheek from whence it had been some months banish'd----'twas a vile moment to bid adieu in; he led me to my chaise----_Allons!_ said I; the postboy gave a crack with his whip----off I went like a cannon, and in half a dozen bounds got into _Dover_.
I have forty volumes to write, and forty thousand things to say and do which nobody in the world will say and do for me; and as thou seest, Death has got me by the throat (for Eugenius could scarce hear me speak). As I am no match for him in the open field, had I not better, whilst these two spider legs of mine are able to support me - had I not better fly for my life?'
''Tis my advice, my dear Tristram,' said Eugenius.
'Then by heaven! I will lead him a dance - for I will gallop to the banks of the Garonne,' quoth I, 'and if I hear him clattering at my heels I'll scamper away to Mount Vesuvius, and from there to the world's end. If he follows me, I pray God he may break his neck.'
'He runs more risk there,' said Eugenius, 'than thou.'
Eugenius's wit and affection brought blood into the cheek from whence it had been some months banished. - 'Twas a vile moment to bid adieu; he led me to my chaise.
'Allons!' said I; the postboy cracked his whip - off I went like a cannon, and in half a dozen bounds got into Dover.