‘againſt his brethren of the craft; the traitor never reſted till we were detected; and the trivial circumſtance that we were not free of the trade, like maſter Ephraim, brought us to be ſentenced to hard labour at the fortifications for life.
Here I lived ſome years, after the rules of the order of the penitential brotherhood; till a good angel, who happened to croſs the country in order to ſet all ſtout healthy priſoners free, opened the priſon-door to me. This good angel was no other than a recruiting officer, who called me to the nobler vocation of fighting for my ſovereign, inſtead of trundling wheel-barrows in his ſervice. I was happy in the exchange: I reſolved to become a ſoldier in earneſt, was always foremoſt in the aſſault, and in caſe of a retreat the nimbleneſs of my heels prevented the enemy from ever overtaking me. Fortune now ſeemed to ſmile: I was ſoon advanced to the head
‘of
