‘bulous ſpirit had really a ſhare in reſcuing you from the hands of the robber in diſguiſe? How if my fairy neighbour, when he undertook to bring you into a place of ſafety, had choſen to aſſume my appearance, in order to avoid giving you any alarm? And ſuppoſe I ſhould tell you, that I have not ſtirred a ſtep from this good company, as, being maſter of the houſe, I could not in common politeneſs to-night?—that you were brought to my reſidence by a ſtranger, who is now no where to be found?—In this manner then it were poſſible that the neighbouring ſpirit had actually ſaved his honour; and hence it would follow, that he is not the mere creature of the brain that you would make him.’
This addreſs a little diſconcerted the philoſophical Counteſs; her fair daughters lad down their knives in evident conſternation, and then looked ſtedfaſtly at their hoſt, in order to read in his eyes whether this was ſaid in jeſt, or ſeriouſly intended.
