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17 Läsebok. N:o 32—33.
The good lady had grown so angry as to raise her voice
much above its ordinary pitch, and the noise drew all the
company into the entry. They did not at all agree with
Mrs. Franklin in respect to the stranger. He seemed to
them to be a very honest, clever-looking fellow, and so far
from wishing to turn him out of the house, there was not
one of them but would have been glad to have him for a
fellow-boarder. They thought him very sensible and pleasant,
and could not account for their landlady’s aversion.
At length, by their united interference, the stranger was
permitted to remain in the house. There was no bed or
part of a bed unoccupied, and he was obliged to sleep all
night on an easy-chair, before the parlour fire. Although
her boarders appeared to have perfect confidence in his
honesty, it was not so with Mrs. Franklin. She very carefully
collected her silver spoons, pepper-box, and porringer from
her closet, and after securing the parlour door, by sticking,
a fork over the latch, carried them to her chamber. She
charged the negro man to sleep with his clothes on, to take
the great cleaver with him, and to wake up and seize the
vagrant at the first noise he made in plundering the house.
The good lady then retired to bed with her maid, whom she
compelled to sleep in the same room.
After a very restless night, Mrs. Franklin rose before
the sun. She called her domestics, and proceeded with them
in a body to unfasten the parlour door. To her great
astonishment, she found her guest quietly sleeping in his chair.
She now began to feel sorry for her suspicions. Awaking
him with a cheerful good morning, she inquired how he had
rested, and invited him to partake of her breakfast, which
was always served before that of her boarders.
»Pray, sir», said the old lady, as they were sipping their
chocolate at the breakfast table, »as you appear to be a
stranger here, to what distant country do you belong?»
Franklin put a little more sugar into his chocolate, and,
helping himself to a slice of toast, replied, that he belonged
to the city of Philadelphia. At the mention of this word,
the old lady, for the first time, exhibited emotion.
»Philadelphia?» said she, »if you live in Philadelphia, perhaps you
know our Ben?»
»Who, madam?» replied Franklin, in the same cool and
undisturbed manner that he had put on ever since he entered
the house. »Why, Ben Franklin», said the mother; »my Ben
— Oh! he is the dearest child that ever blessed a mother».
»What», said the stranger, »is Ben Franklin, the printer,
your son? Why, he is my most intimate friend: he and I
lodge in the same room».
Löfving : Eng. läsebok. 2
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