Day a Chance of this happening, ſo had he more than an even Chance of its happening within a few Years.
But while the Captain was one Day buſied in deep Contemplations of this Kind, one of the moſt unlucky, as well as unſeaſonable Accidents, happened to him. The utmoſt Malice of Fortune could indeed have contrived nothing ſo cruel, ſo mal-a-propos, ſo abſolutely deſtructive to all his Schemes. In ſhort, not to keep the Reader in long Suſpence, juſt at the very Inſtant when his Heart was exulting in Meditations on the Happineſs which would accrue to him by Mr. Allworthy’s Death, he himſelfdied of an Apoplexy.
This unfortunately befel the Captain as he was taking his evening Walk by himſelf, ſo that no Body was preſent to lend him any Aſſiſtance, if indeed any Aſſiſtance could have preſerved him. He took, therefore, Meaſure of that Proportion of Soil, which was now become adequate to all his future Purpoſes, and he lay dead on the Ground, a great (though not a living) Example of the Truth of that Obſervation of Horace:
Tu
