requires: re-use vfs.tryread for simplicity
Avoids calling `set` twice or having to re-raise an exception and implements the routine with a single return expression.
$ echo "[extensions]" >> $HGRCPATH
$ echo "mq=" >> $HGRCPATH
$ hg init
$ echo 'base' > base
$ hg ci -Ambase
adding base
$ hg qnew -mmqbase mqbase
$ hg qsave
$ hg qrestore 2
restoring status: hg patches saved state