he feels now a little burt-unreasonably, I admit-at my silence, which was unavoidable-he will come round, and all will be well; and as for Kate

Here Foxcroft's tap summoned me to the door. I went. "Jim, the groom-boy, wants to speak to you, sir; he is just run up from Mr. Sniggs.

"Oh!" said I; and leaning over the balustrades, called to the lad to come to me.

"Well," said I," what's the message?"

Whoy, zur," said Jem, stepping close up to me; and whispering, "Mr. Sniggs's compliments-if you please, Zur, MASTER TOM'S DEAD!"

CHAPTER XII.

Tuis intelligence, for which I certainly was by no means prepared, lost none of its effect by the tone and manner in which it was communicated by the boy. The suddenness with which all the hopes Sniggs had encouraged were dissipated, and a fatal result produced, added greatly to my sorrow and regret. In an instant every prospect was changed, and every proposition which I had suggested to myself as to my future conduct in my really trying and dif ficult situation altered. The worst that I had anticipated had happened at a moment when I did not expect it, and the darkness of my fate acquired new gloom from the con. trast it afforded to the gleam of expectation produced by the apothecary's last note and bulletin.

"Is Mr. Sniggs coming here?" said I to the boy, when I had sufficiently recovered my composure to speak.

"Ees, Zur," said the boy; "he be a-laying Master Tom out, I think; and when he ha done that, Doctor says he'll step up and tell ye all about it."

The combination of ideas which flashed into my mind; the association of the painful duty, of which the groom spoke so carelessly, with Sniggs's subsequent visit to Ashmead, and my continued dread of the infection, made me

shudder; and I could have killed the fellow for having been so communicative upon a point so painful. He evidently saw nothing in his narrative calculated to excite any particular sensation on my part. His feelings were purely animal; and if it be true, as the naturalists tell us, that animal feeling is proportionably more or less acute according to the size of the animal itself, it is likewise equally true that mental sensibility decreases, in the exact ratio of enlightenment and civilization.

Shakspeare's doctrine, most beautiful to inculcate, infers no difference between the dying pains of a giant and those of a beetle; and if we have successfully controverted that humane opinion, we may surely be allowed to doubt whether the loss of a parent, child, or friend, equally affects the educated and refined portion of society and the rude, unlearned, and coarser classes of which my west-country rustic was one. I saw no sign of sorrow or of sympathy about him: he knew the boy was dead, and he knew that he must be buried so did I; but with me the certainty of both events did not blunt the edge of their severity.

I dismissed the groom from farther parlance, and returned to Harriet, who seemed less surprised than I expected when I announced the catastrophe. Tears started into her eyes; but she was too ingenuous and too artless to conceal from me the fact that her distress was occasioned rather by the anticipation of what might be the consequences of the boy's death as connected with me, than by the event itself.

"What a thing to happen at such a time!" said she, "and to happen from the thoughtlessness or carelessness of the people to whose special care he was confided."

"Upon that point, Harriet," I replied, "it is not worth while to waste a thought; it may or may not be that which has produced this result; but, after all, nobody could have foreseen that a boy of his age would, under the circumstances, have done so mad a thing: that, however, is over and past recall, and the less said about it the better; for, if Cuthbert once heard of it, the fate of the unhappy Sniggs and his wife would be sealed. Let us consider what is now to be done: I suppose my original intention had better be put into execution-I had better start for Bath and break the affair to Cuthbert myself?"

"I don't know," said Harriet; "papa always says, never be the bearer of bad news."

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Yet," said I, "it is impossible to write this historywhat can I-what ought I to do?"

"Consult papa," said Harriet; "the stories which he

tells of himself in early life justify you in applying to him. He never was at a loss

"True," said I; "but then he never was placed in such an extraordinary predicament. How I wish, my dear girl, that Cuthbert had not met me at Gosport, and that

I had gone

you and "Where," said Harriet-for the sound sense of a woman always prevails-"where should we have gone to?-to a place which he had left and then we should have had to

come

"Bock again," said I, "as the Scotchman said when his leg was over the man's wall-that's true; and bad as things look, my girl, I will still cling to my creed, and say every thing is for the best. I'll go

"That will be for the worst," said Harriet; "you have never left me since we were married-I can't bear your absence."

"Pshaw!" said I. "An affair of three days, or four at most."

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Yes," said Harriet, "the time seems short; but only recollect what is to happen during that period: what events are to be told-what effects to be produced; your brother, if left to himself, would, I have no doubt, be as reasonable as he is, I believe, affectionate; but worked upon by active, artful people, depend upon it, my dear Gilbert, the whole thing will be misrepresented and

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"I am quite aware of that," said I; "but the question to be considered is, whether my personal presence and a vivâ voce description of what has happened would not conduce more to his tranquillization than a letter: the letter, recollect, would be open to the review and criticism of the whole crew-Mrs. Brandy ball leading the van. If I go, I am there myself to explain, and describe, and modify. I had better go."

I saw that Harriet still thought I had better not. However, considering that during my absence she would be surrounded by her own family and occupied in attending to mine if the word could be applicable to one little baby-I felt less difficulty in leaving her, the more especially as my stay at Cuthbert's would be so extremely short.

My deliberations and consultations, however, were broken in upon by the arrival of Sniggs, the announcement of whose name in connexion with the duty which, according to the groomboy's account, he had been performing, produced something like a shudder on my frame, but whom, of course, it was most essential I should see. I accordingly went VOL. I.-17

down stairs, and am almost ashamed to own how unwillingly; suffice it to say, without attempting to describe them, that my feelings, whatever they were, were by no means moderated by seeing both my pet dogs worrying about and sniffing the worthy apothecary's clothes, as if they were aware of the presence of an odour which might breathe infection in my yet untainted house. I drove them out of the room with an abruptness of manner and severity of tone very unusual with me in my intercourse with dumb animals.

Well, sir," said Sniggs, "this is a sad business; I had hoped better things: however, it is a consolation to myself and Mrs. Sniggs to know that every thing was done that could be done."

Yes, thought I, and something more than need have been done.

"I never saw an instance where fever increased so rapidly-it was irresistible-an effusion of blood on the brain terminated the struggle. Poor fellow! he suffered greatly during the night and became delirious, and at the last was quite unconscious of what was passing-when will he be buried, sir?"

"That is a matter upon which I can say nothing till I have seen my brother," said I.

"You propose going to him, then?" said Sniggs. "I think so."

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Because," continued the apothecary, "it struck me that, perhaps, having had charge of him, having attended him, and watched him through the progress of the disease, it might have been, in some degree, consolatory and satisfactory to Mr. Gurney if I were to go to him myself: I could explain more correctly and minutely the circumstances of the case, and

“But," said I, “your patients here!"

"Oh," said Sniggs, "I can arrange all that-my friend Pillman would take charge of them; besides, my own assistant is perfectly able to do that. This is no time for joking; but you know what Pillman said to the bishop who refused to ordain him, because he was not properly qualified

"He said, my lord, I regret this refusal more for the sake of others than myself—it may cause the death of hundreds.' How so, sir?" said the bishop. Why, my lord,' replied Pillman, "If I do not get into the church, I must follow my father's profession, and practise physic." "

Sniggs, I fancy, saw in the expression of my countenance

that I did not particularly admire the tone and manner of his conversation at such a moment; for he suddenly threw an extra proportion of grief into his strange-looking features, and inquired in a mournful tone whether I approved of his proposal.

It struck me that it would be an exceedingly good plan; but I determined not to sanction it without farther consultation in the family cabinet. It was not difficult to discover divers and sundry reasons why the active son of Æsculapius was both ready and willing to undertake the expedition. In the first place he would show his anxiety and sympathy; in the second, he would explain the case more favourably for himself, carefully concealing, no doubt, the episode of the cherry-brandy, which as I felt, although I did not admit, had mainly contributed to the catastrophe; and, in the third place, his extra attention and rapid journey, to the manifest prejudice and neglect of all his other patients, would give him a substantial claim upon Cuthbert's liberality, which, after the melancholy termination of the boy's illness, might probably require some powerful stimulants in the way of counteracting the grief and disappointment of the hopes he had entertained of the apothecary's skill.

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Well," said I, "I will go and talk this over with Mrs. Gurney; and if we agree in thinking your scheme available, when shall you be ready to start?"

"In an hour," said Sniggs. "I have given all the ne cessary orders with respect to the body, and every thing will go on perfectly well in my absence, subject to such instructions as Mr. Gurney may give me, which, of course, I shall hurry back to fulfil."

"Will you wait five minutes?" said I.

"I am at your orders," replied Sniggs. "I don't know whether it is quite luncheon time, but if it is-and I assure you I am deuced hungry-hav'n't had time to eat a morsel this morning-and you are for my going, I would take a snack, which would save time, and I could order horses as I went by the King's Head, and so come round here for your letter."

"Luncheon you shall have," said I, not entirely forgetting what his morning's occupations had been, and wondering only that they should be in any degree conducive to a good appetite.

I ordered the luncheon to be hurried, and went up stairs to Harriet.

It was a rule in the navy in war time, and which I believe is sometimes observed in a period of profound peace,