evening, or any time you like?"

"Yes, any hour suits those fellows. You ought to get either a heavy
middleweight or a light heavyweight; you will be a heavyweight yourself
by the time you have filled out. Let me think; what is your height--six
feet one, if I remember rightly?"

"Yes, that is about it."

"Well, with your shoulders and long reach and activity, you ought to be
something out of the way if you take pains, Mark. You see, I am barely
five feet ten, and am something like two stone lighter than you are. I
suppose you are not much under twelve stone and a half."

"That is just about my weight; I weighed at the miller's only a
fortnight ago."

"Good. I will make some inquiries, and see who would be the best man to
take you in hand to begin with. And now about lodgings. Well, I should
say Essex Street, or any of those streets running down from the Strand,
would suit you. The rooms in Essex Street are bigger than those in
Buckingham Street, and you will find anything between the two in some of
the others. I may as well saunter round there with you. Of course money
is no object to you?"

"No," Mark agreed, "but I don't want big rooms. I think a small one,
when you are sitting by yourself, is more cozy and comfortable."

Finally two rooms were taken in Villiers Street; they were of moderate
size and handsomely furnished: the last tenant had fitted them out for
himself, but had lived to enjoy them only three months, having at the
end of that time been killed in a duel over a quarrel at cards.

"Well, I think you are in luck, Mark; you might look through a good many
streets before you would find rooms so fashionably furnished as these. I
see he went in for driving; that is evident from these engravings on the
walls."

"They are common, gaudy looking things," Mark said, "and quite out of
character with the furniture."

"Not at all, as times go, Mark; it is quite the thing for a man to have
prints showing his tastes, riding or driving, shooting or coaching, or
the ring. If you don't like them you can take them down, or, what will
be better, take them out of their frames and put some of the champions
past and present up there instead."

"I will see about it," Mark said with a laugh. "I may turn out a
complete failure."

"There is no fear of that, Mark; and as the ring is all the fashion now,
I can assure you it would be considered in good taste, though I own that
in point of art most of these things leave