nd several hands were busy with bottle
and glass to serve him; but I knew a smoking tumbler of brandy-and-water
would comfort him best, and had nearly prepared it, when he peevishly
pushed it away, saying,--

'"Do let me alone, Huntingdon! Do be quiet, all of you! I'm not come to
join you: I'm only come to be with you awhile, because I can't bear my
own thoughts." And he folded his arms, and leant back in his chair; so
we let him be. But I left the glass by him; and, after awhile, Grimsby
directed my attention towards it, by a significant wink; and, on turning
my head, I saw it was drained to the bottom. He made me a sign to
replenish, and quietly pushed up the bottle. I willingly complied; but
Lowborough detected the pantomime, and, nettled at the intelligent grins
that were passing between us, snatched the glass from my hand, dashed the
contents of it in Grimsby's face, threw the empty tumbler at me, and then
bolted from the room.'

'I hope he broke your head,' said I.

'No, love,' replied he, laughing immoderately at the recollection of the
whole affair; 'he would have done so,--and perhaps, spoilt my face, too,
but, providentially, this forest of curls' (taking off his hat, and
showing his luxuriant chestnut locks) 'saved my skull, and prevented the
glass from breaking, till it reached the table.'

'After that,' he continued, 'Lowborough kept aloof from us a week or two
longer. I used to meet him occasionally in the town; and then, as I was
too good-natured to resent his unmannerly conduct, and he bore no malice
against me,--he was never unwilling to talk to me; on the contrary, he
would cling to me, and follow me anywhere but to the club, and the
gaming-houses, and such-like dangerous places of resort--he was so weary
of his own moping, melancholy mind. At last, I got him to come in with
me to the club, on condition that I would not tempt him to drink; and,
for some time, he continued to look in upon us pretty regularly of an
evening,--still abstaining, with wonderful perseverance, from the "rank
poison" he had so bravely forsworn. But some of our members protested
against this conduct. They did not like to have him sitting there like a
skeleton at a feast, instead of contributing his quota to the general
amusement, casting a cloud over all, and watching, with greedy eyes,
every drop they carried to their lips--they vowed it was not fair; and
some of them maintained that he should either be compelled t