asked me to open an old
portmanteau--literally, the one thing that he possessed. He had no money
left, and no clothes. In a corner of the portmanteau there was a roll of
papers, tied with a piece of string--and that was all.

"I can make you but one return,' he said; 'I give you my book.'

"He was too weak to tell me what the book was about, or to express any
wish relative to its publication. I am ashamed to say I set no sort of
value on the manuscript presented to me--except as a memorial of a sad
incident in my life. Waking earlier than usual this morning, I opened
and examined my gift for the first time.

"To my amazement, I found myself rewarded a hundredfold for the little
that I had been able to do. This unhappy man must have been possessed of
abilities which (under favouring circumstances) would, I don't hesitate
to say, have ranked him among the greatest physicians of our time. The
language in which he writes is obscure, and sometimes grammatically
incorrect. But he, and he alone, has solved a problem in the treatment
of disease, which has thus far been the despair of medical men
throughout the whole civilised world.

"If a stranger was looking over my shoulder, he would be inclined to
say, This curious lover writes to his young lady as if she was a medical
colleague! We understand each other, Carmina, don't we? My future career
is an object of interest to my future wife. This poor fellow's gratitude
has opened new prospects to me; and who will be so glad to hear of it as
you?

"Before I close my letter, you will expect me to say a word more about
my health. Sometimes I feel well enough to take my cabin in the
next vessel that sails for Liverpool. But there are other occasions,
particularly when I happen to over-exert myself in walking or riding,
which warn me to be careful and patient. My next journey will take me
inland, to the mighty plains and forest of this grand country. When I
have breathed the health-giving air of those regions, I shall be able
to write definitely of the blessed future day which is to unite us once
more.

"My mother has, I suppose, given her usual conversazione at the end
of the season. Let me hear how you like the scientific people at close
quarters, and let me give you a useful hint. When you meet in society
with a particularly positive man, who looks as if he was sitting for his
photograph, you may safely set that man down as a Professor.

"Seriously, I do hope that you and m