-for I did not wholly rely on my own judgment in the
case,--but as a habitual daily stimulus, at certain fixed hours, it was,
of course, omitted. As I began to recover, however, my old desire for
the opium pill began to recur, at the accustomed former hours, and with
all its wonted imperiousness.

In a moment of reflection, reason resumed her throne, and the inquiry
came up, whether I should ever again wear the chain which had been
temporarily loosened. After a short debate, it was decided in the
negative. But a second question soon came up, whether I could keep my
resolution. This was a matter of serious inquiry, and it caused a
somewhat lengthy mental discussion.

During the discussion a new thought struck me. It was a child's thought,
perhaps; and yet it was interesting, and not to be despised for its
simplicity and childishness. It was that I would take my opium, what I
had in the house, and after carefully enclosing it in my pill box, would
make use of the box as a nucleus for the twine I was daily using. "When
I am inclined to break my resolution," thought I, "nothing shall be done
till I have unwound the ball of twine. I shall thus gain a little time
for reflection; and perhaps before I come to the opium, I may permit
reason to return and to mount the throne. The trial shall, at all
events, be made."

My resolution was carried into effect, and steadily adhered to. The
opium was fairly entombed in the twine, where, for aught I know, it
still remains. Most certainly I never saw it more; nor have I ever
tasted any of the opium or laudanum family, from that day to the
present, whether in sickness or in health.

CHAPTER LV.

BLEEDING AT THE LUNGS.

Having occasion to go to the metropolis, one day, I took the most
expeditious public conveyance which the times and the season afforded.
It was January, 1832. Railroad cars were not so much in vogue that I
could step into one of them, and, unless in case of accident, be there
in four or five hours, as I now could. It required something like
twenty-four hours to perform the journey I proposed, especially in the
winter.

We started at three o'clock in the morning. It had recently snowed, the
snow was deep, and the path was not well broken. Of course it was not
daylight when we set out, and as it was cloudy, it proved, as is not
unfrequent in such cases, to be the darkest time in the whole
twenty-four hours. However, we did as well as we could--driver, horses,