l touch not, taste not, handle not, whate'er
intoxicates.'

"_Judge._--I hope that when we meet again it will be under more
favorable auspices to yourself----

"_Prisoner_ (interrupting).--'Meet me by moonlight alone, and I will
tell thee.'

"_Judge_ (resuming).--For you're in a bad plight now to appear among the
ladies.

"_Prisoner._--'Oh! I'm the boy for bewitching them.'

"_Judge._--Not when you're drunk, I imagine.

"_Prisoner._--'A man's a man, for a' o' that.'

"_Judge._--You may go, sir. Good day.

"_Prisoner._--'Oh, give to me that better word that comes from the
heart, Good bye.'

"I managed to get my friend, Mr. Blobb, out of the court-room, and
subsequently, with some difficulty, I succeeded in putting him to bed in
my apartment, where I kept him for twenty-four hours, until he had
recovered from his temporary aberration. He has since that time been in
a normal state, except that he appears melancholy at times. He is well
enough, however,----

"To be here this evening," said Quackenbush, interrupting; "for know ye
that Mr. R. Percy Delancy Blobb is now before you in the person of
myself, and I am here to-night to ask forgiveness, which, if you don't
give to me, I shall take immediate measures to expel you all from the
club."

It was immediately voted that Mr. Quackenbush be forgiven, on condition
that he would disclose the facts which led to his being found a prisoner
in the Essex Market Police Court.

This, Mr. Quackenbush said he would do and do it now, and after finding
room for a glass of ginger-wine, proceeded to narrate his experience.

He stated, substantially, that the whole difficulty grew out of a love
affair. He had become deeply infatuated with an unknown and beautiful
blonde. He had often met her in the street, in theatres, and
concert-rooms, and his intense admiration ripened into a deep love. He
was unable to learn who she was until a fortnight previously, when he
found a friend who was well acquainted with her, and who undertook to
bring about an introduction. Things wore a brighter aspect then. The sun
was more brilliant; the moon shed a less melancholy light; lager bier
tasted better; oysters appeared fatter; peanuts seemed always roasted
just enough, and, in fact, he felt quite satisfied with life, and the
world generally, and resolved to postpone indefinitely a purpose he had
entertained of buying three cents' worth of arsenic. But a day or two
before the scene in the Pol