ischarged his own pistol."

"My dear boy," said Harry, "you really are exciting and alarming
yourself very unnecessarily; I am not going to quarrel with Wilford or
anybody else; I detest ~163~~active exertion of every kind, and consider
duelling as a fashionable compound of iniquity, containing equal parts
of murder and suicide--and we'll go to Lawless's this evening, that
I'm determined upon--and--let me see--I've got James's new novel in my
pocket. I shall not disturb you if I stay here, shall I? I'm not going
to talk."

Then, without waiting for an answer, he stretched himself' at full
length on (and beyond) the sofa, and was soon buried in the pages of
that best of followers in the footsteps of the mighty Wizard of the
North--Walter Scott--leaving me to the somewhat less agreeable task of
reading mathematics.

CHAPTER XXI -- THE WINE-PARTY

"This night I hold an old-accustomed feast,
Whereto I have invited many a guest,
Such as I love."

"A fair assembly, whither should they come?

Servant.--Up-----!

Romeo.--Whither?

Servant.--To supper."
--_Shakspeare_.

"All is not false that seems at first a lie."
--_Southey_.

"Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

I do bite my thumb, sir!

Do you quarrel, sir?

Quarrel, sir! No, sir!

If you do, sir, I am for you."
--_Shakspeare_.

LET the reader imagine a long table covered with the remains of an
excellent dessert, interspersed with a multitude of bottles of all
shapes and sizes, containing every variety of wine that money could
procure, or palate desire; whilst in the centre stood a glorious
old china bowl of punch, which the guests were discussing in
tumblers--wine-glasses having been unanimously voted much too slow.
Around this table let there be seated from fifteen to twenty men, whose
ages might vary from nineteen to three- or four-and-twenty; some smoking
cigars, some talking vociferously, some laughing, some though they were
decidedly the minority, listening: but ~164~~all showing signs of being
more or less elated by the wine they had taken. Let the reader
imagine all this, and he will have formed a pretty correct idea of the
supper-party in Lawless's rooms, as it appeared about ten o'clock on the
evening subsequent to the conversation I have just detailed.

"Didn't I see you ridi