y; you may get a clew how to deal with the
amiable writer in person."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Rolfe," said Lady Bassett, flushing all over. She
was so transported at having something to do. She quietly devoured the
letters, and after she had read them said a load of fears was now taken
off her mind.

Mr. Rolfe shook his head. "You must not rely on Dr. Suaby too much. In
a prison or an asylum each functionary is important in exact proportion
to his nominal insignificance; and why? Because the greater his nominal
unimportance the more he comes in actual contact with the patient. The
theoretical scale runs thus: 1st. The presiding physician. 2d. The
medical subordinates. 3d. The keepers and nurses. The practical scale
runs thus: 1st. The keepers and nurses. 2d. The medical attendants. 3d.
The presiding physician."

"I am glad to hear you say so, sir; for when I went to the asylum, and
the medical attendant, Mr. Salter, would not let me see my husband. I
gave his keeper and the nurse a little money to be kind to him in his
confinement."

"You did! Yet you come here for advice? This is the way: a man
discourses and argues, and by profound reasoning--that is, by what he
thinks profound, and it isn't--arrives at the right thing; and lo! a
woman, with her understanding heart and her hard, good sense, goes and
does that wise thing humbly, without a word. SURSUM CORDA!--_Cheer up,
loving heart!"_ shouted he, like the roar of a lion in ecstasies; "you
have done a masterstroke--without Oldfield, or Rolfe, or any other
man."

Lady Bassett clasped her hands with joy, and some electric fire seemed
to run through her veins; for she was all sensibilities, and this
sudden triumphant roaring out of strong words was quite new to her, and
carried her away.

"Well," said this eccentric personage, cooling quite as suddenly as he
had fired, "the only improvement I can suggest is, be a little more
precise at your next visit. Promise his keepers twenty guineas apiece
the day Sir Charles is _cured;_ and promise them ten guineas apiece not
to administer one drop of medicine for the next two months; and, of
course, no leech nor blister. The cursed sedatives they believe in are
destruction to Sir Charles Bassett. His circulation must not be made
too slow one day, and too fast the next, which is the effect of a
sedative, but made regular by exercise and nourishing food. So, then,
you will square the keepers by their cupidity; the doctor is on th