o all we can without
her knowledge, and leave the result in the hands of Providence, who, if
it thinks fit, will work by its own means. Are you of my opinion, Tom?"

"When I came to ask your advice, Anderson, it was with the intention of
being guided by it, even if it had not coincided with my own opinion,
which, now that I have heard your reasons, it certainly does.
By-the-bye, I have not yet called upon Mrs St. Felix, and I will go
now. You will see old Nanny again?"

"I will, my boy, this evening. Good bye! I'm very busy now, for the
officers will inspect to-morrow morning."

I quitted the hospital, and had arrived in Church Street, when, passing
the doctor's house on my way to Mrs St. Felix, Mr Thomas Cobb, who had
become a great dandy, and, in his own opinion at least, a great doctor,
called to me, "Saunders, my dear fellow, just come in, I wish to speak
with you particularly." I complied with his wishes. Mr Cobb was
remarkable in his dress. Having sprung up to the height of at least six
feet in his stockings, he had become remarkably thin and spare, and the
first idea that struck you when you saw him was that he was all
pantaloons; for he wore blue cotton net tight pantaloons, and his
Hessian boots were so low, and his waistcoat so short, that there was at
least four feet, out of the sum total of six, composed of blue cotton
net, which fitted very close to a very spare figure. He wore no cravat,
but a turn-down collar with a black ribbon, his hair very long, with a
very puny pair of moustachios on his upper lip, and something like a
tuft on his chin. Altogether, he was a strange-looking being,
especially when he had substituted for his long coat a short nankeen
jacket, which was the case at the time I am speaking of.

"Well, Mr Cobb, what may be your pleasure with me? You must not detain
me long, as I was about to call on Mrs St. Felix."

"So I presumed, my dear sir," replied he; "and for that very reason I
requested you to walk in. Take a chair. Friendship, Tom, is a great
blessing; it is one of the charms of life. We have known each other
long, and it is to tax your friendship that I have requested you to come
in."

"Well, be as quick as you can, that's all," replied I.

"_Festina lente_, as Dr Tadpole often says, adding that it is Latin for
hat and boots. I am surprised at his ignorance of the classics; any
schoolboy ought to know that _caput_ is the Latin for hat, and _Bootes_
for boots.