of health."

"Yes, sir; I hope he will find his journey beneficial."

"Oh, not a doubt of it! Not a doubt of it! I've been there myself. Do
you know, when I was twenty-five, which I take to be about the age of
your employer, I thought I should die of consumption?"

"I shouldn't have supposed it, sir," said Herbert, and Melville, too,
felt surprised, as he noticed the stalwart proportions of the former
consumptive.

"Ha! ha! I dare say not," said the colonel, laughing. "I don't look much
like it now, eh?"

"No, you certainly don't, colonel," said Melville. "I am curious to know
how you overcame the threatened danger."

"I did what you are doing, sir; I came West."

"But the mere coming West did not cure you, did it?"

"No, sir; it was the life I lived," returned Col. \Varner. "I didn't
stay in the cities; I went into the wilderness. I lived in a log-cabin.
I bought a horse, and rode every day. I kept in the open air, and, after
a while, I found my strength returning and my chest expanding, and in a
twelvemonth I could afford to laugh at doctors."

"And you have never had a return of the old symptoms?" asked Melville,
with interest.

"Never, except four years afterwards, when I went to New York and
remained nearly a year. I am now fifty, and rather hale and hearty for
my years, eh?"

"Decidedly so."

"Let me advise you to follow my example, Mr. Melville."

"It was my intention when I started West to live very much as you
indicated," said Melville. "Now that I have heard your experience, I am
confirmed in my resolve."

"Good! I am glad to hear it. When do you leave Chicago?"

"To-morrow, probably."

"And how far West do you intend to go?"

"I have thought of Colorado."

"Couldn't do better. I know Colorado like a book. In fact, I own some
valuable mining property there, up in--ahem! Gilpin County. By the
way--I take it you are a rich man--why don't you invest in that way?
Perhaps, however, you have it in view?"

"No, I haven't thought of it," answered Melville. "The fact is, I am not
anxious to become richer, having enough for all my present needs."

"Just so," said the colonel. "But you might marry."

"Even if I did--"

"You would have money enough," said Col. Warner, finishing the sentence
for him. "Well, I am delighted to hear it. I am very well fixed
myself--in fact, some of my friends call me, ha! ha!--the nabob. But,
as I was saying I am rich enough and to spare, and still--you may be
su