good--a
better path and more worthy of a man than the one which I have partly
chosen, and partly destiny has decided for me. Look upon me as your
friend; although, perhaps, you truly say, no friend unto myself.
Farewell--remember that to-morrow you will send the medicine which I
require."

I left her, and returned home: it was late. I went to bed, and having
disclosed as much to Timothy as I could safely venture to do, I fell
fast asleep, but her figure and her voice haunted me in my dreams. At
one time, she appeared before me in her painted, enamelled face, and
then the mask fell off, and I fell at her feet to worship her extreme
beauty; then her beauty would vanish, and she would appear an image of
loathsomeness and deformity, and I felt suffocated with the atmosphere
impregnated with the smell of liquor. I would wake and compose myself
again, glad to be rid of the horrid dream, but again would she appear,
with a hydra's tail, like Sin in Milton's Paradise Lost, wind herself
round me, her beautiful face gradually changing into that of a skeleton.
I cried out with terror, and awoke to sleep no more, and effectually
cured by my dream of the penchant which I felt towards Miss Aramathea
Judd.

PART ONE, CHAPTER SIX.

MY PRESCRIPTIONS VERY EFFECTIVE AND PALATABLE, BUT I LOSE MY PATIENT--
THE FEUD EQUAL TO THAT OF THE MONTAGUES AND THE CAPULETS--RESULTS
DIFFERENT--MERCUTIO COMES OFF UNHURT.

The next day I sent Timothy to purchase some highly rectified white
brandy, which I coloured with a blue tincture, and added to it a small
proportion of the essence of cinnamon, to disguise the smell; a dozen
large vials, carefully tied up and sealed, were despatched to her abode.
She now seldom called unless it was early in the morning; I made
repeated visits to her house to receive money, but no longer to make
love. One day I requested permission to be present at their meeting,
and to this she gave immediate consent; indeed we were on the most
intimate terms, and when she perceived that I no longer attempted to
play the fool, I was permitted to remain for hours with her in
conversation. She had, as she told me she intended, re-enamelled and
painted her face, but knowing what beauty was concealed underneath, I no
longer felt any disgust.

Timothy was very much pleased at his share of this arrangement, as he
seldom brought her the medicine without pocketing half-a-crown.

For two or three months everything went on very