gan to inform me that he was weak in
his head. Ah! she exclaimed, her life with these people! what it cost
her to keep them in anything like order! When she retired, I heard her
expectorating violently in the corridor; a habit with every inmate of
this genial hostelry.

When the worst of my fever had subsided, the difficulty was to obtain
any nourishment suitable to my state. The good doctor, who had
suggested beefsteak and Marsala when I was incapable of taking anything
at all, ruled me severely in the matter of diet now that I really began
to feel hungry. I hope I may never again be obliged to drink goat's
milk; in these days it became so unutterably loathsome to me that I
had, at length, to give it up altogether, and I cannot think of it now
without a qualm. The broth offered me was infamous, mere coloured water
beneath half an inch of floating grease. Once there was a promise of a
fowl, and I looked forward to it eagerly; but, alas! this miserable
bird had undergone a process of seething for the extraction of soup. I
would have defied anyone to distinguish between the substance remaining
and two or three old kid gloves boiled into a lump. With a pleased air,
the hostess one day suggested a pigeon, a roasted pigeon, and I
welcomed the idea joyously. Indeed, the appearance of the dish, when it
was borne in, had nothing to discourage my appetite--the odour was
savoury; I prepared myself for a treat. Out of pure kindness, for she
saw me tremble in my weakness, the good woman offered her aid in the
carving; she took hold of the bird by the two legs, rent it asunder,
tore off the wings in the same way, and then, with a smile of
satisfaction, wiped her hands upon her skirt. If her hands had known
water (to say nothing of soap) during the past twelve months I am much
mistaken. It was a pity, for I found that my teeth could just masticate
a portion of the flesh which hunger compelled me to assail.

Of course I suffered much from thirst, and Dr. Sculco startled me one
day by asking if I liked _tea_. Tea? Was it really procurable? The
Doctor assured me that it could be supplied by the chemist; though,
considering how rarely the exotic was demanded, it might have lost
something of its finer flavour whilst stored at the pharmacy. An order
was despatched. Presently the waiter brought me a very small paper
packet, such as might have contained a couple of Seidlitz powders; on
opening it I discovered something black and triturated,