, if the attempt had been made, I should
probably have refused to receive what was offered. Recovery was equally
beyond my expectations and my wishes. The scene which was hourly
displayed before me, the entrance of the sick, most of whom perished in
a few hours, and their departure to the graves prepared for them,
reminded me of the fate to which I, also, was reserved.

"Three days passed away, in which every hour was expected to be the
last. That, amidst an atmosphere so contagious and deadly, amidst causes
of destruction hourly accumulating, I should yet survive, appears to me
nothing less than miraculous. That of so many conducted to this house
the only one who passed out of it alive should be myself almost
surpasses my belief.

"Some inexplicable principle rendered harmless those potent enemies of
human life. My fever subsided and vanished. My strength was revived, and
the first use that I made of my limbs was to bear me far from the
contemplation and sufferance of those evils."

CHAPTER XIX.

Having gratified my curiosity in this respect, Wallace proceeded to
remind me of the circumstances of our first interview. He had
entertained doubts whether I was the person whom he had met at Lesher's.
I acknowledged myself to be the same, and inquired, in my turn, into the
motives of his conduct on that occasion.

"I confess," said he, with some hesitation, "I meant only to sport with
your simplicity and ignorance. You must not imagine, however, that my
stratagem was deep-laid and deliberately executed. My professions at the
tavern were sincere. I meant not to injure but to serve you. It was not
till I reached the head of the staircase that the mischievous
contrivance occurred. I foresaw nothings at the moment, but ludicrous
mistakes and embarrassment. The scheme was executed almost at the very
moment it occurred.

"After I had returned to the parlour, Thetford charged me with the
delivery of a message in a distant quarter of the city. It was not till
I had performed this commission, and had set out on my return, that I
fully revolved the consequences likely to flow from my project.

"That Thetford and his wife would detect you in their bedchamber was
unquestionable. Perhaps, weary of my long delay, you would have fairly
undressed and gone to bed. The married couple would have made
preparation to follow you, and, when the curtain was undrawn, would
discover a robust youth, fast asleep, in their place. These i