te with my own eyes.
You know in what circumstances I parted with Wallace and Mr. Hadwin. I
am not sure that either of them ever reached home, or that they did not
carry the infection along with them. I now find myself sufficiently
strong to perform the journey, and purposed to have acquainted you, at
this interview, with my intentions. An hour's delay is superfluous, and
I hope you will consent to my setting out immediately. Rural exercise
and air, for a week or fortnight, will greatly contribute to my health."

No objection could be made to this scheme. His narrative had excited no
common affection in our bosoms for the Hadwins. His visit could not only
inform us of their true state, but would dispel that anxiety which they
could not but entertain respecting our guest. It was a topic of some
surprise that neither Wallace nor Hadwin had returned to the city, with
a view to obtain some tidings of their friend. It was more easy to
suppose them to have been detained by some misfortune, than by
insensibility or indolence. In a few minutes Mervyn bade us adieu, and
set out upon his journey, promising to acquaint us with the state of
affairs as soon as possible after his arrival. We parted from him with
reluctance, and found no consolation but in the prospect of his speedy
return.

During his absence, conversation naturally turned upon those topics
which were suggested by the narrative and deportment of this youth.
Different conclusions were formed by his two auditors. They had both
contracted a deep interest in his welfare, and an ardent curiosity as to
those particulars which his unfinished story had left in obscurity. The
true character and actual condition of Welbeck were themes of much
speculation. Whether he were dead or alive, near or distant from his
ancient abode, was a point on which neither Mervyn, nor any of those
with whom I had means of intercourse, afforded any information. Whether
he had shared the common fate, and had been carried by the collectors of
the dead from the highway or the hovel to the pits opened alike for the
rich and the poor, the known and the unknown; whether he had escaped to
a foreign shore, or were destined to reappear upon this stage, were
questions involved in uncertainty.

The disappearance of Watson would, at a different time, have excited
much inquiry and suspicion; but, as this had taken place on the eve of
the epidemic, his kindred and friends would acquiesce, without scruple,
in