feared he had his flirtations here in London. Once I charged him
with inconstancy to the lady in Goa, but he repudiated the aspersion
with the quaint denial: "No, master, many ladies are loving me, but I
don't love no ladies!"

However, I had in view to spend a winter in the States, and resolved to
send John home. He wept copiously when I told him of this resolve, and
professed his anxiety to die in my service. But I remained firm, and
reminded him that he had not seen his wife in Goa for nearly three
years. That argument appeared to carry little weight with him; but he
tearfully submitted to the inevitable. I made him a good present, and
obtained for him from the Peninsular and Oriental people a free passage
to Bombay, and wages besides in the capacity of a saloon steward. I saw
him off from Southampton; at the moment of parting he emitted lugubrious
howls. He never fulfilled his promise of writing to me, and I gave up
the expectation of hearing of him any more.

Some two years later, I went to Australia by way of San Francisco and
New Zealand. At Auckland I found letters and newspapers awaiting me from
Sydney and Melbourne. Among the papers was a Melbourne illustrated
journal, on a page of which I found a full-length portrait of the
redoubtable John, his many-syllabled name given at full length, with a
memoir of his military experiences, affixed to which was a fac-simile of
the certificate of character which I had given him when we parted. It
was further stated that "Mr. Compostella de Crucis" was for the present
serving in the capacity of butler to a financial magnate in one of the
suburbs of Melbourne, but that it was his intention to purchase the
goodwill of a thriving restaurant named. Among the first to greet me on
the Melbourne jetty was John, radiant with delight, and eager to
accompany me throughout my projected lecture tour. I dissuaded him in
his own interest from doing so; and when I finally quitted the pleasant
city by the shore of Hobson's Bay, John was running with success the
"Maison Dore" in Burke Street. I fear, if she is alive, that his wife in
Goa is a "grass widow" to this day.

[Illustration: The Idler's Club Subject for Discussion The Artistic
Temperament.]

[Sidenote: Dr. Parker says It depends upon the health of the artist.]

Is the artistic temperament a blessing or a curse? We should first
decide what the artistic temperament means. Artistic is a large word. It
includes painting, acti