spectacles of the same precious material. He wore a broad-

folded tie, white and speckled with lilac, and he carried on
his arm a comfortable driving-coat of fur. There was no

doubt but he became his years, breathing, as he did, of
wealth and consideration; and it was a surprisingcontrast to

see our parlour sot - bald, dirty, pimpled, and robed in his
old camlet cloak - confront him at the bottom of the stairs.

'Macfarlane!' he said somewhat loudly, more like a herald
than a friend.

The great doctor pulled up short on the fourth step, as
though the familiarity of the address surprised and somewhat

shocked his dignity.
'Toddy Macfarlane!' repeated Fettes.

The London man almost staggered. He stared for the swiftest
of seconds at the man before him, glanced behind him with a

sort of scare, and then in a startled whisper, 'Fettes!' he
said, 'You!'

'Ay,' said the other, 'me! Did you think I was dead too? We
are not so easy shut of our acquaintance.'

'Hush, hush!' exclaimed the doctor. 'Hush, hush! this
meeting is so unexpected - I can see you are unmanned. I

hardly knew you, I confess, at first; but I am overjoyed -
overjoyed to have this opportunity. For the present it must

be how-d'ye-do and good-bye in one, for my fly is waiting,
and I must not fail the train; but you shall - let me see -

yes - you shall give me your address, and you can count on
early news of me. We must do something for you, Fettes. I

fear you are out at elbows; but we must see to that for auld
lang syne, as once we sang at suppers.'

'Money!' cried Fettes; 'money from you! The money that I had
from you is lying where I cast it in the rain.'

Dr. Macfarlane had talked himself into some measure of
superiority and confidence, but the uncommonenergy of this

refusal cast him back into his first confusion.
A horrible, ugly look came and went across his almost

venerable countenance. 'My dear fellow,' he said, 'be it as
you please; my last thought is to offend you. I would

intrude on none. I will leave you my address, however - '
'I do not wish it - I do not wish to know the roof that

shelters you,' interrupted the other. 'I heard your name; I
feared it might be you; I wished to know if, after all, there

were a God; I know now that there is none. Begone!'
He still stood in the middle of the rug, between the stair

and doorway; and the great London physician, in order to
escape, would be forced to step to one side. It was plain

that he hesitated before the thought of this humiliation.
White as he was, there was a dangerous glitter in his

spectacles; but while he still paused uncertain, he became
aware that the driver of his fly was peering in from the

street at this unusual scene and caught a glimpse at the same
time of our little body from the parlour, huddled by the

corner of the bar. The presence of so many witnesses decided
him at once to flee. He crouched together, brushing on the

wainscot, and made a dart like a serpent, striking for the
door. But his tribulation was not yet entirely at an end,

for even as he was passing Fettes clutched him by the arm and
these words came in a whisper, and yet painfully distinct,

'Have you seen it again?'
The great rich London doctor cried out aloud with a sharp,

throttling cry; he dashed his questioner across the open
space, and, with his hands over his head, fled out of the

door like a detected thief. Before it had occurred to one of
us to make a movement the fly was already rattling toward the

station. The scene was over like a dream, but the dream had
left proofs and traces of its passage. Next day the servant

found the fine gold spectacles broken on the threshold, and
that very night we were all standingbreathless by the bar-

room window, and Fettes at our side, sober, pale, and
resolute in look.

'God protect us, Mr. Fettes!' said the landlord, coming first
into possession of his customary senses. 'What in the

universe is all this? These are strange things you have been
saying.'

Fettes turned toward us; he looked us each in succession in
the face. 'See if you can hold your tongues,' said he.

'That man Macfarlane is not safe to cross; those that have
done so already have repented it too late.'

And then, without so much as finishing his third glass, far
less waiting for the other two, he bade us good-bye and went

forth, under the lamp of the hotel, into the black night.
We three turned to our places in the parlour, with the big

red fire and four clear candles; and as we recapitulated what
had passed, the first chill of our surprise soon changed into

a glow of curiosity. We sat late; it was the latest session
I have known in the old George. Each man, before we parted,

had his theory that he was bound to prove; and none of us had
any nearer business in this world than to track out the past

of our condemned companion, and surprise the secret that he
shared with the great London doctor. It is no great boast,

but I believe I was a better hand at worming out a story than
either of my fellows at the George; and perhaps there is now

no other man alive who could narrate to you the following
foul and unnatural events.

In his young days Fettes studied medicine in the schools of
Edinburgh. He had talent of a kind, the talent that picks up

swiftly what it hears and readily retails it for its own. He
worked little at home; but he was civil, attentive, and

intelligent in the presence of his masters. They soon picked
him out as a lad who listened closely and remembered well;

nay, strange as it seemed to me when I first heard it, he was
in those days well favoured, and pleased by his exterior.

There was, at that period, a certain extramural teacher of
anatomy, whom I shall here designate by the letter K. His

name was subsequently too well known. The man who bore it
skulked through the streets of Edinburgh in disguise, while

the mob that applauded at the execution of Burke called
loudly for the blood of his employer. But Mr. K- was then at

the top of his vogue; he enjoyed a popularity due partly to
his own talent and address, partly to the incapacity of his

rival, the university professor. The students, at least,
swore by his name, and Fettes believed himself, and was

believed by others, to have laid the foundations of success
when he had acquired the favour of this meteorically famous

man. Mr. K- was a BON VIVANT as well as an accomplished
teacher; he liked a sly illusion no less than a careful

preparation. In both capacities Fettes enjoyed and deserved
his notice, and by the second year of his attendance he held

the half-regular position of second demonstrator or sub-
assistant in his class.

In this capacity the charge of the theatre and lecture-room
devolved in particular upon his shoulders. He had to answer

for the cleanliness of the premises and the conduct of the
other students, and it was a part of his duty to supply,

receive, and divide the various subjects. It was with a view
to this last - at that time very delicate - affair that he

was lodged by Mr. K- in the same wynd, and at last in the
same building, with the dissecting-rooms. Here, after a

night of turbulent pleasures, his hand still tottering, his
sight still misty and confused, he would be called out of bed