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216 "And none on mine," was the woman's hard reply. Her dark brows were shghtly knit and her lips stiffened again. Ah! how easily, my dear Brown, will an evil woman, in these days of rapid living, buy a man's life! If you had only seen half of the ugly side of matrimony as I have seen it you would be appalled and thank your stars you are a bachelor.

Five hundred pounds is surely good pay for a moment's forgetfulness. Therefore we smiled at each other in perfect agreement, and I ascended the stairs and visited my patient.

A very bad chill and swollen throat, I pronounced it to be.

"My dear Mr. Auberon," I said, "don't worry in the least. I hear you are troubling yourself over business affairs. It is all to no purpose. In a week I shall have you smoking a cigar with me. Trust in me, and I'll pull you through right enough. I've sent for a most excellent nurse—a woman I can implicitly trust—and you'll very quickly pull round again."

"You took something from my throat last night, doctor. What did you find?" he asked, looking me straight in the face.

"I made the most minute microscopical examination, and I found absolutely nothing abnormal," was my airy response.