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216 very nasty, I assure you. Now try a cigar. These are good. They came from the collection of Lord Remingham, who was on his way to America a few weeks ago."

"And met with an unfortunate accident," said the doctor, with mock seriousness, which was taken up by the Scotsman, who remarked in his best drawl—"May his soul ken rest!" and they all shouted with infamous laughter, but I listened with a morbid interest when the doctor continued—

"It's astonishing how good the quality of the tobacco and the champagne is on board the ocean-going steamers; now this BolingerBollinger [sic] '84 was the special pride of the skipper of the Catalania, which unhappily sank in the Atlantic through the sheer impudence of the man who commanded her. As he liked it so much, I broke a bottle over his head before we sent him to the devil, with five hundred others."

"You may say, in fact, that he made the acquaintance o' the auld man wi' the flavour o' this gude stuff on him," said the Scotsman, which made them laugh again; but Black was satiated with the banter, and he rose from the table suddenly as the man Four-Eyes entered.

"This pleasant party must disperse," he said to me; "you can go to the quarters we have provided for you, unless you would like to see more of us. We are well worth seeing, I think,