A Homœopathic Dose.

to me more dignified to die when you choose , because you choose , than to hang on till you have to go . And when one thinks what life is ! Day after day of boredom ! Evening after evening of boredom ! There ' s nothing worth doing , and I ' m sick of it . As Hamlet remarked , 'Man delights not me nor woman either '; and , as for things , they bore me

desperately . I have brought you here to witness my end . There's not going to be any fuss or mess . Besides , you ' re a doctor , and it ' s your trade to see people die . It would be no use for you to try and prevent me , for if I don't do it to-night I can do it to-morrow . . . . "

'' Sir George , " said Lonsdale , quietly , " I understand . You needn't talk to me about boredom . That is all a sham . You have been to a doctor , and he has told you what I , being also a doctor , can see for myself . " " What do you mean ? I have been to no doctor

What do you see ? What do you mean ?" " If vou haven ' t been to a doctor , " said Lonsdale , slowly , " I advise you to go to one , Vou needn't trouble about removing yourself from this world . You'll be removed without your troubling . " " What do you mean ? " asked Sir George , jumping up in his excitement and turning , if possible , a shade paler than hi ? natural pallor .

" That you ' re a consumptive—that a little invisible microbe has invaded your tissues and decided on your death—and that you know it , and are only parading all this nonsense about suicide because vou know the time is short . Talk of life being like a party ! You are like a man who says he is leaving a party because he is bored , after he has been kicked

towards the door b y a . page-boy I " Sir George turned paler than ever . This comparison , borrowed from his own , struck home . The Doctor , watching him narrowly , saw the advantage he had gained . He was too practised a student of men not to know how often it happens that where entreaties and arguments may alike fail

to move , some striking simile may arrest the imagination and produce an immediate efleet . " It ' s false ! " said Sir George . '' There is nothing wrong with me . How can vou tell ? What do vou know ? It ' s a

random assertion ! " Will vou take a second opinion on the matter ? If Sir Theodore Merlon , for instance , agrees with me , will you believe ? " " Sir Theodore Merlon ? Of course , he ' s the leading man for that : but— " he hesitated— "but there ' s no lime . "

' Your engagements in the next world can hardly be so pressing , " said the Doctor , drily . "Why not postpone the matter for twenty-four hours , and we can meet again when the question is settled . " Sir George paced up and down the room in great agitation . " A consumptive ! " he muttered angrily at intervals .

" Kicked out by the page-boy ! By a horrible minute worm ! Xo , by God ! It shall not be said ! . . It shall not be done ! . . Lonsdale , are you certain or are you fooling me ? If you are fooling me—why , by all that ' s holy , you shall not fool me . Listen , I'll put off the matter for

twentyfour hours . I'll see Merlon . And if you ' re right—if this horrible thing is true—why , then , I'll stay and light it out ! I ' m no coward , in spite of what that old idiot said at the club to-night . If there ' s something to light for I'll slay and light—and I'll back myself to win ! But if there ' s nothing—if you ' re fooling me—why , then , I swear

" Don ' t swear anything , " said the Doctor , cheerfully . " But remember , that ' s a bargain . If there ' s anything to light for , you ' re going to stay and light . " "And nowj" thought the Doctor to himself , "I must square Merlon . "

For if Sir George had not been blul ' ling , the Doctor certaiulv had . Xo doubt Sir George—never a robust manwas out of health ; but there were no svmptoms of such nvicrobic ravages as the Doctor had suggested . It had been a sudden inspiration to appeal to his vanity on the question of courage , and since it had been so far successful , it would be a pilv not to follow it up .

" It all depends on Merton , " rellected the Doctor . " I don ' t know if he would think it worth while helping in a case like this . I ' m not perfectly sure myself if it ' s very kind to keep alive a man who doesn ' t want to live . Still , that ' s what I ' m here for . And there ' s Sybil . S ybil must be considered first . "

He made it his business to go next morning to see Sir Theodore Merton . He explained the case to the great authority on pulmonary complaints , and the latter promised to do his best . " After all , there are so many different ways of telling the

truth , " said the Doctor . " Like statistics , the truth may be made to suggest anything . " The great authority smiled , and the Doctor took his leave . He waited impatiently for his next interview with Sir George . It came sooner than he expected , for Sir George

hurried over to see him the moment Sir Theodore Merton had pronounced on his case . " It seems you ' re right ! " he exclaimed ; and the Doctor noted with satisfaction that the tone was not entirely one of disappointment . " He tried to spare me , but I understood

what he meant ! I ' m ill ! But he said that if I took myself in hand at once I might recover . I shitII recover . I ' m going abroad at once . I ' m to live out of doors night and day . I ' m going to cheat this beastly disease ; but when I ' ve recovered •—when I ' m myself again—when I ' ve shown inv pluck—then , remember , I shall just come home and . . . "

"And kill yourself ? " said the Doctor , smiling . "Just you wait and see ! When you ' ve recovered from an illness you'll see how you'll cling to life—unless , of course , you had the inlluenza ! It ' s easv to want to die when you ' re ill : it ' s

iairly easy when you re well ; its impossible when you re convalescent . " " Here ' s a note Merton gave me for you . He tells me to put myself unreservedly in your hands . " The Doctor ran his eye rapidly over the lines . " Out of health generally ... I have not contradicted anything

you or he suggested . . . . Carry out your own ideas . . Most people in his condition take to drink . As he shows no inclination that wav I see no reason whv he should

not recover completely . " I wish , " said Sir George , " I do wish I could persuade you to come with me to look after me . Money ' s no object , as you know . Couldn't you give up your practice for a year and see me through ? " " Impossible ! " ejaculated the Doctor .

Then he paused . If Sir George went with another doctor , or consulted other doctors when abroad , it was possible that all his trouble might be in vain . And there was Sybil . Doctor Lonsdale decided to make the sacrilice . Money , indeed , could not entirely repay what it would cost him to

abandon his practice for a whole winter ; but he knew that , as Sir George said , so far as money could repay him it would be no object to his client . So they started off to seek sunshine and an out-door life . Xever was there a more docile patient than Sir George . He obeyed all his doctor ' s multifarious orders , and his doctor

took good care they should be multifarious . And before many months were over , what with the out-door life in a perfect climate , what with the regular hours , the strict dietand—above all—the continual occupation , mental or physical , on which the doctor insisted , Sir George attained a condition of healthfulness such as he had never known in all his life

before . He began to take interest not only in his own case and things generally , but even in the state of the other invalids about him . Insensibly guided by his doctor , he began , for the first time , to feel that desire to relieve the sufferings of others which in itself is enough to give a

meaning to life . He hud never before realised the sense of fellowship with other men . He had been rich and they had been in want ; but it had never occurred to him to wish to help them . He had subscribed to a few charities as an irksome social custom , not as an expression of sympathy-But now he began to feel quite differently in the matter .