fact, sir, that
when Mr. Oaklandstold me of it I sat down and cried like a child. I'm
not over tender-hearted either: when I was at Guy's I amputated the left
leg of a shocking accident, and dissected the porter's mother-in-law
(whom he sold us cheap for old acquaintance' sake) before breakfast one
morning, without finding my appetite in the slightest degree affected;
but when I learned what Sir John had done, I positively cried, sir."

"I say, Ellis," interrupted Harry, "I am telling Miss Fairlegh I shall
make you take her in hand; she has grown so pale and thin, I am afraid
she has never recovered all the trouble and inconvenience we caused
her."

"If Miss Fairlegh would allow me, I should recommend a little more air
and exercise," replied Ellis: "are you fond of riding on horseback?"

"Oh, yes!" replied Fanny, smiling, and blushing slightly at thus
suddenly becoming the topic of conversation; "that is, I used to delight
in riding Frank's pony in days of yore; but he has not kept a pony
lately."

"That is easily remedied," returned Harry; "I am certain some of our
horses will carry a lady. I shall speak to Harris about it directly, and
we'll have some rides together, Fanny; it was only this morning that I
obtained my tyrant's permission to cross a horse once more," he added,
shaking his fist playfully at Ellis.

"The tyrant will agree to that more willingly than to your first
request. What do you think, Fairlegh," continued Ellis, appealing to me,
"of his positively wanting to go out hunting?"

"And a very natural thing to wish too, I conceive," replied Harry; "but
what do you think of his declaring that, if I did not faithfully promise
I would not hunt this season, he would go into the stables and divide,
what he called in his doctor's lingo, the _flexor metatarsi_ of every
animal he found there, which, being interpreted, means neither more nor
less than hamstring all the hunters."

"Well, that would be better than allowing you to do anything which might
disturb the beautiful process of granulation going on in your side. I
remember, when I was a student at Guy's----"

"Come, doctor, we positively cannot stand any more of your 'Chronicles
of the Charnel-house' this morning; ~311~~ you have horrified Miss
Fairlegh already to such a degree that she is going to run away. If I
should stroll down here again in the afternoon, Fanny, will you take
compassion on me so far as to indulge me with a game of chess? I am