nd a man's means was an attempted fraud upon
the public; while John shook his head, and answered that it might
do very well for Charles to say so, as no one expected the sack that
brought the grain to market to be of fine Holland, but that no man in
a profession could get on in London without making "an appearance."
At this Charles shrugged his shoulders, and thanked God he lived at
Repton.

The brothers, as years moved rapidly on--engaged as they were by their
mutual industry and success in their several fields of action--met but
seldom. It was impossible to say which of the two continued the most
prosperous. Dr. Adams made several lucky hits; and having so obtained
a position, was fortunate in having an abundance of patients in an
intermediate sort of state--that is, neither very well nor very ill.
Of a really bland and courteous nature, he was kind and attentive
to all, and it was certain that such of his patients as were only in
moderate circumstances, got well long before those who were rich; his
friends attributed this to his humanity as much as to his skill; his
enemies said he did not like "poor patients." Perhaps there was a
mingling of truth in both statements. The money he had received for
his portion of the land was spent, certainly, before his receipts
equalled his expenditure; and strangely enough, by the time the farmer
had paid off his debt, the doctor was involved, not to a large amount,
but enough to render his "appearance" to a certain degree fictitious.
This embarrassment, to do him justice, was not of long continuance;
he became the fashion; and before prosperity had turned his head by
an influx of wealth, so as to render him careless, he got rid of his
debt, and then his wife agreed with him "that they might live as they
pleased."

It so happened that Charles Adams was present when this observation
was made, and it spoke well for both the brothers that their different
positions in society had not in the smallest degree cooled their
boyhood's affection; not even the money transactions of former times,
which so frequently create disunion, had changed them; they met less
frequently, but they always met with pleasure, and separated with
regret.

"Well!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly, as he glanced around his
splendid rooms, and threw himself into a _chaise longue_--then a new
luxury--"well, it is certainly a charming feeling to be entirely out
of debt."

"And yet," said his wife, "it would no