t to administer kicks instead of checks to all who were near and
dear to him. However, Christopher was the old gentleman's favorite, and
was now desperate; so he mustered courage, and went. He was graciously
received--warmly, indeed. This gave him great hopes, and he told his
tale.

The old bachelor sided with Mr. Lusignan. "What!" said he, "do you
want to marry, and propagate pauperism? I thought you had more sense.
Confound it all I had just one nephew whose knock at my street-door did
not make me tremble; he was a bachelor and a thinker, and came for a
friendly chat; the rest are married men, highwaymen, who come to say,
'Stand and deliver;' and now even you want to join the giddy throng.
Well, don't ask me to have any hand in it. You are a man of promise; and
you might as well hang a millstone round your neck as a wife. Marriage
is a greater mistake than ever now; the women dress more and manage
worse. I met your cousin Jack the other day, and his wife with seventy
pounds on her back; and next door to paupers. No; whilst you are a
bachelor, like me, you are my favorite, and down in my will for a lump.
Once marry, and you join the noble army of foot-pads, leeches, vultures,
paupers, gone coons, and babblers about brats--and I disown you."

There was no hope from old Crusty. Christopher left him, snubbed and
heart-sick. At last he met a sensible man, who made him see there was
no short cut in that profession. He must be content to play the up-hill
game; must settle in some good neighborhood; marry, if possible, since
husbands and fathers of families prefer married physicians; and so be
poor at thirty, comfortable at forty, and rich at fifty--perhaps.

Then Christopher came down to his lodgings at Gravesend, and was very
unhappy; and after some days of misery, he wrote a letter to Rosa in a
moment of impatience, despondency, and passion.

Rosa Lusignan got worse and worse. The slight but frequent hemorrhage
was a drain upon her system, and weakened her visibly. She began to lose
her rich complexion, and sometimes looked almost sallow; and a slight
circle showed itself under her eyes. These symptoms were unfavorable;
nevertheless, Dr. Snell and Mr. Wyman accepted them cheerfully, as fresh
indications that nothing was affected but the liver; they multiplied and
varied their prescriptions; the malady ignored those prescriptions, and
went steadily on. Mr. Lusignan was terrified but helpless. Rosa resigned
and reticent.