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Itookitinadream。“Thishasbeenadevilofabusiness。”saidI。
“Don’tthinkhardofMamie。”hepleaded。“It’sthewayshe’smade；it’sherhigh-tonedloyalty。AndofcourseIknowit’sallright。Iknowyoursterlingcharacter；butyoudidn’t，somehow，makeouttogiveusthethingstraight，Loudon。Anybodymighthave——Imeanit——Imean——“
“Nevermindwhatyoumean，mypoorJim。”saidI。“She’sagallantlittlewomanandaloyalwife：andIthoughthersplendid。Mystorywasasfishyasthedevil。I’llneverthinkthelessofeitherheroryou。”
“It’llblowover；itmustblowover。”saidhe。
“Itnevercan。”Ireturned，sighing：“anddon’tyoutrytomakeit！Don’tnameme，unlessit’swithanoath。Andgethometoherrightaway。Goodby，mybestoffriends。Goodby，andGodblessyou。Weshallnevermeetagain。”
“OLoudon，thatweshouldlivetosaysuchwords！”hecried。
Ihadnoviewsonlife，beyondanoccasionalimpulsetocommitsuicide，ortogetdrunk，anddrifteddownthestreet，semi-
conscious，walkingapparentlyonair，inthelight-headednessofgrief。Ihadmoneyinmypocket，whethermineormycreditors’
Ihadnomeansofguessing；and，thePoodleDoglyinginmypath，Iwentmechanicallyinandtookatable。Awaiterattendedme，andIsupposeIgavemyorders；forpresentlyI
foundmyself，withasuddenreturnofconsciousness，beginningdinner。Onthewhiteclothatmyelbowlaytheletter，addressedinaclerk’shand，andbearinganEnglishstampandtheEdinburghpostmark。Abowlofbouillonandaglassofwineawakenedinonecornerofmybrain(wherealltherestwasinmourning，theblindsdownasforafuneral)afaintstirofcuriosity；andwhileIwaitedthenextcourse，wonderingthewhilewhatIhadordered，Iopenedandbegantoreadtheepoch-makingdocument。
“DEARSIR：Iamchargedwiththemelancholydutyofannouncingtoyouthedeathofyourexcellentgrandfather，Mr。
AlexanderLoudon，onthe17thult。OnSundaythe13th，hewenttochurchasusualintheforenoon，andstoppedonhiswayhome，atthecornerofPrincesStreet，inoneofourseasonableeastwinds，totalkwithanoldfriend。Thesameeveningacutebronchitisdeclareditself；fromthefirst，Dr。
M’Combieanticipatedafatalresult，andtheoldgentlemanappearedtohavenoillusionastohisownstate。Herepeatedlyassuredmeitwas’by’withhimnow；’andhightime，too，’heonceaddedwithcharacteristicasperity。Hewasnotintheleastchangedontheapproachofdeath：only(whatIamsuremustbeverygratefultoyourfeelings)heseemedtothinkandspeakevenmorekindlythanusualofyourself：referringtoyouas’Jeannie’syin，’withstrongexpressionsofregard。’HewastheonlyoneIeverliketofthehalejing-bang，’wasoneofhisexpressions；andyouwillbegladtoknowthathedweltparticularlyonthedutifulrespectyouhadalwaysdisplayedinyourrelations。Thesmallcodicil，bywhichhebequeathsyouhisMolesworthandotherprofessionalworks，wasadded(youwillobserve)onthedaybeforehisdeath；sothatyouwereinhisthoughtsuntiltheend。Ishouldsaythat，thoughratheratryingpatient，hewasmosttenderlynursedbyyouruncle，andyourcousin，MissEuphemia。Iencloseacopyofthetestament，bywhichyouwillseethatyoushareequallywithMr。Adam，andthatIholdatyourdisposalasumnearlyapproachingseventeenthousandpounds。Ibegtocongratulateyouonthisconsiderableacquisition，andexpectyourorders，towhichI
shallhastentogivemybestattention。Thinkingthatyoumightdesiretoreturnatoncetothiscountry，andnotknowinghowyoumaybeplaced，Iencloseacreditforsixhundredpounds。
Pleasesigntheaccompanyingslip，andletmehaveitatyourearliestconvenience。
“Iam，dearsir，yourstruly，“W。RUTHERFORDGREGG。”
“Godblesstheoldgentleman！”Ithought；“andforthatmatterGodblessUncleAdam！andmycousinEuphemia！andMr。
Gregg！”Ihadavisionofthatgreyoldlifenowbroughttoanend——“andhightimetoo“——avisionofthoseSabbathstreetsalternatelyvacantandfilledwithsilentpeople；ofthebabelofthebells，thelong-drawnpsalmody，theshrewdstingoftheeastwind，thehollow，ech
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