think that a succession to my uncle's practice,
in Lancashire, was not worth the pains of a
professional education. I determined to
devote myself to good Herr Zugler and his
counting-house, and leave Sir Astley Cooper
to the undisturbed enjoyment of his wealth
and fame. At intervals of half an hour or so,
my companions adjourned along the sounding
passage, and renewed their inspection of the
sufferer. I sometimes stayed behind. I felt
that, having given up the medical profession,
I had no right to intrude upon the sacredness
of a death-bed,—and the reports they brought
back were continually worse and worse. Lots
of tumblers and tobacco were interchanged
as to the exact period when the patient
would die; and it also appeared that
attempts were made to ascertain the meaning
of the words he had uttered with reference
to the fate which awaited him if he survived
till the following day.

No success attended these endeavours. He
kept his own counsel, and only, in more
urgent terms than ever, besought them to
give him something to alleviate his pain.
By the time the tower-clock at the wing of
the hospital sounded eleven, the sufferings
of the wounded man became more intense.
Whether it had been to steel themselves
against the terror of the spectacle or not,
I do not know; but most of the students
had drunk, as I have already told you, more
than usual before their repeated visits to the
ward. Among the rest, Camillus had distinguished
himself by the potency of his brews,
and was less on his guard than we had ever
seen him. The dying man seemed to have a
fascination for him. He never missed any of
the pilgrimages to his bed-side, and always
returned more and more interested in the
progress of his decease.

"He will die before twelve," hiccupped
one.

"How so? " enquired Rupert. " Have you
had as much experience as I have? I have
seen twenty in one year in this holy
establishment, and can tell by the light in a man's
eye how long he has to live, as easily as what
o'clock it is by looking at his watch. This
man will die in fifty-seven minutes from this
time."

"And it is now ten minutes past eleven!"
cried the young student, triumphant.

"Your watch is ten minutes fast," replied
Camillus, "and Herr Rupert is not always
exact to a second. I have had deeper
experience," he added, with a weak laugh, which
revealed for the first time the extent of his
unsobriety—" deeper experience, I tell you,
a hundred-fold, than any man in Europe, for
I have gone through the process myself."

A general laugh followed this boast, but
Camillus was displeased. He looked sternly
round. " You are pleased, gentlemen, to
consider this as rhodomontade. I am not in
the habit of stating what is not the fact. I
tell you I have died "—and raising his voice
as he saw the incredulity of his audience—
"I will say more, I am dead now."

"Nay; but, Herr Camillus," replied Rupert,
assuming a more serious tone than before,
"you forget that we know nothing of your
name or history. We have been delighted
with your friendship and society; but, before
we can attach weight to an unsupported
assertion such as you have now made, your
own excellent judgment will show you that
we require some other guarantee than the
word and honour of a gentleman whose
antecedents we are all profoundly ignorant of."

"You are right," said Camillus—being in
that state in which an appeal to one's sense
is the highest compliment that can be paid "—
and I will tell you my story, and then you
will perhaps change your opinion of my
veracity."

"Agreed! hear him! fill up once more!
give me a fresh light! " cried the different
members of the meeting. " Now then, fire
away!"

"I know not how to begin," said Camillus,
regaining command over his faculties by an
effort of his will, and looking almost as if he
were speaking out his own reflections without
reference to his audience. "I am not
even myself. I scarcely know who I am.
This body I occupy is as unknown to me, as
regards its previous history, as a hotel you
may put up in for a single night in a journey
through a foreign country; but that other
life—that life which grew round me for
thirty years, bringing me experiences from
my infant days, leading me through boyhood,
filling my memory with the happy faces of
friends, and the old familiar sounds of home
—that life is now taken away; I have no
past. I can't even tell you my name. I am
the Count Camillus; that is all. My country
I do not know. I am shipwrecked on a
desert island more solitary than the English
voyager, who had his goats and birds, and at
last his faithful Friday. But enough. You
shall hear.

"I lived in the city of Prague, a person
of noble birth and good possessions, and six
years ago was united to the most beautiful
and most affectionate of wives. For two
years nothing disturbed the perfect felicity of
our union; but, at that time, there came a
man to the town who soon attracted
universal attention by the display of his wealth,
and also, I may say, by the elegance of his
manners and handsomeness of his person. I
became intimate with him, and introduced
him to my home. Don't smile and wink as
if you perceived the common ending of such
unwise introductions. It had a very different
termination from what you expect. The
stranger was delightful in conversation from
the varied stores of his information; there
was no subject of which he was not apparently
master; science, such as is known in Europe,
had no secrets reserved from him; and,
unfortunately, his studies had taken him farther.