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rest laughed immoderately at poor coaehy's predicament. It was, however, no laughing to him; he never raised his head and his wife becoming at last uneasy about his frenzied state of mind, made him repeat every eireumstance of his adventure to her, (for he would never believe or admit that it was a dream,) whieh he did in the terms above narrated; and she pereeived, or dreaded, that he was becoming feverish. She went over and told Dr. Wood of her husband’s malady, and of his solemn engagement to be in hell at twelve o’clock.
'He maunna keep it, dearie. He maunna keep that engagement at no rate,” said Dr Wood. 'Set baek the elock an hour or twa, to drive him past the time, and I’ll ea' in the eourse of my round Are you sure he hasna been drinking hard?' She assured him he had not. 'Weel, weel, ye maun tell him that he maunna keep that engagement at no rate. Set baek the cloek and I'll come and see him. It is a frenzy that maunna be trifled with. Ye maunna laugh at it, dearie—maunaa laugh at it. Maybe a nervish fever, wha kens,"
The doctor and Chirsty left the house together, and as their road lay the same way for a space, she fell a-telling him of the two young lawyers whom George saw standing at the gate of hell, and whom the porter had described as two of the last eomers. When the doctor heard this, he staid his hurried stooping pace in one moment, turned full round on the woman, and fixing his eyes on her that gleamed with a deep unstable lustre, he said, 'What’s that ye were saying, dearie? What’s that ye were saying? Repeat it again to me every word.' She did so. On whieh the doctor held up his hands, as if palsied with astonishment, and uttered some fervent ejaculations. 'I'll go with you straight," said he, 'before I visit another patient. This is wonderful! It is terrible! The young gentlemen are both at rest—both lying eorpses at this time!—fine young men—I attended them both—died of the same exterminating disease.—Oh this is wonderful: this is wonderful!'
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