as might be necessary in a crowded thoroughfare, I walked down to the
office of the medical man whom I wished to consult; but when I arrived
it seemed to me that my case was beyond human aid, and I walked on. I
can, perhaps, find no better place than this in which to call the
distinct attention of opium-eaters who may be induced to start out on
their own reformation, to the all-important fact that no part of the
body will be found so little affected by the rapid disuse of opium as
the muscles used in walking. I am no physiologist, and do not pretend
to explain it, but it is a most fortunate circumstance that in the
general chaos and disorder of the rest of the system, the ability to
walk, on which so much of the possibility of recovery rests, is by far
the least affected of all the physical powers.

During the morning, however, my wretchedness drove me again to the
office of the same physician. He listened courteously to my statement;
said it was a very serious case, but outside of any reliable
observation of his own, and recommended me to consult a physician of
eminence residing in quite a different part of the city. He also
expressed the hope, though I thought in no very confident tone, that I
might be successful, and pretending to shut the door, watched my
receding footsteps till I turned a distant corner. I now pass the
house of the other physician to whom I was recommended to apply,
several times every week, and I often moralize over the apprehension
and anxieties with which I then viewed the two or three steps which
led to his dwelling. When I arrived opposite his house I stopped and
calculated the chances of mounting these steps without falling. I
first rested my hand upon the wall and then endeavored to lift my feet
upon the second step, but I had not the strength for such an
exertion. I thought of crawling to the door, but this was hardly a
decorous exhibition for the most fashionable street of the city,