that night if it had not been for him. I was just trying it on when
he came in. He threw up his arms with a wild yell the moment he
caught sight of it, and exclaimed that he had "got 'em again!"

I said: "Does it fit all right behind?"

"Spiffin, old man," he replied. And then he wanted to know if I was
coming out.

I said "no" at first, but he overruled me. He said that a man with a
suit like that had no right to stop indoors. "Every citizen," said
he, "owes a duty to the public. Each one should contribute to the
general happiness as far as lies in his power. Come out and give the
girls a treat."

Jim is slangy. I don't know where he picks it up. It certainly is
not from me.

I said: "Do you think it will really please 'em?" He said it would
be like a day in the country to them.

That decided me. It was a lovely evening and I went.

When I got home I undressed and rubbed myself down with whisky, put my
feet in hot water and a mustard-plaster on my chest, had a basin of
gruel and a glass of hot brandy-and-water, tallowed my nose, and went
to bed.

These prompt and vigorous measures, aided by a naturally strong
constitution, were the means of preserving my life; but as for the