THE BOARDING-HOUSE. 185 



singular." (It certainly was, for she had eaten four pounds of solids 

 that morning.) " By-the-by," said Mrs. Bloss, " I have not seen 

 Mr. what's-his-name yet." 



"Mr. Gobler?" suggested Mrs. Tibbs. 



'' Yes." 



" Oh!" said Mrs. Tibbs, "he is a most mysterious person. He 

 has his meals regularly sent up stairs, and sometimes don't leave his 

 room for weeks together." 



" I haven't seen or heard nothing of him/' repeated Mrs. Bloss. 



" I dare say you'll hear him to-night," replied Mrs. Tibbs ; " he 

 generally groans a good deal on Sunday evenings/' 



" I never felt such an interest in any one in my life/' ejaculated 

 Mrs. Bloss. A finicking double-knock interrupted the conversation ; 

 Doctor Wosky was announced, and duly shown in. He was a little 

 man with a red face, dressed of course in black, with a stiff white 

 neckerchief. He had a very good practice, and plenty of money, 

 which he had amassed by invariably humouring the worst fancies of 

 all the females of all the families he had ever been introduced into. 

 Mrs. Tibbs offered to retire, but was entreated to stay. 



' ' Well, my dear ma'am, and how are we ?" inquired Wosky in a 

 soothing tone. 



" Very ill, doctor very ill," said Mrs. Bloss in a whisper. 



" Ah ! we must take care of ourselves ; we must, indeed," said 

 the obsequous Wosky, as he felt the pulse of his interesting patient. 

 " How is our appetite ?" 



Mrs. Bloss shook her head. 



" Our friend requires great care/' said Wosky, appealing to Mrs. 

 Tibbs, who of course assented. " I hope, however, with the blessing 

 of Providence," continued the Doctor, " that we shall be enabled to 

 make her quite stout again." Mrs. Tibbs wondered in her own mind 

 what the patient would be when she had got quite stout; for she 

 looked like a pincushion on castors already. 



ft We must take stimulants," said the cunning Wosky " plenty 

 of nourishment, and above all, we must keep our nerves quiet ; we 

 positively must not give way to our sensibilities. We must take all 

 we can get," concluded the Doctor as he pocketed his fee, " and we 

 must keep quiet." 



" Dear man !" exclaimed Mrs. Bloss, as the Doctor stepped into 

 his carriage. 



" Charming creature, indeed quite a lady's man," said Mrs. 

 Tibbs ; and Dr. Wosky rattled away to make fresh gulls of delicate 

 females, and pocket fresh fees. 



As we had occasion in a former paper to describe a dinner at Mrs. 

 Tibbs', and as one meal went off very like another on all ordinary oc- 

 casions, we will not fatigue our readers by* entering into any other 

 detailed account of the domestic economy of the establishment. We 

 will, therefore, proceed to events, merely premising that the myste- 

 rious tenant of the back drawing-room was a lazy, selfish, hypochon- 

 driac ; always complaining and never ill. As his character in many 

 respects closely assimilated to that of Mrs. Bloss, a very warm friend- 

 ship soon sprung up between them. He was tall, thin, and pale; he 

 M. M. No. 104, 2 B 



