ILLNESS OF MRS. JENKIN 97 



open gig. On their arrival at the house, Mrs. Jenkin 

 half unconsciously took and kept hold of her hus- 

 band's hand. By the doctor's orders, windows and 

 doors were set open to create a thorough draught, 

 and the patient was on no account to be disturbed. 

 Thus, then, did Fleeming pass the whole of that 

 night, crouching on the floor in the draught, and 

 not daring to move lest he should wake the sleeper. 

 He had never been strong ; energy had stood him 

 instead of vigour ; and the result of that night's 

 exposure was flying rheumatism varied by settled illness of 

 sciatica. Sometimes it quite disabled him, some- 

 times it was less acute ; but he was rarely free from 

 it until his death. I knew him for many years ; 

 for more than ten we were closely intimate ; I have 

 lived with him for weeks ; and during all this time, 

 he only once referred to his infirmity and then per- 

 force, as an excuse for some trouble he put me to, 

 and so slightly worded that I paid no heed. This 

 is a good measure of his courage under sufferings of 

 which none but the untried will think lightly. 

 And I think it worth noting how this optimist 

 was acquainted with pain. It will seem strange 

 only to the superficial. The disease of pessimism 

 springs never from real troubles, which it braces 

 men to bear, which it delights men to bear well. 

 Nor does it readily spring at all, in minds that have 

 conceived of life as a field of ordered duties, not as 

 a chase in which to hunt for gratifications. ' We 



