140

DEATH S DOINGS.

proved much of that part of his plan which referredto horse exercise; on which account the countrywas the best place for him; and that I had come, onpurpose, to take him into Worcestershire. Hethanked me, but said he could not accept myoffer: that he was in the search of health, andmust be near advice. I perceived it was a hope-less case; and shaking my poor friend by thehand, with a melancholy foreboding departed.

It was not until the end of August, whilst I wasbusied in preparing for the shooting season, thatI again heard of Tom Wunderlich. I was think-ing, one morning at breakfast, how much I wasto blame for having neglected so long to inquireafter him, and wondering whether he was nowwell enough to bring down a partridge, when aletter from the poor fellow was put into my hands.It entreated me, earnestly, to come to see him, inthe vicinity of Dorking, where he had taken a cot-tage ; and, as his health was worse than ever, hehoped nothing would prevent me from forthwithseeing him. The epistle, indeed, was written ina strain which left me one mode only of decision: