, 1843-07-08

admit anew member; that when one
died, eleven should meet, and when
another died ten should meet, and so
on; and that. when only one remain
ed, he should, on those two days, dine
by himself, and sit the usual hours at
his solitary table; but the first time
he so dined alone. lest il should be
The only oae, he should then uncork
the first bottle and. in the first glass
drink 10 the memory of all who were
gone.
There was something original and
whimsical in the idea, and il was ca
gerly embraced. They were adj in
The prime Of life, closely attached by
reciprocal friendship. fond OF social
enloyments. and looked forward TO
their future meetings with unalloyed
anilcipations of pleasure. The only
thought, indeed. ihatcould have dark
ened those anticlpatlons. was one not
very likely to inrrude itself at this
moment-,ha, o! the hapIess wight
who was destined 10 uncork the first
bottle at his lonely repast.
II was bright summer when this
irolic compac. was entered into; as
their pleasure yacht skinned along
the dark bosom of the Thames. on
their return 10 London they talked o!
nothing but their first and last ieast>
Of ensuing years. Their Imagiualions
ran liot with a thousand gay prcdic-
! lions Of festive merriment. They
.anr,a64 in ~conjec,ureS Of what
changes lime you'd operate, joked
each other upon the. appearance
when they should meet-soniG "op'
ping upon crutches after Il severe fit
OF the gout-others p"king about with
purbl;nd eyes, which even s~pcctacies
could hardly enable to distinguish the
aIderman's walk in a haunch Of veni.
son-some with Port'y round bellies,
and tidy htlle brown Wigs, aud others
decently dressed out in a new suit OF
mourning, for the death Of a great
granddaughter. or a great-grand-so son.
"As cor YOU George exclaimed
one OF the twelve. addressing his
brothcr-in law. a expect | shall see
you as dry. withered, and shrunken
as an old eetskin. you mere outside OF
a man. and he accompanied TIC
| words with 4 hearty slap on the
shoulders.
/ George Fortescue wasleaning care
IessIv over the side Of the Yacht,
laughing the loudeSt Of any. ut the
conversation which had been carried
on. The sudden manuel s%alutatIon
of his brotl.eI-in-law threw Inn oil
las balance, and in n moment, he was
overheard. They heard the heavy
splash of his l4li before they could be
sand TO lave seen him fall. The yacht
was proceeding swiftly a'ohg-n was
instantly stopped.
The utmost CONSERVATION now
prevailed. 1t was nearly dark, but
Fortescuc was known TO be an OK
cellent swimmer, and startling as tic
! accident was, they felt certain he
would regain the vessel. They could
not see HIM. They listened. They
heard tire sound Of his hands and
feet. They hailed him. An answer
was returned, but in a faint gurglIng
voice. and the exclamation oh Gof!'
struck upon their ears. In an instant.
two or three, who were expert SWIM
mers plunged into the river, and
swan towards the spot whence the
exclamation had proceeded. One OF
them was within an arms length o!
Fnrtesene--he saw hIm-he was
STRUGGLING and bufieting the wafer;
before he could be reached, he went
down. and lis distracted friends be-
held the eddying circle Of the wave
ms, over the spot where he had sunk.
He Owed after him, and touched the
bo,tom-but the tide must have DRIFT
ed the body onwards, for 1t could not
be found!
They proceeded to one Of tie near
es, stations where drags were kept,
and having procured the necessary
apparatus. they returned to The i4fai
spot. After the lapse OF about an
hour, they succeeded IN raising the
IIfeless body Of their lost friend. All
tl,c usual remedies were employed Tor
restoring suspended animation, but
in vain. and they n'w pursued the
rano;nder of their course to London,
~ mournGul silence, with the corpse
IS h,m who had commenced the day
Of Measure with them in the f%ullness
of health. of spirits; and of life!--
Amid their severe grief, they could
~, h,,, reflect how soon n OF the
;nvous twelve had slipped out OF the
-, rciaf