The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-02-11
tented with your stature. Say, is it

The patient nodded.
 "Are you ready to submit to the treatment, young man? Have you every confidence in mel"
 "Pve every confidence, doctor" re- piled, MacTaggart uneassly, "but heard that your fees were high, and l thought, perhaps, as Pm only an art student, you might consent to make little reduction"
 "Young man." said the physician in an indignant tone," do not trif1e. The paltry honorarium I exact is but to cover the cost of the balsamic drugs used in the treatment of such cases {; they have been procured from the deserts of central Asia, after the ex- penditure of much time, blood, and treasure but be assured, young man, that the trifle wrung from your par simonious clutch will be immediately distributed by me to the deserving poor"
 "And you won't take any less?" said MacTaggart, as he stretched out his reluctant hand and deposited five guineas upon the -physician's table. "ls the process very painful, doctor?" he said.
 "There are two means of achieving the object" said the physician, who took no notice of the fec "The one is purely mechanical; it is gradual ex- tension; considerable physical pain has naturally to be endured. The other course, which IS equally effica- cious and quite painless, is by means of medical bath, but not more than four inches increase in height can be obtained"
 "I shall be perfectly satisfied, doc- tor, with four inches"
 "Very good, young man, very good. You know your own business best. Retire behind that screen, divest your self of your apparel; in few moments all will be prepared. So powerful are the effects of the drugs that your clothing, were it exposed to their po- tent vapors, would be utterly de- stroyed. Strip, young man." said the doctor, emphatically, and he pointed to the screen.
 MT. MacTaggart retired behind the screen, and did as he was bid, and the venerable benefactor of the human race disappeared into the bathroom.
 The first thing Dacre did was to empty his bottle of turpentine into the bath, then he turned on the hot water till the bath was nearly full.
 "Are you prepared, young man?" he ppinH n q lnN6 xynfon ha the reception-room.
 "I'm quite ready, sir," said Mr. Mac Taggart from behind the screen. "I can smell the potent odors of the drugs, even here"
 "Don't trifie, boy" cried the Amer ican physician; take your watch with you, and proceed to the bath You will find it very hot, and the odor of the eastern balsams is pungent but do not let that deter you; enter it as speedily as possible, for the hotter the bath, the more rapid is the osseous change. Remain extended in that bath and perfectly still, and every five by your watch, and not more frequently on any account, let your head disappear beneath the balsamic film with which the surface of the water is covered. Do not speak, and breathe only through your nose. I will warn you when the process is 
 MacTaggart entered the bathroom, watch in hand. The odor of the ori- ental balsams made him sneeze vio- 1onflv tho ND for xroc or;Jon+1x x,orx, hot, and was covered by thick ole aginous film. But young MT. Mac Taggart had paid his five guineas, and he was determined to have his moneys worth. After little time he entered the bath.
 Every five minutes his head disap- peared beneath the steaming, oily sur face.
 In the meanwhile Cecil Dacre was not idle. He rang the bell; Pippa and her mother appeared the one car ried little charcoal brazier and flat iron, the other very small work bag and big pair of scizzors. They laughed immoderately as they set to work upon the clothes of the young Scotchman. Three inches were cut off from the trouser legs, the sleeves of the coat and of the shirt; Pippa's mother worked with a will with her needle to refashion the e1tremities of the garments, and as she finished each, Pippa herself carefully pressed the newly made seams with the hot flat iron. Then the physician dismissed his two assistants, flung open the bath room door and addressed the bather.
 "Come forth, young man," he said. "You entered that bath a miserable and puny specimen of humanity; you will leave it, in all human probability, a well-grown youth of prepossessing appearance"
 Mir. MacTaggart did as he was bid. He dried hiusnlf fo tho has4 <,E hsa