THE FIFESHIRE APOTHECARY.

WHETHER, in consequence of an epidemic prevailing, or of the season, which was Christmas and the consequent repletion attendant on it, had caused such an unusual influx of customers to the shop of Andrew, chemist and druggist in the town of Fife, or no, certain it is he and his boy had been more than usually employed in compounding aperients and emetics for the inhabitants of the good city; never before had such a demand on his gallipots and bottles been madenever before had blue pill and jalap been used in such profusion, and never before had Andrew

felt more sincere pleasure than he derived that evening from the market-house clock striking eleven, his signal for closing; with alacrity his boy obeyed, and in a few minutes departed, leaving him to enjoy solitude for the first time during the day, and to calculate the quantity of drugs made use of during it; this was not small, -14 oz. computation, had he prepared for the good townfolk of Fife; innumerable had been the cases of cholera morbus, and plum-pudding surfeits, he had relieved that day, and the recollection of the proportion of evil he had been the means of alleviating, gave him the most pleasing sensations; the profit also accruing from his day's labour, contributed no small share of pleasing thoughts, and one half hour more had passed, ere it entered his mind the time for closing had more than arrived; he had, however, just arisen for the purpose, when a stranger entered. Now, Andrew, though an industrious man, would wil

lingly have dispensed with any other call for his services for that evening, and not altogether so obligingly as usual did he welcome his customer, but awaited his commands without deigning a question. The stranger was not, however, long in opening his commission, neither did he appear to take Andrew's inattention at all amiss; he seemed one of those happy beings upon whom outward circumstances make little or no impression, who could be either civil or otherwise, as should happen to suit his humour, and who cared little for any opinion but his own; his broad and ample shoulders, over which was cast a large coachman's coat, with its innumerable capes, with his hands thrust into the pockets, and his round, ruddy, good-humoured face showed the cares and troubles of the world had made little impression on him. Andrew had seen many a wild Highlander in his time; but either there was something peculiar in his

customer, or his nerves were a little deranged by his exertions during the day, but an undefined sensation of fear came over him, for which he could not account, and his first impulse was to run to the door for assistance; yet then he bethought himself he might, perchance, fall into the hands of those night prowlers, who, reports say, make no scruple of supplying students with the living subject if they cannot procure dead ones. I cannot state this as a fact, but it occurred to Andrew he had heard so, and more, did he leave his shop, his till would be left to the tender mercies of the stranger; he was, therefore, compelled to summon courage, and demand the stranger's business. This was not so difficult to him, perhaps, as we may imagine, Andrew having formerly served in the militia; but it appeared his fears had alarmed him far more than there was any occasion, for, on asking the stranger's business, he in the most polite

manner only requested him to prepare a box of moderately strong aperient pills; this at once relieved his fears, though it did not entirely remove them, and Andrew quickly set about the necessary preliminaries. Blue pill and jalap once more were in request, but, so much had the stranger's sudden appearance agitated him, he could not recollect their places so readily as usual, and he was more than once on the point of mixing quite the reverse of what he intended; the stranger observed to him he appeared agitated, but politely begged he would wait a little and compose himself, as he was in no hurry; here all Andrew's fears returned, and in spite of all his efforts his hand shook as though he had the palsy, and never had the preparation. of a box of pills appeared so irksome to him; it seemed as though the very medicine itself had this evening conspired to torment him-three times longer than it usually took him had he