"Herbert! Good God! Is it posabl?"

"Yess, my naims Herbert. Ie tthink Ie no yor faiss, tu, but Ie doant remembr yor naim. My memry is verry queer."

"Doant yu recollect Villiers uv Wadham?"

"So it is, so it is. Ie beg yor pardn, Villiers, Ie didnt tthink Ie wos beging uv an old collaj frend. Good-nyt."

"My deer felo, thiss haist is unnesesery. My ruoms ar cloass by, but we wuont go thair just yet. Supoas we wauk up Shaftesbury Avenue a litl way? But how in hevns naim hav yu cum tu thiss pass, Herbert?"

"Its a long story, Villiers, and a strainj wun tu, but yu can heer it if yu lyk."

"Cum on, then. Taik my arm, yu doant seem verry strong."

The il-assorted pair muovd sloaly up Rupert Street; the wun in derty, eavl-looking rags, and the uthr atyrd in the reguelaision ueniform uv a man about toun, trim, glosy, and eminently wel-tu-du. Villiers had emrjd frum his restorant aftr an exlnt dinr uv meny corsses, asistd by an ingraisheaiting litl flask uv Chianti, and, in that fraim uv mynd which wos witth him allmoast cronic, had delayd a moamnt by the dor, peering round in the dimly-lytd street in srch uv thoas misteereus insidnts and persns witth which the streets uv London teem in evry quortr and evry our. Villiers prydd himself as a practissd explorer uv such obscuer maises and by-ways uv London lyf, and in thiss unprofitabl prsuot he displayd an asiduity which wos werthy uv mor seereus employmnt. Thuss he stood by the lamp-poast srvaying the passers-by witth undisgyzd cuereosity, and witth that gravity noan oanly tu the sistematic dynr, had just enunseaitd in his mynd the formula: "London has bn calld the sity uv encounters; it is mor than that, it is the sity uv Rezerecsions," when thees reflecsions wr sudnly interuptd by a piteus whyn at his elbo, and a deplorabl apeel for oms. He lookd around in sum iritaision, and witth a sudn shok found himself confrontd witth the embodeed proof uv his sumwhot stiltd fansees. Thair, close besyd him, his faiss alltrd and disfiguerd by povrty and disgraiss, his body bairly cuvrd by greezy il-fiting rags, stood his old frend Charles Herbert, hu had matricuelaitd on the saim day as himself, witth huom he had bn merry and wyz for twlv revolving trms. Difrent ocuepaisions and varrying intrests had interuptd the frendship, and it wos six yeers sinss Villiers had seen Herbert; and now he lookd upon thiss rek uv a man witth greef and dismay, mingld witth a sertn inquizitivness as tu whot dreery chain uv sercmstanses had dragd him doun tu such a dolfl pass. Villiers felt togethr witth compasion all the relish uv the amatuer in misterees, and congratuelaitd himself on his leezuerly specuelaisions outsyd the restorant.

Thay waukd on in sylnss for sum tym, and mor than wun passer-by staird in astonishmnt at the unacustmd spectacl uv a wel-dressd man witth an unmistaikabl begr hanging on tu his arm, and, obzrving thiss, Villiers led the way tu an obscuer street in Soho. Heer he repeetd his questsion.

"How on urtth has it hapnd, Herbert? Ie allways undrstood yu wood suxeed tu an exelnt pozision in Dorsetshire. Did yor fothr disinherit yu? Suerly not?"

"No, Villiers; Ie caim intu all the proprty at my poor fothrs detth; he dyd a yeer aftr Ie left Oxford. He wos a verry good fothr tu me, and Ie mornd his detth sinseerly enuf. But yu no whot yung men ar; a fue muntths laitr Ie caim up tu toun and went a good deel intu sosyety. Uv corss Ie had exlnt introducsions, and Ie manaijd tu enjoy myself verry much in a harmless sort uv way. Ie playd a litl, sertnly, but nevr for hevy staiks, and the fue bets Ie maid on raisses braut me in muny--oanly a fue pounds, yu no, but enuf tu pay for sigars and such pety plezuers. It wos in my second seezn that the tyd trnd. Uv corss yu hav hrd uv my marraj?"

"No, Ie nevr hrd enytthing about it."

"Yess, Ie marreed, Villiers. Ie met a grl, a grl uv the moast wundrfl and moast strainj buety, at the houss uv sum peepl huom Ie nue. Ie cannot tel yu hr aij; Ie nevr nue it, but, so far as Ie can gess, Ie shood tthink she must hav bn about nynteen when Ie maid hr aquaintnss. My frends had cum tu no hr at Florence; she told them she wos an orfn, the chyld uv an Inglish fothr and an Italien muthr, and she charmd them as she charmd me. The frst tym Ie saw hr wos at an eavning party. Ie wos standing by the dor tauking tu a frend, when sudnly abuv the hum and babl uv conversaision Ie hrd a voiss which seemd tu thril tu my hart. She wos singing an Italien song. Ie wos introduessd tu hr that eavning, and in thre muntths Ie marreed Helen. Villiers, that wumn, if Ie can call hr wumn, corruptd my sol. The nyt uv the weding Ie found myself siting in hr bedruom in the hoatel, lisning tu hr tauk. She wos siting up in bed, and Ie lisnd tu hr as she spoak in hr buetifl voiss, spoak uv tthings which eavn now Ie wood not dair whispr in the blakest nyt, tho Ie stood in the midst uv a wildrness. Yu, Villiers, yu may tthink yu no lyf, and London, and whot goas on day and nyt in thiss dredfl sity; for all Ie can say yu may hav hrd the tauk uv the vylest, but Ie tel yu can hav no consepsion uv whot Ie no, not in yor moast fantastic, hideus dreems can yu hav imaijd fortth the faintest shado uv whot Ie hav hrd--and seen. Yess, seen. Ie hav seen the incredabl, such horrers that eavn Ie myself sumtyms stop in the midl uv the street and ask whethr it is posabl for a man tu behold such tthings and liv. In a yeer, Villiers, Ie wos a ruind man, in body and sol--in body and sol."

"But yor proprty, Herbert? Yu had land in Dorset."

"Ie sold it all; the feelds and woods, the deer old houss--evryttthing."

"And the muny?"

"She took it all frum me."

"And then left yu?"

"Yess; she disapeered wun nyt. Ie doant no whair she went, but Ie am suer if Ie saw hr again it wood kil me. The rest uv my story is uv no intrest; sordid mizery, that is all. Yu may tthink, Villiers, that Ie hav exajeraitd and taukd for efect; but Ie hav not told yu haf. Ie cood tel yu sertn tthings which wood convinss yu, but yu wood nevr no a hapy day again. Yu wood pass the rest uv yor lyf, as Ie pass myn, a hauntd man, a man hu has seen hel."

Villiers took the unfortuenit man tu his ruoms, and gaiv him a meel. Herbert cood eat litl, and scairsly tuchd the glass uv wyn set befor him. He sat moody and sylnt by the fyr, and seemd releevd when Villiers sent him away witth a small preznt uv muny.

"By the way, Herbert," sed Villiers, as thay partd at the dor, "whot wos yor wyfs naim? Yu sed Helen, Ie tthink? Helen whot?"

"The naim she passd undr when Ie met hr wos Helen Vaughan, but whot hr reel naim wos Ie can't say. Ie doant tthink she had a naim. No, no, not in that senss. Oanly huemn beings hav naims, Villiers; Ie can't say enymor. Good-bye; yess, Ie wil not fail tu call if Ie se eny way in which yu can help me. Good-nyt."

The man went out intu the bitr nyt, and Villiers retrnd tu his fyrsyd. Thair wos sumtthing about Herbert which shokd him inexpresibly; not his poor rags nor the marks which povrty had set upon his faiss, but rathr an indefinit terrer which hung about him lyk a mist. He had aknollajd that he himself wos not devoid uv blaim; the wumn, he had avoud, had corruptd him body and sol, and Villiers felt that thiss man, wunss his frend, had bn an actr in seens eavl beiond the pour uv wrds. His story needd no confrmaision: he himself wos the embodeed proof uv it. Villiers muesd cuereusly oavr the story he had hrd, and wundrd whethr he had hrd boatth the frst and the last uv it. "No," he tthaut, "sertnly not the last, probably oanly the begining. A caiss lyk thiss is lyk a nest uv Chinees boxs; yu oapn wun aftr the uthr and fynd a quaintr wrkmnship in evry box. Most lykly poor Herbert is meerly wun uv the outsyd boxs; thair ar strainjr wuns tu follo."

Villiers cood not taik his mynd away frum Herbert and his story, which seemd tu gro wyldr as the nyt wor on. The fyr seemd tu brn lo, and the chily air uv the morning crept intu the ruom; Villiers got up witth a glanss oavr his sholdr, and, shivering slytly, went tu bed.

A fue days laitr he saw at his club a jentlmn uv his aquaintnss, naimd Austin, hu wos faimus for his intimit nollaj uv London lyf, boatth in its tenebrus and luominus faises. Villiers, stil full uv his encountr in Soho and its consequnses, tthaut Austin myt posibly be aibl tu shed sum lyt on Herberts histry, and so aftr sum cazhuel tauk he sudnly poot the questsion:

"Du yu hapn tu no enytthing uv a man naimd Herbert -- Charles Herbert?"

Austin trnd round sharply and staird at Villiers witth sum astonishmnt.

"Charles Herbert? Wrnt yu in toun thre yeers ago? No; then yu hav not hrd uv the Paul Street caiss? It causd a good deel uv sensaision at the tym."

"Whot wos the caiss?"

"Wel, a jentlmn, a man uv verry good pozision, wos found ded, stark ded, in the airea uv a sertn houss in Paul Street, auf Tottenham Court Road. Uv corss the poleess did not maik the discuvry; if yu hapn tu be siting up all nyt and hav a lyt in yor windo, the constabl wil ring the bell, but if yu hapn tu be lying ded in sumbodees airea, yu wil be left aloan. In thiss instenss, as in meny uthrs, the alarm wos raisd by sum kynd uv vagabond; Ie doant meen a comn tramp, or a public-houss loafer, but a jentlmn, huos bizness or plezuer, or boatth, maid him a spectaitr uv the London streets at fyv o'clok in the morning. Thiss individual wos, as he sed, 'going hoam,' it did not apeer whenss or whithr, and had ocaizion tu pass tthru Paul Street between for and fyv a.m. Sumtthing or uthr caut his Ie at Numbr 20; he sed, abserdly enuf, that the houss had the moast unpleznt fizeognomy he had evr obzrvd, but, at eny rait, he glanssd doun the airea and wos a good deel astonishd tu se a man lying on the stoans, his lims all hudld togethr, and his faiss trnd up. Our jentlmn tthaut his faiss lookd pecuelierly gastly, and so set auf at a run in srch uv the neerest poleesmn. The constabl wos at frst inclynd tu treet the matr lytly, suspecting comn drunkenness; howevr, he caim, and aftr looking at the mans faiss, chainjd his toan, quikly enuf. The urly brd, hu had pikd up thiss fyn worm, wos sent auf for a doctr, and the poleessmn rang and nokd at the dor til a slatrnly servnt grl caim doun looking mor than haf asleep. The constabl pointd out the contents uv the airea tu the maid, hu screemed loudly enuf tu wake up the street, but she nue nutthing uv the man; had nevr seen him at the houss, and so fortth. Meenwhyl, the orijnl discuvrer had cum bak witth a medicl man, and the next tthing wos tu get intu the airea. The orijnl wos oapn, so the hol quartet stumpd doun the steps. The doctr hardly needd a moamnts examinaision; he sed the poor felo had bn ded for sevrel ours, and it wos then the caiss began tu get intresting. The ded man had not bn robd, and in wun uv his pokets wr paiprs identifying him as--wel, as a man uv good family and meens, a faivrit in sosyety, and nobodees enmy, as far as cood be noan. Ie doant giv his naim, Villiers, becaus it has nutthing tu du witth the story, and becaus its no good raiking up thees afairs about the ded when thair ar no relaisions living. The next cuereus point wos that the medicl men coodnt agry as tu how he met his detth. Thair wr sum slyt bruoses on his sholdrs, but thay wr so slyt that it lookd as if he had bn pushd rufly out uv the kichn dor, and not throan oavr the railings frum the street or eavn dragd doun the steps. But thair wr positivly no uthr marks uv vylnss about him, sertnly nun that wood acount for his detth; and when thay caim tu the autopsy thair wosnt a traiss uv poizn uv eny kynd. Uv corss the poleess wontd tu no all about the peepl at Numbr 20, and heer again, so Ie hav hrd frum pryvet sorses, wun or tu uthr verry cuereus points caim out. It apeers that the ocuepnts uv the houss wr a Mr. and Mrs. Charles Herbert; he wos sed tu be a landd propryetr, tho it struk moast peepl that Paul Street wos not exactly the plaiss tu look for cuntry jentry. As for Mrs. Herbert, noabody seemd tu no hu or whot she wos, and, between ourselvs, Ie fansy the dyvrs aftr hr histry found themselvs in rathr strainj wautrs. Uv corss thay boatth denyd noing enytthing about the deseessd, and in defallt uv eny evidnss against them thay wr discharjd. But sum verry od tthings caim out about them. Though it wos between fyv and six in the morning when the ded man wos remuovd, a larj crowd had collectd, and sevrel uv the naibrs ran tu se whot wos going on. Thay wr prity fre witth thair commnts, by all acounts, and frum thees it apeerd that Numbr 20 wos in verry bad oadr in Paul Street. The detectivs tryd tu traiss doun thees ruomrs tu sum solid foundaision uv fact, but cood not get hold uv enytthing. Peepl shook thair heds and raisd thair iebrows and tthaut the Herberts rathr 'queer,' 'wood rathr not be seen going intu thair houss,'and so on, but thair wos nutthing tanjibl. The autthoritees wr morely sertn the man met his detth in sum way or anuthr in the houss and wos throan out by the kichn dor, but thay coodnt pruov it, and the absnss uv eny indicaisions uv vylnss or poizning left them helpless. An od caiss, wosnt it? But cuereusly enuf, thairs sumtthing mor that Ie havnt told yu. Ie hapnd tu no wun uv the doctrs hu wos consultd as tu the caus uv detth, and sum tym aftr the inquest Ie met him, and askd him about it. 'Do yu reely meen tu tel me,' Ie sed, 'that yu wr bafld by the caiss, that yu actualy doant no whot the man dyd uv?' `Pardn me,' he replyd, 'I no perfectly wel whot causd detth. Blank dyd uv fryt, uv sheer, aufl terrer; Ie nevr saw feetuers so hideusly contortd in the entyr corss uv my practiss, and Ie hav seen the faises uv a hol hoast uv ded.' The doctr wos uezually a cool custmr enuf, and a sertn veehemnss in his manr struk me, but Ie coodnt get enytthing mor out uv him. Ie supoas the Trezuery didnt se thair way tu prosecueting the Herberts for frytning a man tu detth; at eny rait, nutthing wos dun, and the caiss dropd out uv mens minds. Du yu hapn tu no enytthing uv Herbert?"

"Wel," replyd Villiers, "he wos an old collaj frend uv myn."

"Yu doant say so? Hav yu evr seen his wyf?"

"No, Ie havnt. Ie hav lost syt uv Herbert for meny yeers."

"Its queer, iznt it, parting witth a man at the collaj orijnl or at Paddington, seing nutthing uv him for yeers, and then fynding him pop up his hed in such an od plaiss. But Ie shood lyk tu hav seen Mrs. Herbert; peepl sed extraudinary tthings about hr."

"Whot sort uv tthings?"

"Wel, Ie hardly no how tu tel yu. Evryone hu saw hr at the poleess cort sed she wos at wunss the moast buetifl wumn and the moast repulsiv thay had evr set ies on. Ie hav spoakn tu a man hu saw hr, and Ie asuer yu he positivly shudrd as he tryd tu descryb the wumn, but he coodnt tel why. She seems tu hav bn a sort uv enigma; and Ie expect if that wun ded man cood hav told tails, he wood hav told sum uncomnly queer wuns. And thair yu ar again in anuthr puzl; whot cood a respectaibl cuntry jentlmn lyk Mr. Blank (weel call him that if yu doant mynd) want in such a verry queer houss as Numbr 20? Its alltogethr a verry od caiss, iznt it?"

"It is indeed, Austin; an extraudinary caiss. Ie didnt tthink, when Ie askd yu about my old frend, Ie shood stryk on such strainj metl. Wel, Ie must be auf; good-day."

Villiers went away, tthinking uv his oan conseet uv the Chinees boxs; heer wos quaint wrkmnship indeed.