June 21st.—­A short entry must suffice in my journal to-day.

Mr. Blake has had the worst night that he has passed yet.  I have been obliged, greatly against my will, to prescribe for him.  Men of his sensitive organisation are fortunately quick in feeling the effect of remedial measures.  Otherwise, I should be inclined to fear that he will be totally unfit for the experiment when the time comes to try it.

As for myself, after some little remission of my pains for the last two days I had an attack this morning, of which I shall say nothing but that it has decided me to return to the opium.  I shall close this book, and take my full dose—­five hundred drops.

June 22nd.—­Our prospects look better to-day.  Mr. Blake’s nervous suffering is greatly allayed.  He slept a little last night.  My night, thanks to the opium, was the night of a man who is stunned.  I can’t say that I woke this morning; the fitter expression would be, that I recovered my senses.

We drove to the house to see if the refurnishing was done.  It will be completed to-morrow—­Saturday.  As Mr. Blake foretold, Betteredge raised no further obstacles.  From first to last, he was ominously polite, and ominously silent.

My medical enterprise (as Betteredge calls it) must now, inevitably, be delayed until Monday next.  Tomorrow evening the workmen will be late in the house.  On the next day, the established Sunday tyranny which is one of the institutions of this free country, so times the trains as to make it impossible to ask anybody to travel to us from London.  Until Monday comes, there is nothing to be done but to watch Mr. Blake carefully, and to keep him, if possible, in the same state in which I find him to-day.

In the meanwhile, I have prevailed on him to write to Mr. Bruff, making a point of it that he shall be present as one of the witnesses.  I especially choose the lawyer, because he is strongly prejudiced against us.  If we convince him, we place our victory beyond the possibility of dispute.

Mr. Blake has also written to Sergeant Cuff; and I have sent a line to Miss Verinder.  With these, and with old Betteredge (who is really a person of importance in the family) we shall have witnesses enough for the purpose—­without including Mrs. Merridew, if Mrs. Merridew persists in sacrificing herself to the opinion of the world.

June 23rd.—­The vengeance of the opium overtook me again last night.  No matter; I must go on with it now till Monday is past and gone.

Mr. Blake is not so well again to-day.  At two this morning, he confesses that he opened the drawer in which his cigars are put away.  He only succeeded in locking it up again by a violent effort.  His next proceeding, in case of temptation, was to throw the key out of window.  The waiter brought it in this morning, discovered at the bottom of an empty cistern—­such is Fate!  I have taken possession of the key until Tuesday next.