A PERPLEXING CASE The morning after his visit to Lord Caranby, Mallow was unexpectedly called to Devonshire on account of his mother's illness.

Mrs.Mallow was a fretful hypochondriac, who always imagined herself worse than she really was.

Cuthbert had often been summoned to her dying bed, only to find that she was alive and well.

He expected that this summons would be another false alarm, but being a dutiful son, he tore himself away from town and took the mid-day express to Exeter.

As he expected, Mrs.
Mallow was by no means so bad as she hinted in her wire, and Cuthbert was vexed that she should have called him down, but she insisted that he should remain, and, unwilling to cause her pain, he did so.