"Don't be a d----d fool. Come back and take your degree."

This letter Dick had light-heartedly ignored, and he received his
next cheque from his uncle's solicitors, together with a polite
request that he would keep them informed as to his wanderings, and
an intimation that his uncle found it more convenient to make them
the channel of correspondence for the future.

At Paris it was generally conceded that, for an Englishman, the
delicacy of Lightmark's touch, and the daring of his conception and
execution, were really marvellous; and if only he could draw! But he
was too impatient for the end to spend the necessary time in
perfecting the means.

At Rome he tried his hand at sculpture, and made a few sketches
which his attractive personality rather than their intrinsic merit
enabled him to sell. The _camaraderie_ of the Café Grecco welcomed him
with open arms; and he was to be encountered, in the season, at the
most fashionable studio tea-parties and diplomatic dances. Before
long his talent in the direction of seizing likenesses secured him a
well-paid post as caricaturist-in-chief on the staff of a Republican
journal of more wit than discretion; and it was in this capacity
that he gained his literary experience. On the eve of the
suppression of this enterprising organ the Minister of Police
thought it a favourable opportunity to express to Lightmark
privately his opinion that he was not likely to find the atmosphere
of Rome particularly salubrious during the next few months.
Whereupon our friend had shrugged his shoulders, and after
ironically thanking the official for his disinterested advice, he