DOCTOR HILLHOUSE was in his office one morning when a gentleman named Carlton, in whose family he had practiced for two or three years, came in.

This was a few weeks before the party at Mr.Birtwell's.
"Doctor"-- there was a troubled look on his visitor's face--"I wish you would call in to-day and examine a lump on Mrs.Carlton's neck.

It's been coming for two or three months.

We thought it only the swelling of a gland at first, and expected it to go away in a little while.

But in the last few weeks it has grown perceptibly." "How large is it ?" inquired the doctor.
"About the size of a pigeon's egg." "Indeed! So large ?" "Yes; and I am beginning to feel very much concerned about it." "Is there any discoloration ?" "No." "Any soreness or tenderness to the touch ?" "No; but Mrs.Carlton is beginning to feel a sense of tightness and oppression, as though the lump, whatever it may be, were beginning to press upon some of the blood-vessels." "Nothing serious, I imagine," replied Dr.Hillhouse, speaking with a lightness of manner he did not feel.