76
           An ugly Story about Billington.
excitement by the utterance of this extraordi-
nary extemporized line; �
  �Hell-fire and Cats!  Brimstone and Bitches!�
and then returned to his drawing.      Phillips
retreated, utterly suppressed.  Alf told this
with immense exultation.    I don�t know whether
Sol�s line isn�t as good as that of Fielding
  �Confusion! horror! murder! guts and
 	death!�
Alf complained that he had no tidings of his
mother and family, for I think a year.  Will
hasn�t written to them for four.      Hayes,
the engraver, came in for ten minutes or so.
Up town latish.         Shepherd, Cahill and
Billington in my room, after supper.    About
the latter, by the by, Abrahams told Cahill a story
that he got turned out of the pleasant house
near St. John�s square in consequence of an
attempt to seduce his pupils.       Abrahams lived
close by.   I heard something of the story be-
fore, from Shepherd.                Went off to 16th
street, Cahill going with me to the door.      I
sent him back to my room, preferring to
let him sleep there, to paying for his bed.
None of the Bohemians have helped
him; have sought him out to say a civil