accompanied by a low cry of delight on hers, and behold us in the very thick of love's glorious struggle!
The ecstatic joy with which the fair Emma received the prolonged and systematic futtering I was privileged to administer tended to the impression that with all his skill in the art of boot-clicking-whatever that mysterious branch of the shoe trade may be-the lawful owner of the pretty, naked girl who lay beneath me could hardly expect to be 'classed' at a stallion show! Indeed, as she afterwards confessed to me, though the high wages paid to the respected clicker enabled him to provide his (vastly) better half with a sufficiency of the staff of life, the supply of the staff of love- in her eyes an equally important commodity — was ridiculously inadequate to meet the strain put upon it by the lascivious requirements of his lustful little wife.
In the matter of love, therefore, she was fairly starving, and her gratitude for the ample feast I had been able to afford her was expressed in no measured terms. At last, however, came the inevitable moment when the commissariat began to fail, and the once upright source of her gratification to hang his dejected head. Unsated, and insatiable, she cried to me to know if there was nothing she could do to procure the renewal of her past happiness.
After a moment's hesitation I determine to speak to her of the delicious practice to which I had been introduced by the sixteen-year-old daughter of the fishmonger. She begged for details. I gave them. Her eyes sparkled at the recital, her golden head bent lower and lower, and in an instant the rich red mouth had gathered my weapon into its velvet depths. At its contact with her tongue she became as one possessed, and when at my suggestion she shifted her position so as to enable me to reciprocate her attentions, her erotic fury as my lips touched her furrow became ungovernable, and before either of us could withdraw the sluice-gates of our being were unlocked and a mighty stream of love passed in spasms of delight down each willing throat.
This delightful pastime (to which, be it said, I became from thenceforth an eager and passionate devotee) is known to its French amateurs as 'la belle gamahuche'-a sufficiently expressive term for a most exquisitely lascivious practice. As for Emma, her appreciation of the novelty knew no bounds, and on no single occasion of our meeting did she omit to fill her amorous mouth from throat to lips with the dainty she loved so well.
Now Emma was a veritable epicure in the matter of salacious pleasures; and so, my beloved lady readers, verb, sap.; mark, learn and above all, inwardly digest!
In very truth I pity the man who has never had an opportunity of exploring the magnificent avenues which abound in the vicinity of the ever-blooming gardens of the all-powerful god of love, through the intricacies of which I fondly imagine myself to be now walking with Emma; presently I approach a grove of thickest foliage, surrounding the superb sanctuary sacred to Venus-that multiplying, everlasting shrine, which has existed from the creation of the world and will endure until the end of time; that mysterious edifice which is no sooner perfected and Cupid's altar-piece erected in the centre (at which good men ne'er sacrifice in vain), than in its secret recesses are engendered new temples, new altar-pieces, small and portable, yet miniature models of its faultless self, composed of such flexible and rare materials that in a few years they become so spacious and extensive as to vie with the great original in symmetry and beauty.
The whole of the ensuing day my Bessy kept within her room, and although I would have given one of my hands to see her and implore forgiveness, I still determined to conceal my weakness from her; I consequently assumed an unusual flow of spirits, singing the most sprightly songs and playing only lively and mirth-inspiring tunes, while at intervals my lovely neighbour, delighted with the jocund tales I recounted, made the house re-echo with her laughter.
Early the next morning Emma rapped at my door, to request that I would allow her to speak with me before I went out; I answered, loud enough to be heard below, 'Certainly, and if agreeable, I intend to breakfast with you.
Having answered that she would be most happy to receive me, she sought her own apartment in order to make the necessary preparations.
I arose, and having completed my toilet proceeded to join Emma at the breakfast table when she informed me with a look of peculiar archness that her husband had that morning started for the country, by the order of his employer, to wait upon an extensive customer and the distance he had to travel would preclude the possibility of his returning before the following evening; playfully adding, 'I don't know what will be the consequence, for I am not in the habit of sleeping alone and am dreadfully afraid of solitude.'
I assured her that she need be under no alarm on that account.
'Depend upon it, my girl, it will be your own fault should you take cold for the want of a companion. Only forget to lock your door and leave the rest to me.'
'No,' she replied, 'you must not think of attempting to come here tonight; recollect that my room is exactly over the one occupied by Mr. and Mrs. E.; they would be sure to hear you and what then would be the consequence? E. is such a malicious brute that he would certainly acquaint my husband, in which case I would not give twopence for either of our lives.'
'Well, well, but listen; depend on it I will use every precaution; he must have ears like the very devil should he discover the sound of my footsteps, for 'Light as down, when borne on zephyrs' wings, I'll fly to meet my love!' '
'Softly, my dear, suppose you should elude the ears of Mr. E., the eye of Jealousy is ever watchful, its ear forever open.'
'Jealousy! What mean you?'
'Oh, Mister Innocent, do you believe that I have never noticed your attentions to our modest landlady, that I have never marked her stolen glances?'
'Come, come, give over this idle jesting. I think of Mrs. E.! When you are by, the woman's affable, obliging, and all that; I respect her; certainly, but as for more-pshaw! Besides the little brown jade is a very dragon of virtue and loves her little toad of a husband better than any other man on earth.'
'Except yourself,' interrupted Emma. 'Well, never mind, you shall have it all your own way; but this I will say-and woman's knowledge in such things is generally pretty clear and what I say I know to be the case-that whether you love her or not, she absolutely doats on you, adores the ground you walk on.'
'Nonsense; I begin to think that you are slightly tinted with the yellow monster yourself. Let's change the subject.'
'Well, as you like; but remember, keep it close as you will, in spite of your utmost caution, if she don't soon betray herself, my name is not Emma S.'
Breakfast being over, I took leave of her for the day, having several engagements that could not be postponed, saying as I departed, 'Don't forget, it is all settled; and by this kiss, Emma, here do I lodge tonight!'
'I cannot prevent you from trying the door,' she answered, 'but do not be angry should you find it fast.'
I must here confess that during the day my conscience frequently reproached me for my infidelity to Bessy, but when I reflected upon her obstinate, her continued perseverance in withholding from me the desired favour, then conscience quite as readily acquitted me.
Nor do I think, upon reflection, that the most fastidious of my readers will condemn me, when they consider the state of excitement I was in at the moment of my frailty and the sweetly powerful temptation ready to allure me; for the transient yielding moment of forgetfulness in which my Bessy lay within my arms had increased to an ungovernable height the fury of my passion, and although her subsequent behaviour had for a moment quelled the raging flame, can it be a matter of surprise that the refreshing breath which wafted Emma's kisses to my lips, so shortly after, should fan the expiring embers into a mighty, uncontrollable, and furious blaze which nothing but love's hallowed stream could quench?
Let me be tried by Cupid's potent laws,
I fear not censure-nay, expect applause!
My professional duties kept me from home the whole of that day; in fact midnight had passed ere the concert was concluded and the clock was striking two as, flushed with wine, I applied the key to the door of my lodging. I entered, gained my room, undressed and went to bed, actually forgetting for a time the convenient loneliness of the perhaps anxiously expecting Emma.
Suddenly it flashed across my mind-did she not declare that worlds would not tempt her to run the risk of a discovery? Has she not vowed that her door shall be fast locked? I'll try, at all events-but cautiously! I gently quit my bed, step lightly over the floor of my apartment-shoeless, unslippered, not a creaking board to whisper my
