"I think," said Dr. Lavendar, as he and Goliath came plodding into
Old Chester in the May dusk, "I think I'll go and see Willy. He'll
tell me how much Sam's love-making amounts to."
His mind was on the matter to such an extent that he hardly heard
Mary's anxious scolding because he looked tired, but his preoccupation
lifted at supper, in the consciousness of how lonely he was without
David. He really wanted to get out of the house and leave the
loneliness behind him. So after tea he put on his broad-brimmed felt
hat and tied a blue muffler around his throat--Dr. Lavendar felt the
cold a good deal; he said it was because the seasons were changing--
and walked wearily over to Dr. King's house. That talk with Benjamin
Wright had told on him.
"Well," he said, as the doctor's wife opened the door, "how are you,
Martha?"
"Very tired," said Mrs. King. "And dear me, Dr. Lavendar, you look
tired yourself. You're too old to do so much, sir. Come in and sit
down."
"I'll sit down," said Dr. Lavendar, dropping into a chair in the
parlor; "but don't flatter yourself, Martha, that you'll ever be as
young as I am!" ("He is failing," Mrs. King told her husband
afterwards. "He gets his words all mixed up. He says 'young' when he
means 'old.' Isn't that a sign of something, William?" "It's a sign of
grace," said the doctor shortly.) "I want Willy to come over and give my Mary a pill," Dr. Lavendar
explained. "She is as cross as a bear, and cross people are generally
sick people--although I suppose that's Mary's temperament," he added
sighing.
Martha shook her head. "In my judgment temperament is just another
word for temper: I don't believe in making excuses for it. That's a
great trick of William's, I'm sorry to say."
"I should have thought you'd have cured him of it by this time?" Dr.
Lavendar murmured; and then he asked if the doctor was out.
"Oh, yes," said Mrs. King, dryly; "Willy always manages to get out in
the evening on one excuse or another. You'd think he'd be glad of a
restful evening at home with me, sometimes. But no. William's patients
need a surprising amount of attention, though his bills don't show it
When Mrs. Richie's cook was sick--just as an instance--he went six
times to see her. I counted."