Volume I Part 38 (2/2)
”'This is the master's room; you don't need me to talk to him.'
”And she vanished. I glanced at my clothes to see if I was presentable, and was brus.h.i.+ng a speck of dust off my trousers, when I heard a dull but prolonged groan.
”'The devil!' thought I; 'can it be my patient groaning like that? The man is sicker than he thinks.'
”But the groaning seemed to come nearer; suddenly it changed into a loud barking, and an enormous dog rushed from the room I was about to enter, planted his front paws on my chest, and glared at me with eyes that were far from gentle! I confess, mesdames, that at the first shock I could not control my alarm! As he stood, the dog was taller than I!”
Honorine and Agathe could not restrain a smile at this portion of the doctor's narrative.
”Almost immediately,” he continued, ”a voice called: 'who is there?
there's someone there; who is it, Ami?'
”'Yes, monsieur,' said I in a trembling voice, 'it is a friend--_ami_--who has come to see you.'--I unconsciously made a pun, for I soon discovered that the Newfoundland's name was Ami, and that it was he to whom the gentleman was speaking. I must say, for the dog's justification, that he did not keep his paws on me long, and that, after contemplating me for a few moments, he walked away from me as from a person who was not at all dangerous.
”As there was no further obstacle to my pa.s.sage, I entered the sick man's room at last. I saw a man, still young, lying in bed; he was very pale, with a very forbidding expression; and as he wore a full beard and enormous moustaches, together with a great quant.i.ty of brown hair which lay in disorder about his forehead, he really was not unlike a man of the woods or an orang-outang of the larger species.”
”So this man is very ugly, very repulsive to look at?” inquired Honorine.
”It is not so much that he is positively ugly, madame, but that savage look--you know. However, he did not give me much time to examine him, for I had hardly reached the middle of the room when he cried:
”'Who are you, monsieur, and what do you want?'
”'Monsieur,' said I, bowing politely, 'I am Doctor Antoine Beaub.i.+.c.hon, long a resident of Ch.e.l.les, and favorably known hereabout, I venture to say. I attend the whole neighborhood, even a long way beyond the Marne.'
”'Well, what difference does it make to me whether you attend the whole neighborhood?' retorted the sick man in an impatient tone. 'Why have you come to my house? I didn't send for you, I don't need a doctor.'
”'Monsieur,' I said, 'I took the liberty of coming here only because I was requested to do so, requested most urgently.'
”'By whom?'
”'Mere Lucas, your servant, who is much concerned about your health, and who realizes that you are sicker than you think.'
”'Mere Lucas is meddling in something that doesn't concern her. I know my own business best. I tell you again, monsieur, that I do not need a doctor, and that you may go.'
”As you can imagine, mesdames, not being accustomed to that sort of reception, I was already near the door, ready to take my leave and sorely vexed that I had put myself out for such a boor, when I heard him calling to me:
”'Monsieur! monsieur! one moment!'
”'Aha!' thought I, 'he thinks better of it; he is in pain, no doubt, and realizes that there is n.o.body but myself who can relieve him. I will go back, for we must be indulgent to invalids.'
”I turned back toward the bed; the bearded man was sitting up, and his great dog was beside him, also sitting on his haunches. I was preparing to feel the invalid's pulse, when he abruptly drew his arm away, and said:
”'It isn't for myself, monsieur. My dog here hurt his shoulder some time ago pa.s.sing through a holly bush, and he still suffers from it. What ought we to put on the wound?'
”When I found that it was for his Newfoundland that he had called me back, I drew myself up to my full height and said to the unmannerly fellow:
”'Let me tell you, monsieur, that I am no dog doctor! If you called me back on this animal's account, you might have saved yourself the trouble.'
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