"
"Thirty pounds," said the surgeon, "is all I can afford to give;
and that is a great deal for a country surgeon to offer for a
horse." "Thirty pounds!" said I, "why, he cost me nearly double
that sum. To tell you the truth, I am afraid that you want to take
advantage of my situation." "Not in the least, friend," said the
surgeon, "not in the least; I only wished to set your mind at rest
about your horse; but as you think he is worth more than I can
afford to offer, take him to Horncastle by all means; I will do my
best to cure you in time. Good night, I will see you again on the
morrow." Thereupon he once more departed with the master of the
house. "A sharp one," I heard him say, with a laugh, as the door
closed upon him.
Left to myself, I again essayed to compose myself to rest, but for
some time in vain. I had been terribly shaken by my fall, and had
subsequently, owing to the incision of the surgeon's lancet, been
deprived of much of the vital fluid; it is when the body is in such
a state that the merest trifles affect and agitate the mind; no
wonder, then, that the return of the surgeon and the master of the
house for the purpose of inquiring whether I would sell my horse,
struck me as being highly extraordinary, considering the hour of
the night, and the situation in which they knew me to be.
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