I will give you a letter to him, and he will see after the
accommodation of your horse. To-morrow I will pay you a farewell
visit, and bring you the letter." "Thank you," said I; "and do not
forget to bring your bill." The surgeon looked at the old man, who
gave him a peculiar nod. "Oh!" said he, in reply to me, "for the
little service I have rendered you, I require no remuneration. You
are in my friend's house, and he and I understand each other." "I
never receive such favours," said I, "as you have rendered me,
without remunerating them; therefore I shall expect your bill."
"Oh! just as you please," said the surgeon; and shaking me by the
hand more warmly than he had hitherto done, he took his leave.
On the evening of the next day, the last which I spent with my kind
entertainer, I sat at tea with him in a little summer-house in his
garden, partially shaded by the boughs of a large fig-tree. The
surgeon had shortly before paid me his farewell visit, and had
brought me the letter of introduction to his friend at Horncastle,
and also his bill, which I found anything but extravagant. After
we had each respectively drank the contents of two cups--and it may
not be amiss here to inform the reader that though I took cream
with my tea, as I always do when I can procure that addition, the
old man, like most people bred up in the country, drank his without
it--he thus addressed me:- "I am, as I told you on the night of
your accident, the son of a breeder of horses, a respectable and
honest man.
Pages:
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316