character; he was a non-union man
and expressed himself with indignation at the efforts of the union to
force him to join. The union wasn't no good to him, he never found no
difficulty in getting work, and there was good wages for anyone as 'ad a
head on his shoulders and wasn't above puttin' 'is 'and to anything as
come 'is way. Polly was timorous. If she was 'im she'd join the union, the
last time there was a strike she was expectin' 'im to be brought back in
an ambulance every time he went out. She turned to Philip.

"He's that obstinate, there's no doing anything with 'im."

"Well, what I say is, it's a free country, and I won't be dictated to."

"It's no good saying it's a free country," said Polly, "that won't prevent
'em bashin' your 'ead in if they get the chanst."

When they had finished Philip passed his pouch over to 'Erb and they lit
their pipes; then he got up, for a 'call' might be waiting for him at his
rooms, and shook hands. He saw that it had given them pleasure that he
shared their meal, and they saw that he had thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Well, good-bye, sir," said 'Erb, "and I 'ope we shall 'ave as nice a
doctor next time the missus disgraces 'erself."

"Go on with you, 'Erb," she retorted. "'Ow d'you know there's going to
be a next time?"

CXIV

The three weeks which the appointment lasted drew to an end. Philip had
attended sixty-two cases, and he was tired out. When he came home about
ten o'clock on his last night he hoped with all his heart that he would
not be called out again. He had not had a whole night's rest for ten days.
The case which he had just come from was horrible. He had been fetched by
a huge, burly man, the worse for liquor, and taken to a room in an
evil-smelling court, which was filthier than any he had seen: it was a
tiny attic; most of the space was taken up by a wooden bed, with a canopy
of dirty red hangings, and the ceiling was so low that Philip could touch
it with the tips of his fingers; with the solitary candle that afforded
what light there was he went over it, frizzling up the bugs that crawled
upon it. The woman was a blowsy creature of middle age, who had had a long
succession of still-born children. It was a story that Philip was not
unaccustomed to: the husband had been a soldier in India; the legislation
forced upon that country by the prudery of the English public had given a
free run to the most distressing of all diseases; the innocent suffered.
Ya