ave no
time to be ill, I haven't. Damp--Who's that?"

It was a visitor to the surgery--a patient of Dr. West's--and, for the
time, the conference was broken up, not to be renewed until evening.

Dr. West and Jan were both fully occupied all the afternoon. When
business was over--as much so as a doctor's business ever can be
over--Jan knocked at the door of this room, where Dr. West again was.

It was opened about an inch, and the face of the doctor appeared in the
aperture, peering out to ascertain who might be disturbing him. The same
aperture which enabled him to see out, enabled Jan to see in.

"Why! what's up?" cried unceremonious Jan.

Jan might well ask it. The room contained a table, a desk or two, some
sets of drawers, and other receptacles for the custody of papers. All
these were turned out, desks and drawers alike stood open, and their
contents, a mass of papers, were scattered everywhere.

The doctor could not, in good manners, shut the door right in his
proposed new partner's face. He opened it an inch or two more. His own
face was purple: it wore a startled, perplexed look, and the drops of
moisture had gathered on his forehead. That he was not in the most easy
frame of mind was evident. Jan put one foot into the room: he could not
put two, unless he had stepped upon the papers.

"What's the matter?" asked Jan, perceiving the signs of perturbation on
the doctor's countenance.

"I have had a loss," said the doctor. "It's the most extraordinary
thing, but a--a paper, which was here this morning, I cannot find
anywhere. I _must_ find it!" he added, in ill-suppressed agitation. "I'd
rather lose everything I possess, than lose that."

"Where did you put it? When did you have it?" cried Jan, casting his
eyes around.

"I kept it in a certain drawer," replied Dr. West, too much disturbed to
be anything but straightforward. "I have not had it in my hand for--oh,
I cannot tell how long--months and months, until this morning. I wanted
to refer to it then, and got it out. I was looking it over when a rough,
ill-bred fellow burst the door open----"

"I heard of that," interrupted Jan. "Cheese told me."

"He burst the door open, and I put the paper back in its place before I
spoke to him," continued Dr. West. "Half an hour ago I went to take it
out again, and I found it had disappeared."

"The fellow must have walked it off," cried Jan, a conclusion not
unnatural.

"He could not," said Dr. West; "it is