et possession of it.
She was eminently sulky, and had been so ever since the signing of the
deed. Now that Foster was very near convalescence, they might be trying
some stratagem to recover it. But our servants were trustworthy, and the
deed lay safe in the drawer of my desk.

At last Dr. Senior agreed with me that Foster was sufficiently advanced
on the road to recovery to be removed from Fulham to the better air of
the south coast. The month of May had been hotter than usual, and June
was sultry. It was evidently to our patient's advantage to exchange the
atmosphere of London for that of the sea-shore, even though he had to
dispense with our watchful attendance. In fact he could not very well
fall back now, with common prudence and self-denial. We impressed upon
him the urgent necessity of these virtues, and required Mrs. Foster to
write us fully, three times a week, every variation she might observe in
his health. After that we started them off to a quiet village in Sussex.
I breathed more freely when they were out of my daily sphere of duty.

But before they went a hint of treachery reached me, which put me doubly
on my guard. One morning, when Jack and I were at breakfast, each deep
in our papers, with an occasional comment to one another on their
contents, Simmons, the cabby, was announced, as asking to speak to one
or both of us immediately. He was a favorite with Jack, who bade the
servant show him in; and Simmons appeared, stroking his hat round and
round with his hand, as if hardly knowing what to do with his limbs off
the box.

"Nothing amiss with your wife, or the brats. I hope?" said Jack.

"No, Dr. John, no," he answered, "there ain't any thing amiss with them,
except being too many of 'em p'raps, and my old woman won't own to that.
But there's some thing in the wind as concerns Dr. Dobry, so I thought
I'd better come and give you a hint of it."

"Very good, Simmons," said Jack.

"You recollect taking my cab to Gray's-Inn Road about this time last
year, when I showed up so green, don't you?" he asked.

"To be sure," I said, throwing down my paper, and listening eagerly.

"Well, doctors," he continued, addressing us both, "the very last Monday
as ever was, a lady walks slowly along the stand, eying us all very
hard, but taking no heed to any of 'em, till she catches sight of _me_.
That's not a uncommon event, doctors. My wife says there's something
about me as gives confidence to her sex. Anyhow, so