The horses and carriage were waiting at the door and they
mounted to their seats. David was embarrassed by the novelty of the
situation, and Pepeeta by his presence; but the quack was in his highest
spirits. He saluted the bystanders with easy familiarity, ostentatiously
flung the hostler a coin, flourished his whip and excited universal
admiration for his driving.

During the turn which they took around the city for an advertisement, he
indoctrinated his pupil with the principles of his art.

"People to-day are just what they were centuries ago. G-g-gull 'em just
as easy. Make 'em think the moon is made of g-g-green cheese--way to
catch larks is to p-p-pull the heavens down--extract sunbeams from
c-c-cucumbers and all the rest! There's one master-weakness, Davy. They
all think they are sick, or if they d-d-don't, you can make 'em!"

"What! Make a well man think he is sick?" the Quaker asked in
astonishment.

"Sure! That's the secret of success. I can pick out the strongest man in
the c-c-crowd and in five minutes have pains shooting through him like
g-g-greased lightning. They are all like jumping-jacks to the man that
knows them. You watch me pull the string and you-you'll see them
wig-wig-wiggle."

"It seems a pity to take advantage of such weakness in our fellow men,"
said David, whose heart began to suffer qualms as he contemplated this
rascality and his own connection with it.

"Fellow men! They are no fellows of mine. They are nuts for me to
c-c-crack. They are oysters for me to open!" responded the quack, as he
drove gaily into the public square and checked the horses, who stood
with their proud necks arched, champing their bits and looking around at
the crowd as if they shared their master's contempt.

Pepeeta descended from the carriage and made her way hastily into the
tent which had already been pitched for her. The doctor lighted his
torch and set his stock of goods in order while David, obeying his
directions, began to move among the people to study their habits.
Elbowing his way here and there, he contemplated the crowd in the light
of the quack's philosophy, and as he did so received a series of painful
mental shocks.

"The first principle in the art of painting a picture is to know where
to sit down;" in other words, everything depends upon the point of view.
Now that David began to look for evidences of the weaknesses and
follies of his fellow men, he saw them everywhere. For the first time i