faced the high road. He pulled up his fifty guinea chestnut mare and
took a good look at it. "Verrinder Smith, M. D.," was printed across
it in very neat, small lettering. The last man had had letters half a
foot long, with a lamp like a fire-station. Dr. James Ripley noted the
difference, and deduced from it that the new-comer might possibly prove
a more formidable opponent. He was convinced of it that evening when
he came to consult the current medical directory. By it he learned
that Dr. Verrinder Smith was the holder of superb degrees, that he had
studied with distinction at Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, and
finally that he had been awarded a gold medal and the Lee Hopkins
scholarship for original research, in recognition of an exhaustive
inquiry into the functions of the anterior spinal nerve roots. Dr.
Ripley passed his fingers through his thin hair in bewilderment as he
read his rival's record. What on earth could so brilliant a man mean
by putting up his plate in a little Hampshire hamlet.

But Dr. Ripley furnished himself with an explanation to the riddle. No
doubt Dr. Verrinder Smith had simply come down there in order to pursue
some scientific research in peace and quiet. The plate was up as an
address rather than as an invitation to patients. Of course, that must
be the true explanation. In that case the presence of this brilliant
neighbour would be a splendid thing for his own studies. He had often
longed for some kindred mind, some steel on which he might strike his
flint. Chance had brought it to him, and he rejoiced exceedingly.

And this joy it was which led him to take a step which was quite at
variance with his usual habits. It is the custom for a new-comer among
medical men to call first upon the older, and the etiquette upon the
subject is strict. Dr. Ripley was pedantically exact on such points,
and yet he deliberately drove over next day and called upon Dr.
Verrinder Smith. Such a waiving of ceremony was, he felt, a gracious
act upon his part, and a fit prelude to the intimate relations which he
hoped to establish with his neighbour.

The house was neat and well appointed, and Dr. Ripley was shown by a
smart maid into a dapper little consulting room. As he passed in he
noticed two or three parasols and a lady's sun bonnet hanging in the
hall. It was a pity that his colleague should be a married man. It
would put them upon a different footing, and interfere with those