elf-satisfied persons sometimes are, even after sixty, which was the
age Sir Timothy had attained.

Dr. Blundell, who sat opposite his patient, was neither prosperous nor
self-satisfied.

His dark clean-shaven face was deeply lined; care or over-work had
furrowed his brow; and the rather unkempt locks of black hair which
fell over it were streaked with white. From the deep-set brown eyes
looked sadness and fatigue, as well as a great kindness for his
fellow-men.

"I came the moment I received your letter," he said. "I had no idea
you were back from London already."

"Dr. Blundell," said Sir Timothy, pompously, "when I took the very
unusual step of leaving home the day before yesterday, I had resolved
to follow the advice you gave me. I went to fulfil an appointment I
had made with a specialist."

"With Sir James Power?"

"No, with a man named Herslett. You may have heard of him."

"Heard of him!" ejaculated Blundell. "Why, he's world-famous! A new
man. Very clever, of course. If anything, a greater authority. Only I
fancied you would perhaps prefer an older, graver man."

"No doubt I committed a breach of medical etiquette," said Sir
Timothy, in self-satisfied tones. "But I fancied you might have
written _your_ version of the case to Power. Ah, you did? Exactly. But
I was determined to have an absolutely unbiassed opinion."

"Well," said Blundell, gently.

"Well--I got it, that's all," said Sir Timothy. The triumph seemed to
die out of his voice.

"Was it--unsatisfactory?"

"Not from your point of view," said the squire, with a heavy
jocularity which did not move the doctor to mirth. "I'm bound to say
he confirmed your opinion exactly. But he took a far more serious view
of my case than you do."

"Did he?" said Blundell, turning away his head.

"The operation you suggested as a possible necessity must be
immediate. He spoke of it quite frankly as the only possible chance of
saving my life, which is further endangered by every hour of delay."

"Fortunately," said Blundell, cheerfully, "you have a fine
constitution, and you have lived a healthy abstemious life. That is
all in your favour."

"I am over sixty years of age," said Sir Timothy, coldly, "and the
ordeal before me is a very severe one, as you must be well aware. I
must take the risk of course, but the less said about the matter the
better."

Dr. Blundell had always regarded Sir Timothy Crewys as a commonplace
contradictory gentleman, beset