bow.
"Not found any lodgings yet, I presume?" asked the doctor, mending a pen
very deliberately.
"N--not yet, sir."
"I concluded so The English do not seek apartments on Sunday. You
observe the day very strictly, no doubt?"
Blushing and confused, I stammered some incoherent words and sat
twirling my hat, the very picture of remorse.
"At what hotel have you put up?" he next inquired, without appearing to
observe my agitation.
"The--the Hotel des Messageries."
"Good, but expensive. You must find a lodging to-day."
I bowed again.
"And, as your father's representative, I must take care that you procure
something suitable, and are not imposed upon. My valet shall go
with you."
He rang the bell, and the sad-colored footman appeared on the threshold.
"Desire Brunet to be in readiness to walk out with this gentleman," he
said, briefly, and the servant retired.
"Brunet," he continued, addressing me again, "is faithful and sagacious.
He will instruct you on certain points indispensable to a resident in
Paris, and will see that you are not ill-accommodated or overcharged. A
young man has few wants, and I should infer that a couple of rooms in
some quiet street will be all that you require?"
"I--I am very grateful."
He waved down my thanks with an air of cold but polite authority; took
out his note-book and pencil; (I could have sworn to that massive gold
pencil!) and proceeded to question me.
"Your age, I think," said he, "is twenty-one?"
"Twenty, sir."
"Ah--twenty. You desire to be entered upon the list of visiting students
at the Hotel Dieu, to be free of the library and lecture-rooms, and to
be admitted into my public classes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Also, to attend here in my house for private instruction."
"Yes, sir."
He filled in a few words upon a printed form, and handed it to me with
his visiting card.
"You will present these, and your passport, to the secretary at the
hospital," said he, "and will receive in return the requisite tickets of
admission. Your fees have already been paid in, and your name has been
entered. You must see to this matter at once, for the _bureau_ closes
at two o'clock. You will then require the rest of the day for
lodging-seeking, moving, and so forth. To-morrow morning, at nine
o'clock, I shall expect you here."
"Indeed, sir," I murmured, "I am more obliged than...."
"Not in the least," he interrupted, decisively; "your father's son has
every claim
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