When these are settled we have to see again any
very grave cases which may be on the list; and so,
about ten o'clock, we may hope to have another smoke, and
perhaps a game of cards. Then it is a rare thing for a
night to pass without one or other of us having to trudge
off to a case which may take us two hours, or may take us
ten. Hard work, as you see; but Horton is such a good
chap, and works so hard himself, that one does not mind
what one does. And then we are all like brothers in the
house; our talk is just a rattle of chaff, and the
patients are as homely as ourselves, so that the work
becomes quite a pleasure to all of us.
Yes, Horton is a real right-down good fellow. His
heart is broad and kind and generous. There is nothing
petty in the man. He loves to see those around him
happy; and the sight of his sturdy figure and jolly red
face goes far to make them so. Nature meant him to be a
healer; for he brightens up a sick room as he did the
Merton station when first I set eyes upon him. Don't
imagine from my description that he is in any way soft,
however. There is no one on whom one could be less
likely to impose. He has a temper which is easily aflame
and as easily appeased. A mistake in the dispensing
may wake it up and then he bursts into the surgery like
a whiff of cast wind, his checks red, his whiskers
bristling, and his eyes malignant. The daybook is
banged, the bottles rattled, the counter thumped, and
then he is off again with five doors slamming behind him.
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