Suddenly there came a bang! bang! bang! at
the knocker; and then in an instant another rattling
series of knocks, as if a tethered donkey were trying to
kick in the panel. After all our efforts for silence it
was exasperating. I rushed to the door to find a seedy
looking person just raising his hand to commence a fresh
bombardment. "What on earth's the matter?" I asked,
only I may have been a little more emphatic. "Pain in
the jaw," said he. "You needn't make such a noise," said
I; "other people are ill besides you." "If I pay my
money, young man, I'll make such noise as I like." And
actually in cold blood he commenced a fresh assault
upon the door. He would have gone on with his devil's
tattoo all morning if I had not led him down the path and
seen him off the premises. An hour afterwards Horton
whirled into the surgery, with a trail of banged doors
behind him. "What's this about Mr. Usher, Munro?" he
asked. "He says that you were violent towards him."
"There was a club patient here who kept on banging the
knocker," said I; "I was afraid that he would disturb
Mrs. White, and so I made him stop." Horton's eyes began
to twinkle. "My boy," said he, "that club patient, as
you call him, is the richest man in Merton, and worth a
hundred a year to me." I have no doubt that he appeased
him by some tale of my disgrace and degradation; but I
have not heard anything of the matter since.
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