"I WISH the Doctor would stop in," said Caleb, in a manner as casual as
if his first call that morning had not been on Doctor and Mrs. Taggess,
whom he told of the new arrivals, declaring that Philip and Grace were
"about as nice as the best, 'specially her, an' powerful in need of a
cheerin' up," and begging Mrs. Taggess to invite Grace to midday dinner
at once, so that Philip might be free to prepare his surprise for Grace.
"The Doctor?" Grace echoed. "Why, Mr. Wright, which of us looks ill?"
"Neither one nor t'other, at present," Caleb replied; "but this
country's full of malary, an' forewarned is forearmed. Besides, our
doctor's the kind to do your heart good, an' his wife's just like him.
They're good an' clever, an' hearty, an' sociable, an' up to snuff in
gen'ral. Fact is, they're the salt of the earth, or to as much of it
as knows 'em. Sometimes I think that Claybanks an' the round-about
country would kind o' decay an' disappear if it wasn't for Doc Taggess
an' his wife. Doc's had good chances to go to the city, for he's done
some great cures that's got in the medical papers, but here he stays.
He don't charge high, an' a good deal of the time it don't do him no
good to charge, but here he sticks--says he knows all the people an'
their constitutions, an' so on, an' a new doctor might let some folks
die while he was learnin' the ropes, so to speak. How's that for a
genuine man?"
"First-rate," said Philip, and Grace assented. Caleb continued to tell
of the Doctor's good qualities, and suddenly said:--
"Speak of angels, an' you hear their buggy-wheels, an' the driver
hollerin' 'Whoa!' I think I just heard the Doctor say it, out in front."
A middle-aged couple bustled into the store; Grace hastily consulted a
small mirror in the back room, and Caleb whispered to Philip:--
"If they ask you folks to ride or do anythin', let your wife go, an'
you make an excuse to stay. There's a powerful lot of your New York
stuff to be fixed, if you expect to do it to-day. Come along! Doctor
an' Mrs. Taggess, this is my new boss, an' here comes his wife."
"Glad to meet you," said the Doctor, a man of large, rugged, earnest
face, extending a hand to each.