_Old gentleman sitting in an arm-chair, a table by his side, on which
medicine bottles and a gruel basin are placed, and his leg, thickly
bandaged, resting on a chair._
_Old Gent._--"Oh, this horrid pain! what shall I do? will no one come
to help me? That stupid doctor has done me no good."
_Enter Maid-servant._--"Please, sir, the doctor has come. Shall I
tell him to come upstairs?"
_Old Gent._--"Of course you must, and unless he is quick I shall die
before he gets here. Oh dear! Oh dear!" (_Exit maid, banging the door
after her._)
_Old Gent (shrieking out with pain)._--"Oh, you cruel creature, how
can you bang the door in that way, when even the slightest footstep
on the floor is enough to make me wild? Quick, doctor, quick!" (_Here
the maid again appears, holding the door open for the doctor._)
_Doctor (with a large case of instruments under his arm)._--"Mr.
Grumbleton, you appear to be very ill; can I do anything to relieve
you? Let me feel your pulse."
_Old Gent._--"Oh, my leg!"
_Doctor._--"Your nerves are in a very excited state; you must have
perfect quiet." (_Here the street door is heard to bang loudly,
making the house shake._)
_Old Gent._--"Keep quiet, do you say! You might as well tell me to
cut my leg off. There is no such thing as quiet in this house. That
little good-for-nothing of a maid never comes into the room without
shutting the door with a bang."
_Doctor._--"Be calm, my dear friend, and I will order you a soothing
mixture, and as I leave the house I will insist upon perfect quiet
being maintained." (_Then rebandaging the gentleman's leg, and
placing him comfortably in the arm-chair, the doctor retires._)