did meet her. Wasn't she turning in at the gate at the same time that
I was myself? 'There's a letter here, ma'am,' says I, 'that the doctor
told me I was to give to you,' 'I suppose it was half an hour ago,'
said she, 'that he told you that,' Well, I pulled the letter out of my
pocket, and I gave it a rub along the side of my pants the same as you
told me. 'I suppose you're doing that,' said she, 'to put some dirt
on it, to make it look,' said she, 'as if it had been in your pocket a
week.'"

"You wouldn't think to look at her that she was so cute," said Dr.
O'Grady. "What did you say?"

"I said nothing either good or bad," said Doyle, "only that it was to
get the dirt off the letter, and not to be putting it on that I was
giving it a bit of a rub. Well, she took the letter and she opened it.
Then she looked me straight in the face. 'When did you get this letter
from the doctor?' says she. So I told her it was last Friday you give it
to me, and that I hadn't seen you since, and didn't care a great deal
if I never seen you again. 'You impudent blackguard,' says she, 'the
letter's not an hour written. The ink's not more than just dry on
it yet,' 'I'm surprised,' said I, 'that it's that much itself. It's
dripping wet I'd expect it to be with the sweat I'm in this minute on
account of the way I've run to give it to you.'"

"Good," said Dr. O'Grady. "If there was a drop of whisky in the house
I'd give it to you. I'll look in a minute. There might be some left in
the bottom of the bottle. A man who can tell a lie like that on the spur
of the moment----"

"It was true enough about the sweat," said Doyle. "You could have wrung
my shirt into a bucket, though it wasn't running did it, for I didn't
run. It was the way she was looking at me. I'm not overly fond of Mr.
Ford, and never was; but I don't know did ever I feel as sorry for any
man as I did for him when she was looking at me."

The doctor rose and took a bottle of whisky from the cupboard in the
corner of the room. There was enough in it to give Doyle a satisfactory
drink and still to leave some for the doctor himself. He got another
tumbler and two bottles of soda water.

"You needn't be opening one of them for me," said Doyle, "I have as
much water drunk already as would drown all the whisky you have in the
bottle. What I take now I'll take plain."

"She may be a bit sceptical about the letter," said Dr. O'Grady, "but
I expect when she's talked it over with For