e
sight of single-hearted Jan--Dr. West had probably possessed as great an
eye as ever to his own interest. He had a shrewd suspicion that, the
house divided, his, Dr. West's, would stand but a poor chance against
Jan Verner's. That Jan would be entirely true and honourable in not
soliciting the old patients to come to him, he knew; but he equally knew
that the patients would flock to Jan unsolicited. Dr. West had not lived
in ignorance of what was going on in Deerham; he had one or two private
correspondents there; besides the open ones, his daughters and Jan; and
he had learned how popular Jan had grown with all classes. Yes, it was
decidedly politic on Dr. West's part to offer Jan terms of purchase. And
Jan closed with them.

"I couldn't have done it six months ago, you know, Lionel," he said to
his brother. "But now that you have come in again to Verner's Pride, you
won't care to have my earnings any longer."

"What I shall care for now, Jan, will be to repay you so far as I can.
The money can be repaid: the kindness never."

"Law!" cried Jan, "that's nothing. Wouldn't you have done as much for
me? To go back to old West: I shall be able to complete the purchase in
little more than a year, taking it out of the profits. The expenses will
be something considerable. There'll be the house, and the horses, for I
must have two, and I shall take a qualified assistant as soon as Cheese
leaves, which will be in autumn; but there'll be a margin of six or
seven hundred a year profit left me then. And the business is
increasing. Yes, I shall be able to pay him out in a year, or
thereabouts. In offering me these easy terms, I think he is behaving
liberally. Don't you, Lionel?"

"That may be a matter of opinion, Jan," was Lionel's answer. "He has
stood to me in the relation of father-in-law, and I don't care to
express mine too definitely. He is wise enough to know that when you
leave him, his chance of practice is gone. But I don't advise you to
cavil with the terms. I should say, accept them."

"I have done it," answered Jan. "I wrote this morning. I must get a new
brass plate for the door. 'Jan Verner, Surgeon, etc.,' in place of the
present one, 'West and Verner.'"

"I think I should put Janus Verner, instead of Jan," suggested Lionel,
with a half smile.

"Law!" repeated Jan. "Nobody would know it was meant for me if I put
Janus. Shall I have 'Mr.' tacked on to it, Lionel?--'Mr. Jan Verner.'"

"Of course you will,"