The surgeon concluded that he had had enough exercise and laid himself
down on the wide sofa at the end of the room, from whence he could
watch his companion's face. He clasped his hands under his head and
looked eager and interested. He had grown to have something of the
appearance of a foreigner, as people often do who have spent much time
in eastern countries. The two friends were silent for some minutes,
until an impatient voice roused Dr. Leslie from his reflections.
"It always makes me covet my neighbor's wits when I see you!"
announced the wanderer. "If I settled myself into a respectable
practice I should be obliged to march with the army of doctors who
carry a great array of small weapons, and who find out what is the
matter with their patients after all sorts of experiment and
painstaking analysis, and comparing the results of their thermometers
and microscopes with scientific books of reference. After I have done
all that, you know, if I have had good luck I shall come to exactly
what you can say before you have been with a sick man five minutes.
You have the true gift for doctoring, you need no medical dictator,
and whatever you study and whatever comes to you in the way of
instruction simply ministers to your intuition. It grows to be a
wonderful second-sight in such a man as you. I don't believe you
investigate a case and treat it as a botanist does a strange flower,
once a month. You know without telling yourself what the matter is,
and what the special difference is, and the relative dangers of this
case and one apparently just like it across the street, and you could
do this before you were out of the hospitals.
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