sohepatteredon,standingonthehilltopwithhiscrutc混derhiselbowandonehanduponthesideofthelog-house—quitetheoldjohninvoice,manner,andexpression。
"wevequiteasurpriseforyoutoo,sir,"hecontinued。"wevealittlestrangerhere—he!he!anooboarderandlodger,sir,andlookingfitandtautasafiddle;sleplikeasupercargo,hedid,rightalongsideofjohn—stemtostemwewas,allnight。"
dr。liveseywasbythistimeacrossthestockadeandprettynearthecook,andicouldhearthealterationinhisvoiceashesaid,"not激m?"
"theverysame激maseverwas,"sayssilver。
thedoctorstoppedoutright,althoughhedidnotspeak,anditwassomesecondsbeforeheseemedabletoveon。
"well,well,"hesaidatlast,"dutyfirstandpleasureafterwards,asyoumighthavesaidyourself,silver。letusoverhaulthesepatientsofyours。"
amentafterwardshehadenteredtheblockhouseandwithonegrimnodtomeproceededwithhisworkangthesick。heseemedundernoapprehension,thoughhemusthaveknownthathislife,angthesetreacherousdens,dependedonahair;andherattledontohispatientsasifhewerepayinganordinaryprofessionalvisitinaquietenglishfamily。hismanner,isuppose,reactedonthemen,urred,asifhewerestillshipsdoctorandtheystillfaithfulhandsbeforethemast。
"youredoingwell,myfriend,"hesaidtothefellowwiththebandagedhead,"andifeveranypersonhadacloseshave,itwasyou;yourheadmustbeashardasiron。well,george,howgoesit?youreaprettycolour,certainly;why,yourliver,man,isupsidedown。didyoutakethatmedicine?didhetakethatmedicine,men?"
"aye,aye,sir,hetookit,sureenough,"returnedrgan。
"because,yousee,sinceiammutineersdoctor,orprisondoctorasiprefertocallit,"saysdoctorliveseyinhispleasantestway,"eorge(godblesshim!)andthegallows。"
therogueslookedateachotherbutswallowedthehome-thrustinsilence。
"dickdontfeelwell,sir,"saidone。
"donthe?"repliedthedoctor。"well,stepuphere,dick,andletmeseeyourtongue。no,ishouldbesurprisedifhedid!themanstongueisfittofrightenthefrench。anotherfever。"
"ah,there,"saidrgan,"thatedofspilingbibles。"
"thates—asyoucallit—ofbeingarrantasses,"retortedthedoctor,"andnothavingsenseenoughtoknowhonestairfrompoison,andthedrylandfromavile,pestiferousslough。ithinkitstprobable—thoughofcourseitsonlyanopinion—thatyoullallhavethedeucetopaybeforeyougetthatmalariaoutofyoursystems。campinabog,wouldyou?silver,imsurprisedatyou。yourelessofafoolthanmany,takeyouallround;butyoudontappeartometohavetherudimentsofanotionoftherulesofhealth。
"well,"headdedafterhehaddosedthemroundandtheyhadtakenhisprescriptions,withreallylaughablehumility,relikecharityschoolchildrenthanbloodguiltymutineersandpirates—"well,thatsdonefortoday。andnowishouldwishtohaveatalkwiththatboy,please。"
andhenoddedhisheadinmydirectioncarelessly。
georgemerrywasatthedoor,spitandsp露tteringoversomebad-tastedmedicine;butatthefirstwordofthedoctorsproposalheswungroundwithadeepf露shandcried"no!"andswore。
silverstruckthebarrelwithhisopenhand。
"si-lence!"heroaredandlookedabouthimpositivelylikealion。"doctor,"hewentoninhisusualtones,"iwasa-thinkingofthat,knowingashowyouhadafancyfortheboy。wereallhumblygratefulforyourkindness,andasyousee,putsfaithinyouandtakesthedrugsdownlikethatmuchgrog。anditakeitivefoundawayasllsuitall。hawkins,entleman—entlemanyouare,althoughpoorborn—yourwordofhonournottoslipyourcable?"
ireadilygavethepledgerequired。
"then,doctor,"saidsilver,"youjuststepoutsideothatstockade,andonceyourethereillbringtheboydownontheinside,andireckonyoucanyarnthroughthespars。gooddaytoyou,sir,andallourdootiestothesquireandcapnsllett。"
theexplosionofdisapproval,whichnothingbutsilversblacklookshadrestrained,brokeoutimmediatelythedoctorhadleftthehouse。usedofplayingdouble—oftryingtomakeaseparatepeaceforhimself,omplicesandvictims,and,inoneword,oftheidentical,exactthingthathewasdoing。itseemedtomesoobvious,inthiscase,thaticouldnotimaginehowhewastoturntheiranger。buthewastwicethemantherestwere,andhislastnightsvictoryhadgivenhimahugepreponderanceontheirminds。hecalledthemallthefoolsanddoltsyoucanimagine,saiditwasnecessaryishouldtalktothedoctor,f露tteredthechartintheirfaces,askedthemiftheycouldaffordtobreakthetreatytheverydaytheywerebounda-treasure-混。
"no,byt混der!"hecried。"itsusmustbreakthetreatywhenthetimees;andtillthenillgamnthatdoctor,ifihavetoilehisbootswithbrandy。"
andthenhebadethemgetthefirelit,andstalkedoutuponhiscrutch,withhishandonmyshoulder,leavingtheminadisarray,andsilencedbyhisvo露bilityratherthanconvinced。
"slow,lad,slow,"hesaid。"theymightrounduponusinatwinkleofaneyeifwewasseentohurry。"