The two parted, almost quarreling. Perhaps they would have quite quarreled had not the Squire thought of Mrs. Roberts and the baby. He wondered that the Doctor did not think of them, too, but he seemed to Mr. Delane to be under such a spell that he thought of nothing but Dale Bannister. It was not as if Roberts were the only medical man in the place. There was young Doctor Spink—and he was a real M. D.—up the street, ready and eager to snap up stray patients. And Doctor Spink was a churchwarden. The Squire did not like him overmuch, but he found himself thinking whether it would not be well to send for him next time there was a case of illness at the Grange.
The Squire meditated, while others acted. On her walk the same afternoon, Ethel Roberts heard news which perturbed her. The Vicar's wife was ill and Dr. Spink had been sent for. The Vicar was a well-to-do man. He had a large family, which yet grew. He had been a constant and a valuable client of her husband's. And now Dr. Spink was sent for.
"Jim," she said, "did you know that Mrs. Gilkison was ill?"
"Ill?" said the Doctor, looking up from "Sluggards." "No, I've heard nothing of it."
She came and leaned over his chair.
"They've sent for Dr. Spink," she said.
"What?" he exclaimed, dropping his beloved volume.
"Mrs. Hedger told me."
"Well, they can do as they like. I suppose his 'Doctor' is the attraction."