"I did my best, sir."
"Did your worst, you mean. Sit in that chair while I get the leeches."
Tommy sank into the chair, and Dr. Slasher tied a piece of rope round him, which rendered it impossible for him to move.
In a glass vase were kept the leeches, a couple of which the doctor took out, putting one on each of the boy's cheeks.
Their clammy feel caused a thrill of horror to run through his frame, which increased when he felt a puncture of the skin.
The leeches were at their work, and drinking his blood.
"Oh, sir, take them off!" he screamed. "They'll kill me! They'll drain me dry, and I shall go about like a walking skeleton."
"They like boys' blood," the doctor remarked. "It seems to agree with them."
"Oh, sir, please, sir, take the beastly things away," pleaded Tommy.
The doctor was determined, and Tommy's pleadings did not move him in the least, so the leeches continued to suck until they were thoroughly gorged, when they dropped off and were carefully replaced in their vases.