“Hello, central. Who was calling Dr. Blank a while ago?”
“A good many people call, Dr. Blank. I really cannot say.”
The voice was icily regular, splendidly null. It nettled the doctor.
“Suppose you try to find out.”
“People who need a doctor ought to be as much interested as we are. I don't know who it was.” And the receiver went up.
“Damned impudence!” said the doctor, slamming up his receiver and facing about.
“Wait, John. That girl has had to run down the woman with the sick baby. She didn't give her name either. Central had lots of trouble in finding her. It's small wonder she rebelled when I came at her the second time. So all I could do was to deliver the message just as it came, ‘Tell the doctor to come down to our house and to be here at nine o'clock.’”
“Consultation, I suppose. They'll ring again pretty soon, I dare say, and want to know why I don't hurry up.”
But nothing further was heard from the message or the messenger that night or ever after.