“Yes, sir, I had to. I have to help mother.”
“Your bill is eighteen dollars.”
He heard a little gasp, then a delighted voice said: “I was afraid it would be a good deal more. And now Dr. Blank, I want to ask a favor of you.”
“Ask away.”
“I brought four dollars to town with me today to pay on my bill, but I want a rocking chair so bad—I'm over here at the furniture store now—and there's such a nice one here that just costs four dollars and I thought maybe you'd wait a——”
“Certainly I will. Get the rocking chair by all means,” and he laughed heartily as he went out to the buggy. He climbed in and drove away, the smile still lingering on his face. At the outskirts of the town a tall girl hailed him from the sidewalk. He stopped.
“I was just going to your office to get my medicine,” she said.
“I left it with the man there. He'll give it to you.”
“Must I take it just like the other?”
“Yes. Laugh some, though, just before you take it.”