"You and I have been chums for twenty years, more or less, Jack," he said irrelevantly.
"True, O king! Well?"
"I want to ask your advice on an abstract case."
"Do you? Fire away! I am a dab at medical etiquette." Dudley had been paying a few professional visits for a friend.
"It is not a question of medical etiquette," he said testily. "Suppose," he drew a long breath—"suppose you knew a young girl——"
"Ah! My dear fellow, I never do know a young girl! It is the greatest mistake in the world."
"Suppose," went on Dudley, unheeding, "that physically, mentally, and morally, she was about as near perfection as a human being can be."
"Oh, of course!"
"I don't ask your opinion as to the probability of it. I don't say I know such a person. Man alive! can't you suppose an abstract case?"
"It is a large order, but I am doing my level best."