“Do you sleep well?”
“No.”
“Your sight troubles you?”
“Yes.”
“Have you a good appetite?”
“Yes, I eat heartily; and the more I eat the thinner I become. I am turning into a skeleton.”
“I see that you have scars from boils on the back of your neck.”
“They made me suffer enough, the rascals; but they are gone as they came. Hang it, one is no longer young at seventy-two years; one has small vexations. They are small vexations, are they not?”
“Certainly. With some precautions and a diet that I shall prescribe, if you wish, you will soon be better. I will give you a prescription that will relieve your toothache.”
“We will talk of this again, because we shall have occasion to meet if, as I presume, you appreciate the advantages of the proposition that I have made you.”