"'You certainly have the luck, doctor!' he said.
"I remember I leaned out of my buggy and lectured him.
"'Luck!' says I. 'Nonsense, man! I get good tenants because I keep good repairs in good houses. You put down two and two and you get back four. Mathematics is under this world!'
"Pompous, wasn't I? But I was only forty. Only forty..."
His eyes gleamed at them from under his shaggy, grey brows; he seemed saturated with life, full of experiences.
"Well, I got my rent every month, and I gave 'em permission to put an evergreen hedge around the place, and I paid half the costs of piping water into the stable; the jeweller kept a horse and runabout for his wife. Then, just before the year was up, the agent called.
"'I'm afraid we won't get any renewal on this, doctor,' he said.
"'Why not? Not good enough for him any longer?' said I.
"'I'm afraid it's too good,' says he. 'You'll see it in the papers to-morrow, but I had it straight from him. His wife has skipped with his head clerk and they've taken most of the stock and all the money. He's nearly crazy.'
"'For heaven's sake!' said I. 'I thought they were a decent lot enough.'