"Infamous puppy!" Old Master cried, shaking his fist in the doctor's face. "Didn't I tell you that you'd gone far enough in that direction?"
"General," said the doctor, stepping back, "you have insulted me."
Old Master snorted. "Oh, I have insulted you, have I? Then I have done something that I thought must be impossible. Listen to me. You came here a beggar, with a doctor's sheep-skin under your arm; you are of a good family—that I will not deny. But I say you came a beggar, and you won my child—how, God only knows. You told me that you would practice medicine on the plantation after you were married, but did you?"
"Why, yes, sir; I have attended many a case. You know one very well."
"Oh, you have? Did you get out of bed when they sent for you one night to see old Aunt Mag? Didn't you complain that you were too sick to get up? And that very night, sir, didn't you slip away and play poker over the creek?"
"Somebody has lied about me," the doctor declared.
"I admit, sir, that lying has been done, but you did it."
"General, I insist that you must not talk to me this way. I'm no dog."
"If you were, sir, I would be more considerate of you."
"Keep on and you'll say something that you may regret."