"Is there any discoloration?"
"No."
"Any soreness or tenderness to the touch?"
"No; but Mrs. Carlton is beginning to feel a sense of tightness and oppression, as though the lump, whatever it may be, were beginning to press upon some of the blood-vessels."
"Nothing serious, I imagine," replied Dr. Hillhouse, speaking with a lightness of manner he did not feel. "I will call about twelve o'clock. Tell Mrs. Carlton to expect me at that time."
Mr. Carlton made a movement to go, but came back from the door, and betraying more anxiety of manner than at first, said:
"This may seem a light thing in your eyes, doctor, but I cannot help feeling troubled. I am afraid of a tumor."
"What is the exact location?" asked Dr. Hillhouse.
"On the side of the neck, a little back from the lower edge of the right ear."
The doctor did not reply. After a brief silence Mr. Carlton said: