“Nothing to do with me,” said the doctor. “I'll put him on the club for a few days; I expect he will be all right soon. He's got a healthy colour—a very healthy colour.”
Mr. Scutts waited until he had left the house and then made a few remarks on the colour question that for impurity of English and strength of diction have probably never been surpassed.
A second visitor that day came after dinner—a tall man in a frock-coat, bearing in his hand a silk hat, which, after a careful survey of the room, he hung on a knob of the bedpost.
“Mr. Scutts?” he inquired, bowing.
“That's me,” said Mr. Scutts, in a feeble voice.
“I've called from the railway company,” said the stranger. “We have seen now all those who left their names and addresses on Monday afternoon, and I am glad to say that nobody was really hurt. Nobody.”
Mr. Scutts, in a faint voice, said he was glad to hear it.
“Been a wonder if they had,” said the other, cheerfully. “Why, even the paint wasn't knocked off the engine. The most serious damage appears to be two top-hats crushed and an umbrella broken.”
He leaned over the bed-rail and laughed joyously. Mr. Scutts, through half-closed eyes, gazed at him in silent reproach.
“I don't say that one or two people didn't receive a little bit of a shock to their nerves,” said the visitor, thoughtfully. “One lady even stayed in bed next day. However, I made it all right with them. The company is very generous, and although of course there is no legal obligation, they made several of them a present of a few pounds, so that they could go away for a little change, or anything of that sort, to quiet their nerves.”