"Oh, my poor friend!" groaned the traitor. "Mercy on me! is it so bad as that?" said the Doctor, "I must see him immediately. My dear sir, what _is_ the matter with your friend?" "His head, sir--his head!" said Cutts with a sob--"he is quite mad at the present moment. If you go up-stairs to No. 3, you'll find him biting the bed-posts!" "This must be looked to instantly," said the Doctor. "Gentlemen, if I want assistance I shall call for you; but we must use gentle means if possible. Poor young man! No. 3 did you say, sir?" and the doctor ascended the staircase. "This is an awful thing, Mr Cutts!" said Mrs Hickson, the comely mistress of the house; "is there nothing that would do the poor gentleman any good?" "I think he'd be a great deal the better of a little brandy and water," said Cutts--"the doctor hinted as much just now; and, my dear madam, you had better make two glasses of it, rather stiff, and send them up-stairs by the Boots." I was startled by the entry of a stranger with a light, who approached the bed with all the stealthiness of a cat. "'Zounds, sir, what do you want here?" cried I, springing up. "Hush, my dear sir, hush! we must be calm--really we must. It will never do to allow ourselves to be agitated in this way." "Confound you, sir! what do you mean?" "Oh, my dear sir! merely a friendly visit, that's all. I would like to have a little quiet chat with you. How is our pulse? Do we feel any pain about the temples?" "I'll very soon make you feel pain enough somewhere," cried I, in towering passion. "If you don't quit my room this moment, you old idiot, by the bones of the Bruce I'll toss you over the stairs!" "Oh, if that be the case, the sooner we send for a straight jacket the better!" said the doctor. "But, eh! what! by Jove, it's the young Scotch rascal who was making love to my daughter!" "Dr Morgan!" I cried. "Upon my honour, sir, I am quite annoyed"---- "Hallo! what's this? We are calm enough now. Answer me directly, sir; are you delirious or not?" "No more than yourself, doctor." "This, then, was a concerted trick to make a fool of me!" sputtered the Welsh Esculapius. "But I'll be revenged. I'll have you before a magistrate for this, you villain!" "Upon my honour, sir, I am perfectly innocent. If you'll only hear me for a single moment"---- "To be exposed before the whole town of Shrewsbury, too! I'll never forgive it!" and the doctor banged out of the room. To his dismay he found himself face to face with Cutts, who, along with the Boots, had been a delighted auditor of the scene. "How is our patient, doctor?" said the Saxon, "Is our pulse good to-night? Did we take a look at our tongue?" "Sir, you're a ruffian!" roared the doctor.