''
``God gives and takes away, my lady,'' answered
Hartley; ``and you must remember, that two are
restored to you out of three. It is far from certain,
that the treatment I have used towards the convalescents
would have brought through their brother;
for the case, as reported to me, was of a very
inveterate description.''
``Doctor,'' said Witherington, his voice testifying
more emotion than he usually or willingly gave
way to, ``you can comfort the sick in spirit as well
as the sick in body. But it is time we settle our
wager. You betted your reputation, which remains
with you, increased by all the credit due to your
eminent success, against a thousand gold mohrs, the
value of which you will find in that pocketbook.''
``General Witherington,'' said Hartley, ``you
are wealthy, and entitled to be generous---I am
poor, and not entitled to decline whatever may be,
even in a liberal sense, a compensation for my professional
attendance. But there is a bound to extravagance,
both in giving and accepting; and I
must not hazard the newly acquired reputation with
which you flatter me, by giving room to have it
said, that I fleeced the parents, when their feelings
were all afloat with anxiety for their children.
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