"No, no, sir!" exclaimed George.

"Well," said the other, "you have syphilis."

George was utterly stunned. "My God!" he exclaimed.

The doctor, having finished his prescription, looked up and
observed his condition. "Don't trouble yourself, sir. Out of
every seven men you meet upon the street, in society, or at the
theater, there is at least one who has been in your condition.
One out of seven--fifteen per cent!"

George was staring before him. He spoke low, as if to himself.
"I know what I am going to do."

"And I know also," said the doctor, with a smile. "There is your
prescription. You are going to take it to the drugstore and have
it put up."

George took the prescription, mechanically, but whispered, "No,
sir."

"Yes, sir, you are going to do as everybody else does."

"No, because my situation is not that of everybody else. I know
what I am going to do."

Said the doctor: "Five times out of ten, in the chair where you
are sitting, people talk like that, perfectly sincerely. Each