"Do you eat at the same table with the inmates of your house?"

"Well, no," said the embarrassed Mr. Mudge.

"Tell me plainly,--how often do you partake of this soup?"

"I aint your patient," said the man, sullenly, "Why should you want to
know what I eat?"

"I have an object in view. Are you afraid to answer?"

"I don't know as there's anything to be afraid of. The fact is, I aint
partial to soup; it don't agree with me, and so I don't take it."

"Did you ever consider that this might be the case with others as
well as yourself?" inquired the doctor with a glance expressive of his
contempt for Mr. Mudge's selfishness. Without waiting for a reply, Dr.
Townsend ordered Paul to be put to bed immediately, after which he would
leave some medicine for him to take.

Here was another embarrassment for the worthy couple. They hardly knew
where to put our hero. It would not do for them to carry him to his
pallet in the attic, for they felt sure that this would lead to some
more plain speaking on the part of Dr. Townsend. He was accordingly,
though with some reluctance, placed in a small bedroom upstairs, which,
being more comfortable than those appropriated to the paupers, had been
reserved for a son at work in a neighboring town, on his occasional
visits home.