"And you will look after these people just as you
do after Fogarty and the Branscombs, and everybody
else up and down the shore, and never take a
penny in pay!" she retorted with some indignation.

"I am afraid I will, mother. A disappointing
son, am I not? But there's no one to blame but
yourself, old lady," and with a laugh he rose from
his seat, Jane's letter in his hand, and kissed his
mother on the cheek.

"But, John, dear," she exclaimed in a pleading
petulance as she looked into his face, still holding on
to the sleeve of his coat to detain him the longer,
"just think of this letter of Pencoyd's; nothing has
ever been offered you better than this. He has the
very best people in Philadelphia on his list, and you
would get--"

The doctor slipped his hand under his mother's
chin, as he would have done to a child, and said
with a twinkle in his eye--he was very happy this
morning:

"That's precisely my case--I've got the very best
people in three counties on my list. That's much
better than the old doctor."

"Who are they, pray?" She was softening under