the whole matter to Mr. Carlton, and proposed that Doctor Kline,
whose high reputation for surgical skill he knew, should be
entrusted with the operation. To this he received an emphatic "No!"

"All the profession award him the highest skill in our city, if not
the whole country," said Doctor Hillhouse.

"I have no doubt of his skill," replied Mr. Carlton. "But--"

"What?" asked the doctor, as Mr. Carlton hesitated. "Are you not
aware that he uses wine too freely?"

Doctor Hillhouse was taken by surprise at this intimation.

"No, I am not aware of anything of the kind," he replied, almost
indignantly. "He is not a teetotaller, of course, any more than you
or I. Socially and at dinner he takes his glass of wine, as we do.
But to say that he uses liquor too freely. is, I am sure, a
mistake."

"Some men, as you know, doctor, cannot use wine without a steady
increase of the appetite until it finally gets the mastery, and I am
afraid Doctor Kline is one of them."

"I am greatly astonished to hear you say this," replied Dr.
Hillhouse, "and I cannot but hold you mistaken."

"Have you ever met him at a public dinner, at the club or at a
private entertainment where there was plenty of wine?"