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Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894

"The Poet at the Breakfast-Table"

It was impossible to get this
whim out of him, and the young doctor had tact enough to humor him in it.
All this did not look very promising for the state of mind in which the
patient was like to receive his bill for attendance when that should be
presented. Doctor Benjamin was man enough, however, to come up to the
mark, and sent him in such an account as it was becoming to send a man of
ample means who had been diligently and skilfully cared for. He looked
forward with some uncertainty as to how it would be received. Perhaps
his patient would try to beat him down, and Doctor Benjamin made up his
mind to have the whole or nothing. Perhaps he would pay the whole
amount, but with a look, and possibly a word, that would make every
dollar of it burn like a blister.
Doctor Benjamin's conjectures were not unnatural, but quite remote from
the actual fact. As soon as his patient had got entirely well, the young
physician sent in his bill. The Capitalist requested him to step into
his room with him, and paid the full charge in the handsomest and most
gratifying way, thanking him for his skill and attention, and assuring
him that he had had great satisfaction in submitting himself to such
competent hands, and should certainly apply to him again in case he
should have any occasion for a medical adviser.


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