of his colleagues—to decline his fee for the ſervices he had rendered them. So ſhe proceeded with a ſmile, ‘Indeed, doctor, your delicacy is exceſſive; but it ſhall not prevent me from conſidering myſelf as your debtor, and acknowledging my obligations for the kind aſſiſtance you have afforded us.’ She then forced a gold ſnuff-box upon him, which the phyſician, however, would receive only as a fee before-hand; and, leſt he ſhould diſoblige a good patient, he no longer contradicted her. He moreover eaſily ſolved the riddle to his own ſatisfaction, by ſuppoſing the whole family to be infected with a ſpecies of vapours, in which ſtrange and incomprehenſible flights of the imagination are by no means uncommon—ſo he preſcribed plenty of mild evacuants.
Doctor Springsfeld was none of your heavy helpleſs phyſicians, who poſſeſs no other talent for conciliating their patients’ hearts, beſides praiſing their own pills and electuaries. He was well verſed in the
ſecret
