Page 950 - of-human-bondage-

ly about him as though they had been made for a much
larger man. He looked like a respectable farmer of the mid-
dle of the nineteenth century. He opened the door.
‘There is the dining-room,’ he said, pointing to the door
opposite. ‘Your bed-room is the first door you come to
when you get on the landing. Come downstairs when you’re
ready.’
During dinner Philip knew that Doctor South was ex-
amining him, but he spoke little, and Philip felt that he did
not want to hear his assistant talk.
‘When were you qualified?’ he asked suddenly.
‘Yesterday.’
‘Were you at a university?’
‘No.’
‘Last year when my assistant took a holiday they sent me
a ‘Varsity man. I told ‘em not to do it again. Too damned
gentlemanly for me.’
There was another pause. The dinner was very simple
and very good. Philip preserved a sedate exterior, but in his
heart he was bubbling over with excitement. He was im-
mensely elated at being engaged as a locum; it made him
feel extremely grown up; he had an insane desire to laugh at
nothing in particular; and the more he thought of his pro-
fessional dignity the more he was inclined to chuckle.
But Doctor South broke suddenly into his thoughts.
‘How old are you?’
‘Getting on for thirty.’
‘How is it you’re only just qualified?’
‘I didn’t go in for the medical till I was nearly twenty-