114 I RUN AGAINST THE DOCTOR. 



ley won't give me one for you." "Oh," said 

 I, "I'll ask him myself." "You'd better 

 not," said he ; " for you 11 get no ticket, and 

 like enough something from him that'll serve 

 you instead of a breakfast." Says I, ' i There ? s 

 not a man's face on earth that I'm afraid of. 

 I Ve often heard of the Doctor, and read a deal 

 more ; and now I'll have a look and a word 

 for myself, if you'll just show him to me." 

 " Come along," says he, and away we went. 

 After a longish hunt, he showed me a gentle- 

 man sitting on a stool under a tree, with a 

 walking-stick in his hand, and a pair of spec- 

 tacles on his nose ; and said he, " That's the 

 Doctor." " Thank you," said I ; "and now 

 wait a minute for me." So I went up, and 

 lifted my hat, breaking ground, as my poor 

 father, when he was soldiering, would have 

 called it. " Well," said he, " what do you 

 want ?" "I should thank you, sir," said I, 

 "for a breakfast-ticket, for I'm a stranger, 

 and a long way from home." " "What have 

 you brought, gardener?" "Nothing, sir," 

 said I, " but myself; but I have sent some- 

 thing," said I, " before to-day; but not to 

 these shows :" and I showed him a silver 

 medal I had had sent me, through my mas- 



