58 WAYFARING NOTIONS 



made game of. One barmaid wanted the *' call" 

 repeated three or four times, and then naturally, 

 being uninformed on the subject, '' put it down to " 

 the caller's ignorance, so invited other barmaids to 

 snigger at the poor silly. Still, that didn't matter. 

 The cure was working, the sick man craved, 

 thirstincr for ale. Thouofh he didn't Q^et his 

 Tipper then and there, not till the river was 

 crossed and the Bridge Inn reached, hope was 

 then turned into certainty. For, great good sign, 

 he relished the beer, which I defy anyone who has 

 been off colour to do at the first time of tasting 

 unless he is much on the mend. Do we not most 

 loyally recollect how his most gracious Majesty 

 our King did make the nation's heart rejoice when, 

 as the Prince of Wales, he lay at Sandringham 

 sick unto death, as had been feared, and with 

 reason ? One almost smiles to remember the 

 vast importance attached to a bulletin announcing 

 that the illustrious patient had asked for, been 

 given, and enjoyed, a glass of ale. 



Personally I always look on a sick man's 

 craving for ale when he is just about turning the 

 corner as a most promising sign — if, that is, the 

 party concerned can e7tyoy it. Now, the person 

 who asked for Tipper and got laughed at was a 

 patient of mine — a Refereader whom I treated for 

 indigestion, and he was under treatment only four 

 days before he convalesced sufficiently to go in 

 for beer, ask for it, see he got it, and relish it, too. 

 His symptoms indicated liver trouble, accumula- 

 tion of internal fat, and consequent scantiness of 

 soup, otherwise breath. (Singular, is it not, that 

 the slang word ''soup" should be so close to the 

 French ''soupir"?) Early rising, digging, and 

 sculling in very correct form made the foundation 



