"
And, while the maid departed up the stairs, he waited in the narrow
hall, alternately taking his hat off and putting it on again, so great
was his spiritual confusion.
"Doctor will see you at once, sir."
Putting his hat on hastily, Mr. Lavender followed her upstairs, feeling
at his tooth to make quite sure that he remembered which it was. His
courage mounted as he came nearer to his fate, and he marched into the
room behind the maid holding his hat on firmly with one hand and his
tooth in firmly with the other. There, beside a red velvet dentist's
chair, he saw a youngish man dressed in a white coat, with round eyes
and a domestic face, who said in good English:
"What can I do for you, my dear sir? I fear you are in bain."
"In great pain," replied Mr. Lavender faintly, "in great pain." And,
indeed, he was; for the nervous crisis from which he was suffering had
settled in the tooth, on which he still pressed a finger through his
cheek.
"Sit down, sir, sit down," said the young man, "and perhaps it would be
better if you should remove your hat. We shall not hurd you--no, no, we
shall not hurd you."
At those words, which seemed to cast doubt on his courage, Mr. Lavender
recovered all his presence of mind.
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