“What on earth have I done, and what can I do for you?  I am at a loss to guess your meaning.”

“Will you be so kind as to come and breakfast with me?  My house is near at hand; my refosco is delicious, please to taste it, and I will convince you in a few words that you are truly my benefactor, and that I have a right to expect that you have returned Orsera to load me with fresh benefits.”

I could not suspect the man of insanity; but, as I could not make him out, I fancied that he wanted to make me purchase some of his refosco, and I accepted his invitation.  We went up to his room, and he left me for a few moments to order breakfast.  I observed several surgical instruments, which made me suppose that he was a surgeon, and I asked him when he returned.

“Yes, captain; I have been practising surgery in this place for twenty years, and in a very poor way, for I had nothing to do, except a few cases of bleeding, of cupping, and occasionally some slight excoriation to dress or a sprained ankle to put to rights.  I did not earn even the poorest living.  But since last year a great change has taken place; I have made a good deal of money, I have laid it out advantageously, and it is to you, captain, to you (may God bless you!) that I am indebted for my present comforts.”

“But how so?”

“In this way, captain.  You had a connection with Don Jerome’s housekeeper, and you left her, when you went away, a certain souvenir which she communicated to a friend of hers, who, in perfect good faith, made a present of it to his wife.  This lady did not wish, I suppose, to be selfish, and she gave the souvenir to a libertine who, in his turn, was so generous with it that, in less than a month, I had about fifty clients.  The following months were not less fruitful, and I gave the benefit of my attendance to everybody, of course, for a consideration.  There are a few patients still under my care, but in a short time there will be no more, as the souvenir left by you has now lost all its virtue.  You can easily realize now the joy I felt when I saw you; you are a bird of good omen.  May I hope that your visit will last long enough to enable you to renew the source of my fortune?”

I laughed heartily, but he was grieved to hear that I was in excellent health.  He remarked, however, that I was not likely to be so well off on my return, because, in the country to which I was going, there was abundance of damaged goods, but that no one knew better than he did how to root out the venom left by the use of such bad merchandise.  He begged that I would depend upon him, and not trust myself in the hands of quacks, who would be sure to palm their remedies upon me.  I promised him everything, and, taking leave of him with many thanks, I returned to the ship.  I related the whole affair to M. Dolfin, who was highly amused.  We sailed on the following day, but on the fourth day, on the other side of Curzola, we were visited by a storm which very nearly cost me my life.  This is how it happened: