“But, dear sir,” remonstrated Mr. Query.  “I don’t say the report is true.”

“Oh, no; you wouldn’t wish to commit yourself.  You like to know the safe side, and so do I. I shall employ Dr. Jones.”

Mr. Query turned sorrowfully away.

“Squire Worthy must have bad suspicions of the doctor’s intemperance before I came to him,” thought he; “I really begin to fear that there is some foundation for the report.  I’ll go to Mrs. Mason; she will know.”

Mr. Query found Mrs. Mason ready to listen to and believe any scandal.  She gave her head a significant toss, as if she knew more about the report than she chose to confess.

Mr. Query begged of her to explain herself.

“Oh, I sha’n’t say anything,” exclaimed Mrs. Mason; “I’ve no ill will against Dr. Harvey, and I’d rather cut off my right hand than injure him.”

“But is the report true?”

“True, Mr. Query?  Do you suppose I ever saw Dr. Harvey drunk?  Then how can you expect me to know?  Oh, I don’t wish to say anything against the man, and I won’t.”

After visiting Mrs. Mason, Mr. Query went to half a dozen others to learn the truth respecting Dr. Harvey’s habits.  Nobody would confess that they knew anything, about his drinking; but Mr. Smith “was not as much surprised as others might be;” Mr. Brown “was sorry if the report was true,” adding, that the best of men had their faults.  Miss Single had frequently remarked the doctor’s florid complexion, and wondered if his colour was natural; Mr. Clark remembered that the doctor appeared unusually gay, on the occasion of his last visit to his family; Mrs. Rogers declared that, when she came to reflect, she believed she had once or twice smelt the man’s breath; and Mr. Impulse had often seen him riding at an extraordinary rate for a sober Gentleman.  Still Mr. Query was unable to ascertain any definite facts respecting the unfavourable report.

Meanwhile, with his usual industry, Dr. Harvey went about his business, little suspecting the scandalous gossip that was circulating to his discredit.  But he soon perceived he was very coldly received by some of his old friends, and that others employed Dr. Jones.  Nobody sent for him, and he might have begun to think that the health of the town was entirely re-established, had he not observed that his rival appeared driven with business, and that he rode night and day.

One evening Dr. Harvey sat in his office, wondering what could have occasioned the sudden and surprising change in his affairs, when, contrary to his expectations, he received a call to visit a sick child of one of his old friends, who had lately employed his rival.  After some hesitation, and a struggle between pride and a sense of duty, he resolved to respond to the call, and at the same time learn, if possible, why he had been preferred to Dr. Jones, and why Dr. Jones had on other occasions been preferred to him.