I would have been glad to gaze at myself in a full-length mirror, butthere was no opportunity for the indulgence of such vanity; and beforeleaving the chamber I sat down for a moment to give a few thoughts tothe situation. My mind first reverted to the soaked condition of mygarments and the difficulty of getting them dry enough for me to putthem on and continue my journey. Then I found that I had dropped thesubject and was thinking of the slender girl, wondering if she hadreally hurt herself fairly much, congratulating myself that I had beenfortunate enough to be on hand to help her inside her need, andconsidering what a plight she would have been in if she had beencaught in that terrible rain and utterly unable to get herself toshelter.

Suddenly I stopped short in my thinking, and going to my bag I tookfrom it the little box of quinine capsules which had been given to meby the doctor's daughter, and promptly proceeded to swallow one ofthem.

"It may be of service to me," I exclaimed to myself.

When I made my appearance in the hallway I met the little man, whoimmediately burst into a roar of laughter.

"Lord, sir!" exclaimed he. "You must excuse me, but you look like a king ona lark! Walk into the parlor, sir, and sit down and make yourselfcomfortable. She's hurrying up supper to give you something warm afteryour wettin'. Would you like a little nip of whiskey, sir, to keepthe damp out?"