Village books

He
was furnished with introductions from London surgeons of repute, and had
already spent a morning at the Hotel Dieu, where the operator, warned
that his visitor was a bold and skilful surgeon, whose reputation in
England was already considerable, had sought to dazzle him by feats that
savoured almost of legerdemain. Though the hint of charlatanry in the
Frenchman's methods had not escaped Arthur Burdon's shrewd eyes, the
audacious sureness of his hand had excited his enthusiasm. During
luncheon he talked of nothing else, and Dr Porhoet, drawing upon his
memory, recounted the more extraordinary operations that he had witnessed
in Egypt.
He had known Arthur Burdon ever since he was born, and indeed had missed
being present at his birth only because the Khedive Ismail had summoned
him unexpectedly to Cairo. But the Levantine merchant who was Arthur's
father had been his most intimate friend, and it was with singular
pleasure that Dr Porhoet saw the young man, on his advice, enter his
own profession and achieve a distinction which himself had never won.


Pages:
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28