Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. MY NEW FRIEND. |N evening in the golden summer-tide; that is the time. A long low room with French windows opening into a large garden; that is the place. A lady, two gentlemen, and myself; these are the actors; and the question under consideration is an interesting one to me. It may be summed up in the words Dr. Packman has just addressed to his visitor, of whom I shall have more to say presently. " Well, Droigel, was I right or was I wrong ? Has our small friend a voice 1 can Herr Droigel, a large man, with an immense acreage of fat cheek, on which not even a vestige of whisker could have beendiscovered, first looked at me with slow blue unwinking critical eyes, and then turned his gaze on Dr. Packman. " Miss has a voice, and Miss can sing," he answered, in solemn tones that implied more than they actually said. " Bravo !" cried the Doctor. " Did not I say so, Dorothy ?" (This to his sister.) " Did not I say, that bitterly cold afternoon, when, as I told you, I overtook Miss Annie, who had been crying, I believed there was something in our little neighbour ?" " Yes, Decimus, you did," agreed Miss Packman, who, like her brother, was a charming member of society. I thought so then. I have seen nothing in society to make me change my opinion since. Very calmly Herr Droigel waited till brother and sister had finished their little duet, when he resumed, as though his previous sentence had been left incomplete. " But Miss will never make one grand success." " And why not, pray ?" inquired the Doctor. " Why not! you ask, why not! and you a Doctor ! Look—see—judge for yourself." And he pointed an immense forefinger at my unfortunate person. " Well," said Dr. Packman, " I look, I see, and I judge for myself. Why should she n... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.