John Macnab

The great doctor stood on the hearth-rug looking down at his friend who sprawled before him in an easy-chair. It was a hot day in early July, and the windows were closed and the blinds half-down to keep out the glare and the dust. The standing fig- ure had bent shoulders, a massive clean-shaven face, and a keen interrogatory air, and might have passed his sixtieth birthday. He looked like a distinguished lawyer, who would soon leave his practice for the Bench. But it was the man in the chair who was the lawyer, a man who had left forty behind him, but was still on the pleasant side of fifty.

Marele doctor statea pe covorul vatrei, privind in jos la prietenul sau care se intindea in fata lui intr-un fotoliu. Era o zi calduroasa la inceputul lunii iulie, iar ferestrele erau inchise si jaluzelele pe jumatate pentru a evita stralucirea si praful.