`` Jimmy is not here , '' said Mr. Bennett gruffly -- but not quite so assuredly . `` He left last week and hired with a man over at Newbridge . '' `` In that case , '' I said , picking up William Adolphus , who had been exploring the room with a disdainful air , `` I wo n't disturb you any longer . I shall go . '' `` Yes , I think it would be the wisest thing , '' said Alexander Abraham -- not disagreeably this time , but reflectively , as if there was some doubt about the matter . `` I 'll let you out by the back door . Then the -- ahem ! -- the dog will not interfere with you . Please go away quietly and quickly . '' I wondered if Alexander Abraham thought I would go away with a whoop . But I said nothing , thinking this the most dignified course of conduct , and I followed him out to the kitchen as quickly and quietly as he could have wished . Such a kitchen ! Alexander Abraham opened the door -- which was locked -- just as a buggy containing two men drove into the yard . `` Too late ! '' he exclaimed in a tragic tone . I understood that something dreadful must have happened , but I did not care , since , as I fondly supposed , it did not concern me . I pushed out past Alexander Abraham -- who was looking as guilty as if he had been caught burglarizing -- and came face to face with the man who had sprung from the buggy . It was old Dr. Blair , from Carmody , and he was looking at me as if he had found me shoplifting . `` My dear Peter , '' he said gravely , `` I am VERY sorry to see you here -- very sorry indeed . '' I admit that this exasperated me .
Besides , no man on earth , not even my own family doctor , has any right XXXXX `` My dear Peter '' me !
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