human
Tell us what you're going to write, Georgia, said Ernestine, she too seizing at it gratefully,
gpt
Well, I was talking to Judge Lee the other day, and he told me some good stories about lawyers--characteristic stories, you know. So I thought I would work up a little series--lawyers, doctors, ministers and so on, and see how nearly I could reach the characteristics of the professions through the stories I tell of them; not much of an idea, perhaps--but I know a man who will buy the stuff.
human
Do you want to begin with something really characteristic?
gpt
That's it. Something to strike the nail on the head, first blow.
human
Then lead off with the story of Pasteur's forgetting to go to his own wedding. There's the most characteristic doctor story I know of.
gpt
That's a direct insult,
human
Why, not at all, Karl, protested Mrs. McCormick,
gpt
Yes, and a good thing he was, declared Ernestine.
human
I don't think I should have been as meek and gentle about it as the bride of Pasteur. I fancy I would have said: 'Oh, really now--if it's so much trouble, we'll just let it go.'
gpt
No, Ernestine, said Mrs. McCormick, seriously, after the laugh,
human
I don't believe you would have said that,
gpt
Well, it's a good story, she insisted;
human
If you want to tell some stories about Pasteur, said Karl,
gpt
But is it characteristic?
human
Well, he laughed,
gpt
Another one of the independent kind, said Parkman,
human
Did he get in?
gpt
I think he did, although undoubtedly Miss McCormick will be too modern to say so.
human
There was a story I always liked about a Vienna doctor, he continued; he was anxious to guide the stories, for Karl had seemed suddenly to sink within himself. He understood why--he might have foreseen where this would lead. For there were other stories of medical men, stories which fitted a little too closely just now; he was especially sorry he had mentioned Bilroth.
gpt
This shows another side of the doctor, he went on, after a minute,
human
What might be called an inner squareness,