human
No!
gpt
All the profession award him the highest skill in our city, if not the whole country,
human
I have no doubt of his skill, replied Mr. Carlton.
gpt
But--
human
What? asked the doctor, as Mr. Carlton hesitated.
gpt
Are you not aware that he uses wine too freely?
human
No, I am not aware of anything of the kind, he replied, almost indignantly.
gpt
He is not a teetotaller, of course, any more than you or I. Socially and at dinner he takes his glass of wine, as we do. But to say that he uses liquor too freely. is, I am sure, a mistake.
human
Some men, as you know, doctor, cannot use wine without a steady increase of the appetite until it finally gets the mastery, and I am afraid Doctor Kline is one of them.
gpt
I am greatly astonished to hear you say this, replied Dr. Hillhouse,
human
Have you ever met him at a public dinner, at the club or at a private entertainment where there was plenty of wine?
gpt
Oh yes.
human
And observed no unusual exhilaration?
gpt
We cannot always judge the common life by what we see on convivial occasions, he made answer.
human
One may take wine freely with his friends and be as abstemious as an anchorite during business-or profession-hours.
gpt
Not at all probable, replied Mr. Carlton,
human
The hand, Doctor Hillhouse, that cuts down into her dear flesh must be steadied by healthy nerves, and not by wine or brandy. No, sir; I will not hear to it. I will not have Doctor Kline. In your hands, and yours alone, I trust my wife in this great extremity.
gpt
That is for you to decide, returned Dr. Hillhouse.
human
I felt it to be only right to give you an opportunity to avail of Doctor Kline's acknowledged skill. I am sure you can do so safely.
gpt
I may be a little peculiar, he said,
human
Are not you a little peculiar, or, I might say, over-nice, in this?