The Adventures of Dick Maitland | Page 2

dear Mater's own handwriting beyond a doubt.
Read it, Doctor; there are no secrets in it." And Dick passed the letter
over to Humphreys.
"Phew!" whistled the Doctor, when he had read the letter twice--from
the date to the signature; "that sounds pretty bad. You had better be off
at once, and get at the rights of the thing. And when you have done so--
By the way, have you any friends with whom you can consult, should
you need help or advice of any sort?"
"Not a soul in the world, so far as I know, unless I may call you a
friend, Doctor," answered Dick. "Of course there is Cuthbertson, the
family solicitor and the sole executor of my father's will; but the
suggestion conveyed by this letter from my mother is that something
has somehow gone wrong with him, and he may not be available."
"Quite so; he may not, as you say," agreed the Doctor. "In that case, my
dear Dick, come back to me after you have become acquainted with all
the facts, and we will discuss the matter together. That you may call me
your friend goes without saying, as you ought to know by this time; and

although I am only an obscure East-End practitioner I am not wholly
without friends able and willing to do me, or any friend of mine, a good
turn, if necessary. So come back here when you have threshed out the
matter, and we will see what--if anything--can be done."
"Right! I will. And a thousand thanks to you for this fresh evidence of
your kindly feeling toward me," exclaimed Dick, grasping the doctor's
hand. "Are you quite sure that you will be able to get along without me
for a few hours?"
"Absolutely certain," was the cheery reply. "You are a very clever
young fellow, Dick, and have proved a marvellously apt pupil since
you have been with me, but I managed this practice single-handed
before you came to me, and I have no doubt I can do it again, if needs
be. So be off with you at once, my lad; for your mother seems to be in
sore need of you."
Five minutes later Dick Maitland had boarded a tramcar, on his way to
London Bridge railway station, from whence he took train for the
Crystal Palace, the nearest station to his mother's home, which he
reached within two hours of his departure from Number 19 Paradise
Street.
Now, as Dick Maitland happens to be the hero of this story it is
necessary he should be properly introduced to the reader, and this
seems as appropriate a moment as any.
To begin with, then, when we caught our first glimpse of him, assisting
Dr Humphreys to dress and bind up those tokens of affection which Mr
William Taylor had bestowed upon his wife, Dick Maitland was within
three months of his eighteenth birthday, a fine, tall, fairly good- looking,
and athletic specimen of the young public-school twentieth- century
Englishman. He was an only son; and his mother was a widow, her
husband having died when Dick was a sturdy little toddler a trifle over
three years of age. Mrs Maitland had been left quite comfortably off,
her husband having accumulated a sufficient sum to bring her in an
income of close upon seven hundred pounds per annum. The provisions
of Mr Maitland's will stipulated that the income arising from his

carefully chosen investments was to be enjoyed by his widow during
her lifetime, subject to the proper maintenance and education of their
only son, Dick; and upon the demise of Mrs Maitland the capital was to
go to Dick, to be employed by the latter as he might deem fit. But a
clause in the will stipulated that at the close of his school career Dick
was to be put to such business or profession as the lad might choose,
Mr Maitland pithily remarking that he did not believe in drones. But
since Mrs Maitland, although a most excellent woman in every respect,
had no head for business, her husband appointed honest old John
Cuthbertson, his own and his father's solicitor, sole executor of his will;
and so died happily, in the full conviction that he had done everything
that was humanly possible to assure the future welfare of his widow
and infant son. And faithfully had John Cuthbertson discharged his
trust, until in the fullness of years he had laid down the burden of life,
and his son Jonas had come to reign in the office in his father's stead.
This event had occurred some three years previously, about the time
when Dick, having completed his school life, had elected to take up the
study of medicine and surgery.
This important step had involved many