"
"True, but it pays well. It isn't so bad, you see, to be a doctor
without a diploma."
Robelot had been several times prosecuted for illegal practicing;
so he thought he ought to protest against this.
"If I cure people," said he, "I'm not paid for it."
"Then your trade in herbs isn't what has enriched you."
The conversation was becoming a cross-examination. The bone-setter
was beginning to be restless.
"Oh, I make something out of the herbs," he answered.
"And as you are thrifty, you buy land."
"I've also got some cattle and horses, which bring in something.
I raise horses, cows, and sheep."
"Also without diploma?"
Robelot waxed disdainful.
"A piece of parchment does not make science. I don't fear the men
of the schools. I study animals in the fields and the stable,
without bragging. I haven't my equal for raising them, nor for
knowing their diseases."
M. Plantat's tone became more and more winning.
"I know that you are a bright fellow, full of experience. Doctor
Gendron, with whom you served, was praising your cleverness a
moment ago."
The bone-setter shuddered, not so imperceptibly as to escape
Plantat, who continued: "Yes, the good doctor said he never had
so intelligent an assistant.
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