THE APRIL FOOL. 107

 

Doctor Grimes, to whom our joker re-
ferred, had been in the village only about
a year, and, in that time, had succeeded in
making but a small practice. Not that he
was wanting in ability; but he lacked ad-
dress. In person, he was rather awkward ;
and, in manners, far from prepossessing.
Moreover, he was poor, and not able, in
consequence, to make a very good appear-
ance. : |

We would not like to say that, in select-
ing Doctor Grimes as the subject of his
best joke for the First of April, Bunting
acted on the principle of a certain worthy,
who said of another— |

“Kick him; he has no friends Y

But we rather incline to the opinion that
some such feeling was in the heart of the
joker.

The First of April came. Doctor Grimes,
after eating his breakfast, sat down in his of-
fice to await expected morning calls for con-
sultation, or to request his attendance on
some suffering invalid. But no such calls