The Body Snatcher
Every
night
in
the
year
,
four
of
us
sat
in
the
small
parlour
of
the
George
at
Debenham
--
the
undertaker
,
and
the
landlord
,
and
Fettes
,
and
myself
.
Sometimes
there
would
be
more
;
but
blow
high
,
blow
low
,
come
rain
or
snow
or
frost
,
we
four
would
be
each
planted
in
his
own
particular
arm-chair
.
Fettes
was
an
old
drunken
Scotchman
,
a
man
of
education
obviously
,
and
a
man
of
some
property
,
since
he
lived
in
idleness
.
He
had
come
to
Debenham
years
ago
,
while
still
young
,
and
by
a
mere
continuance
of
living
had
grown
to
be
an
adopted
townsman
.
His
blue
camlet
cloak
was
a
local
antiquity
,
like
the
church-spire
.
His
place
in
the
parlour
at
the
George
,
his
absence
from
church
,
his
old
,
crapulous
,
disreputable
vices
,
were
all
things
of
course
in
Debenham
.
He
had
some
vague
Radical
opinions
and
some
fleeting
infidelities
,
which
he
would
now
and
again
set
forth
and
emphasise
with
tottering
slaps
upon
the
table
.
He
drank
rum
--
five
glasses
regularly
every
evening
;
and
for
the
greater
portion
of
his
nightly
visit
to
the
George
sat
,
with
his
glass
in
his
right
hand
,
in
a
state
of
melancholy
alcoholic
saturation
.
We
called
him
the
Doctor
,
for
he
was
supposed
to
have
some
special
knowledge
of
medicine
,
and
had
been
known
,
upon
a
pinch
,
to
set
a
fracture
or
reduce
a
dislocation
;
but
beyond
these
slight
particulars
,
we
had
no
knowledge
of
his
character
and
antecedents
.
One
dark
winter
night
--
it
had
struck
nine
some
time
before
the
landlord
joined
us
--
there
was
a
sick
man
in
the
George
,
a
great
neighbouring
proprietor
suddenly
struck
down
with
apoplexy
on
his
way
to
Parliament
;
and
the
great
man
's
still
greater
London
doctor
had
been
telegraphed
to
his
bedside
.
It
was
the
first
time
that
such
a
thing
had
happened
in
Debenham
,
for
the
railway
was
but
newly
open
,
and
we
were
all
proportionately
moved
by
the
occurrence
.
'
He
's
come
,
'
said
the
landlord
,
after
he
had
filled
and
lighted
his
pipe
.
'
He
?
'
said
I.
'
Who
?
--
not
the
doctor
?
'
'
Himself
,
'
replied
our
host
.
'
What
is
his
name
?
'
'
Doctor
Macfarlane
,
'
said
the
landlord
.
Fettes
was
far
through
his
third
tumbler
,
stupidly
fuddled
,
now
nodding
over
,
now
staring
mazily
around
him
;
but
at
the
last
word
he
seemed
to
awaken
,
and
repeated
the
name
'
Macfarlane
'
twice
,
quietly
enough
the
first
time
,
but
with
sudden
emotion
at
the
second
.
'
Yes
,
'
said
the
landlord
,
'
that
's
his
name
,
Doctor
Wolfe
Macfarlane
.
'
Fettes
became
instantly
sober
;
his
eyes
awoke
,
his
voice
became
clear
,
loud
,
and
steady
,
his
language
forcible
and
earnest
.
We
were
all
startled
by
the
transformation
,
as
if
a
man
had
risen
from
the
dead
.
