Soldiers' Pay by William Faulkner

Doctor Gary could waltz with a level glass of water on his head, without spilling a drop. He did not care for the more modern dances, the nervous ones. "All jumping around -- like monkeys. Why try to do something a beast can do so much better? " he was wont to say. "But a waltz, now. Can a dog waltz, or a cow? " He was a smallish man, bald and dapper, and women liked him. Such a nice bedside manner. Doctor Gary was much in demand, both professionally and socially. He had also served in a French hospital in '14, '15, and '16. "Like hell," he described it. "Long alleys of excrement and red paint."

Doctor Gary, followed by Gilligan, descended nattily from Donald's room, smoothing the set of his coat, dusting his hands with a silk handkerchief. The rector appeared hugely from his study, saying: "Well, Doctor?"