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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +This etext was prepared with the use of Calera WordScan Plus 2.0 + + + + + +ROUND THE RED LAMP + +BEING FACTS AND FANCIES OF MEDICAL LIFE + +By SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE + + + + +THE PREFACE. + +[Being an extract from a long and animated +correspondence with a friend in America.] + +I quite recognise the force of your objection +that an invalid or a woman in weak health would get +no good from stories which attempt to treat some +features of medical life with a certain amount of +realism. If you deal with this life at all, however, +and if you are anxious to make your doctors something +more than marionettes, it is quite essential that you +should paint the darker side, since it is that which +is principally presented to the surgeon or physician. +He sees many beautiful things, it is true, fortitude +and heroism, love and self-sacrifice; but they are +all called forth (as our nobler qualities are always +called forth) by bitter sorrow and trial. One cannot +write of medical life and be merry over it. + +Then why write of it, you may ask? If a subject +is painful why treat it at all? I answer that it is +the province of fiction to treat painful things +as well as cheerful ones. The story which wiles +away a weary hour fulfils an obviously good +purpose, but not more so, I hold, than that which +helps to emphasise the graver side of life. A +tale which may startle the reader out of his usual +grooves of thought, and shocks him into seriousness, +plays the part of the alterative and tonic in +medicine, bitter to the taste but bracing in the +result. There are a few stories in this little +collection which might have such an effect, and I +have so far shared in your feeling that I have +reserved them from serial publication. In book-form +the reader can see that they are medical stories, and +can, if he or she be so minded, avoid them. + +Yours very truly, + +A. CONAN DOYLE. + + +P. S.--You ask about the Red Lamp. It is the +usual sign of the general practitioner in England. + + + +CONTENTS. + +BEHIND THE TIMES +HIS FIRST OPERATION +A STRAGGLER OF '15 +THE THIRD GENERATION +A FALSE START +THE CURSE OF EVE +SWEETHEARTS +A PHYSIOLOGIST'S WIFE +THE CASE OF LADY SANNOX +A QUESTION OF DIPLOMACY +A MEDICAL DOCUMENT +LOT NO. 249 +THE Los AMIGOS FIASCO +THE DOCTORS OF HOYLAND +THE SURGEON TALKS + + + + +ROUND THE RED LAMP. + + + + +BEHIND THE TIMES. + + + + +My first interview with Dr. James Winter was +under dramatic circumstances. It occurred at two in +the morning in the bedroom of an old country house. +I kicked him twice on the white waistcoat and knocked +off his gold spectacles, while he with the aid of a +female accomplice stifled my angry cries in a flannel +petticoat and thrust me into a warm bath. I am told +that one of my parents, who happened to be present, +remarked in a whisper that there was nothing the +matter with my lungs. I cannot recall how Dr. Winter +looked at the time, for I had other things to think +of, but his description of my own appearance is far +from flattering. A fluffy head, a body like a +trussed goose, very bandy legs, and feet with the +soles turned inwards--those are the main items which +he can remember. + +From this time onwards the epochs of my life were +the periodical assaults which Dr. Winter made upon +me. He vaccinated me; he cut me for an abscess; he +blistered me for mumps. It was a world of peace and +he the one dark cloud that threatened. But at last +there came a time of real illness--a time when I lay +for months together inside my wickerwork-basket bed, +and then it was that I learned that that hard face +could relax, that those country-made creaking boots +could steal very gently to a bedside, and that that +rough voice could thin into a whisper when it spoke +to a sick child. + +And now the child is himself a medical man, and +yet Dr. Winter is the same as ever. I can see no +change since first I can remember him, save that +perhaps the brindled hair is a trifle whiter, and the +huge shoulders a little more bowed. He is a very +tall man, though he loses a couple of inches from his +stoop. That big back of his has curved itself over +sick beds until it has set in that shape. His face +is of a walnut brown, and tells of long winter drives +over bleak country roads, with the wind and the rain +in his teeth. It looks smooth at a little distance, +but as you approach him you see that it is shot with +innumerable fine wrinkles like a last year's apple. +They are hardly to be seen when he is in repose; but +when he laughs his face breaks like a starred glass, +and you realise then that though he looks old, he +must be older than he looks. + + +How old that is I could never discover. I have +often tried to find out, and have struck his stream +as high up as George IV and even the Regency, but +without ever getting quite to the source. His mind +must have been open to impressions very early, but it +must also have closed early, for the politics of the +day have little interest for him, while he is +fiercely excited about questions which are entirely +prehistoric. He shakes his head when he speaks of +the first Reform Bill and expresses grave doubts as +to its wisdom, and I have heard him, when he was +warmed by a glass of wine, say bitter things about +Robert Peel and his abandoning of the Corn Laws. The +death of that statesman brought the history of +England to a definite close, and Dr. Winter refers to +everything which had happened since then as to an +insignificant anticlimax. + +But it was only when I had myself become a +medical man that I was able to appreciate how +entirely he is a survival of a past generation. He +had learned his medicine under that obsolete and +forgotten system by which a youth was apprenticed to +a surgeon, in the days when the study of anatomy was +often approached through a violated grave. His views +upon his own profession are even more reactionary +than in politics. Fifty years have brought him +little and deprived him of less. Vaccination was +well within the teaching of his youth, though I +think he has a secret preference for inoculation. +Bleeding he would practise freely but for public +opinion. Chloroform he regards as a dangerous +innovation, and he always clicks with his tongue when +it is mentioned. He has even been known to say vain +things about Laennec, and to refer to the stethoscope +as "a new-fangled French toy." He carries one in his +hat out of deference to the expectations of his +patients, but he is very hard of hearing, so that it +makes little difference whether he uses it or not. + +He reads, as a duty, his weekly medical paper, so +that he has a general idea as to the advance of +modern science. He always persists in looking upon +it as a huge and rather ludicrous experiment. The +germ theory of disease set him chuckling for a long +time, and his favourite joke in the sick room was to +say, "Shut the door or the germs will be getting in." +As to the Darwinian theory, it struck him as being +the crowning joke of the century. "The children in +the nursery and the ancestors in the stable," he +would cry, and laugh the tears out of his eyes. + +He is so very much behind the day that +occasionally, as things move round in their usual +circle, he finds himself, to his bewilderment, in the +front of the fashion. Dietetic treatment, for +example, had been much in vogue in his youth, and +he has more practical knowledge of it than any one +whom I have met. Massage, too, was familiar to him +when it was new to our generation. He had been +trained also at a time when instruments were in a +rudimentary state, and when men learned to trust more +to their own fingers. He has a model surgical hand, +muscular in the palm, tapering in the fingers, "with +an eye at the end of each." I shall not easily +forget how Dr. Patterson and I cut Sir John Sirwell, +the County Member, and were unable to find the stone. +It was a horrible moment. Both our careers were at +stake. And then it was that Dr. Winter, whom we had +asked out of courtesy to be present, introduced into +the wound a finger which seemed to our excited senses +to be about nine inches long, and hooked out the +stone at the end of it. "It's always well to bring +one in your waistcoat-pocket," said he with a +chuckle, "but I suppose you youngsters are above all +that." + +We made him president of our branch of the +British Medical Association, but he resigned after +the first meeting. "The young men are too much for +me," he said. "I don't understand what they are +talking about." Yet his patients do very well. He +has the healing touch--that magnetic thing which +defies explanation or analysis, but which is a very +evident fact none the less. His mere presence +leaves the patient with more hopefulness and +vitality. The sight of disease affects him as dust +does a careful housewife. It makes him angry and +impatient. "Tut, tut, this will never do!" he cries, +as he takes over a new case. He would shoo Death out +of the room as though he were an intrusive hen. But +when the intruder refuses to be dislodged, when the +blood moves more slowly and the eyes grow dimmer, +then it is that Dr. Winter is of more avail than all +the drugs in his surgery. Dying folk cling to his +hand as if the presence of his bulk and vigour gives +them more courage to face the change; and that +kindly, windbeaten face has been the last earthly +impression which many a sufferer has carried into the +unknown. + +When Dr. Patterson and I--both of us young, +energetic, and up-to-date--settled in the district, +we were most cordially received by the old doctor, +who would have been only too happy to be relieved of +some of his patients. The patients themselves, +however, followed their own inclinations--which is a +reprehensible way that patients have--so that we +remained neglected, with our modern instruments and +our latest alkaloids, while he was serving out senna +and calomel to all the countryside. We both of us +loved the old fellow, but at the same time, in the +privacy of our own intimate conversations, we could +not help commenting upon this deplorable lack of +judgment. "It's all very well for the poorer +people," said Patterson. "But after all the educated +classes have a right to expect that their medical man +will know the difference between a mitral murmur and +a bronchitic rale. It's the judicial frame of mind, +not the sympathetic, which is the essential one." + +I thoroughly agreed with Patterson in what he +said. It happened, however, that very shortly +afterwards the epidemic of influenza broke out, and +we were all worked to death. One morning I met +Patterson on my round, and found him looking rather +pale and fagged out. He made the same remark about +me. I was, in fact, feeling far from well, and I lay +upon the sofa all the afternoon with a splitting +headache and pains in every joint. As evening closed +in, I could no longer disguise the fact that the +scourge was upon me, and I felt that I should have +medical advice without delay. It was of Patterson, +naturally, that I thought, but somehow the idea of +him had suddenly become repugnant to me. I thought +of his cold, critical attitude, of his endless +questions, of his tests and his tappings. I wanted +something more soothing--something more genial. + +"Mrs. Hudson," said I to my housekeeper, would +you kindly run along to old Dr. Winter and tell +him that I should be obliged to him if he would step +round?" + +She was back with an answer presently. "Dr. +Winter will come round in an hour or so, sir; but he +has just been called in to attend Dr. Patterson." + + + + +HIS FIRST OPERATION. + + +It was the first day of the winter session, and +the third year's man was walking with the first +year's man. Twelve o'clock was just booming out from +the Tron Church. + +"Let me see," said the third year's man. "You +have never seen an operation?" + +"Never." + +"Then this way, please. This is Rutherford's +historic bar. A glass of sherry, please, for this +gentleman. You are rather sensitive, are you not?" + +"My nerves are not very strong, I am afraid." + +"Hum! Another glass of sherry for this gentleman. +We are going to an operation now, you know." + +The novice squared his shoulders and made a +gallant attempt to look unconcerned. + +"Nothing very bad--eh?" + +"Well, yes--pretty bad." + +"An--an amputation?" + +"No; it's a bigger affair than that." + +"I think--I think they must be expecting me at home." + +"There's no sense in funking. If you don't go +to-day, you must to-morrow. Better get it over at +once. Feel pretty fit?" + +"Oh, yes; all right!" The smile was not a success. + +"One more glass of sherry, then. Now come on or +we shall be late. I want you to be well in front." + +"Surely that is not necessary." + +"Oh, it is far better! What a drove of students! +There are plenty of new men among them. You can tell +them easily enough, can't you? If they were going +down to be operated upon themselves, they could not +look whiter." + +"I don't think I should look as white." + +"Well, I was just the same myself. But the +feeling soon wears off. You see a fellow with a face +like plaster, and before the week is out he is eating +his lunch in the dissecting rooms. I'll tell you all +about the case when we get to the theatre." + +The students were pouring down the sloping street +which led to the infirmary--each with his little +sheaf of note-books in his hand. There were pale, +frightened lads, fresh from the high schools, and +callous old chronics, whose generation had passed on +and left them. They swept in an unbroken, +tumultuous stream from the university gate to the +hospital. The figures and gait of the men were +young, but there was little youth in most of their +faces. Some looked as if they ate too little--a few +as if they drank too much. Tall and short, tweed- +coated and black, round-shouldered, bespectacled, and +slim, they crowded with clatter of feet and rattle of +sticks through the hospital gate. Now and again they +thickened into two lines, as the carriage of a +surgeon of the staff rolled over the cobblestones +between. + +"There's going to be a crowd at Archer's," +whispered the senior man with suppressed excitement. +"It is grand to see him at work. I've seen him jab +all round the aorta until it made me jumpy to watch +him. This way, and mind the whitewash." + +They passed under an archway and down a long, +stone-flagged corridor, with drab-coloured doors on +either side, each marked with a number. Some of them +were ajar, and the novice glanced into them with +tingling nerves. He was reassured to catch a glimpse +of cheery fires, lines of white-counterpaned beds, +and a profusion of coloured texts upon the wall. The +corridor opened upon a small hall, with a fringe of +poorly clad people seated all round upon benches. A +young man, with a pair of scissors stuck like a +flower in his buttonhole and a note-book in his hand, +was passing from one to the other, whispering and +writing. + +"Anything good?" asked the third year's man. + +"You should have been here yesterday," said the +out-patient clerk, glancing up. "We had a regular +field day. A popliteal aneurism, a Colles' fracture, +a spina bifida, a tropical abscess, and an +elephantiasis. How's that for a single haul?" + +"I'm sorry I missed it. But they'll come again, +I suppose. What's up with the old gentleman?" + +A broken workman was sitting in the shadow, +rocking himself slowly to and fro, and groaning. A +woman beside him was trying to console him, patting +his shoulder with a hand which was spotted over with +curious little white blisters. + +"It's a fine carbuncle," said the clerk, with the +air of a connoisseur who describes his orchids to one +who can appreciate them. "It's on his back and the +passage is draughty, so we must not look at it, must +we, daddy? Pemphigus," he added carelessly, pointing +to the woman's disfigured hands. "Would you care to +stop and take out a metacarpal?" + +"No, thank you. We are due at Archer's. Come +on!" and they rejoined the throng which was hurrying +to the theatre of the famous surgeon. + +The tiers of horseshoe benches rising from the +floor to the ceiling were already packed, and the +novice as he entered saw vague curving lines of +faces in front of him, and heard the deep buzz of a +hundred voices, and sounds of laughter from somewhere +up above him. His companion spied an opening on the +second bench, and they both squeezed into it. + +"This is grand!" the senior man whispered. +"You'll have a rare view of it all." + +Only a single row of heads intervened between +them and the operating table. It was of unpainted +deal, plain, strong, and scrupulously clean. A sheet +of brown water-proofing covered half of it, and +beneath stood a large tin tray full of sawdust. On +the further side, in front of the window, there was a +board which was strewed with glittering instruments-- +forceps, tenacula, saws, canulas, and trocars. A +line of knives, with long, thin, delicate blades, lay +at one side. Two young men lounged in front of this, +one threading needles, the other doing something to a +brass coffee-pot-like thing which hissed out puffs of +steam. + +"That's Peterson," whispered the senior, "the +big, bald man in the front row. He's the skin- +grafting man, you know. And that's Anthony Browne, +who took a larynx out successfully last winter. And +there's Murphy, the pathologist, and Stoddart, the +eye-man. You'll come to know them all soon." + +"Who are the two men at the table?" + +"Nobody--dressers. One has charge of the +instruments and the other of the puffing Billy. It's +Lister's antiseptic spray, you know, and Archer's one +of the carbolic-acid men. Hayes is the leader of the +cleanliness-and-cold-water school, and they all hate +each other like poison." + +A flutter of interest passed through the closely +packed benches as a woman in petticoat and bodice was +led in by two nurses. A red woolen shawl was draped +over her head and round her neck. The face which +looked out from it was that of a woman in the prime +of her years, but drawn with suffering, and of a +peculiar beeswax tint. Her head drooped as she +walked, and one of the nurses, with her arm round her +waist, was whispering consolation in her ear. She +gave a quick side-glance at the instrument table as +she passed, but the nurses turned her away from it. + +"What ails her?" asked the novice. + +"Cancer of the parotid. It's the devil of a +case; extends right away back behind the carotids. +There's hardly a man but Archer would dare to follow +it. Ah, here he is himself!" + +As he spoke, a small, brisk, iron-grey man came +striding into the room, rubbing his hands together as +he walked. He had a clean-shaven face, of the naval +officer type, with large, bright eyes, and a firm, +straight mouth. Behind him came his big house- +surgeon, with his gleaming pince-nez, and a +trail of dressers, who grouped themselves into +the corners of the room. + +"Gentlemen," cried the surgeon in a voice as hard +and brisk as his manner, "we have here an interesting +case of tumour of the parotid, originally +cartilaginous but now assuming malignant +characteristics, and therefore requiring excision. +On to the table, nurse! Thank you! Chloroform, +clerk! Thank you! You can take the shawl off, +nurse." + +The woman lay back upon the water-proofed pillow, +and her murderous tumour lay revealed. In itself it +was a pretty thing--ivory white, with a mesh of blue +veins, and curving gently from jaw to chest. But the +lean, yellow face and the stringy throat were in +horrible contrast with the plumpness and sleekness of +this monstrous growth. The surgeon placed a hand on +each side of it and pressed it slowly backwards and +forwards. + +"Adherent at one place, gentlemen," he cried. +"The growth involves the carotids and jugulars, and +passes behind the ramus of the jaw, whither we must +be prepared to follow it. It is impossible to say +how deep our dissection may carry us. Carbolic tray. +Thank you! Dressings of carbolic gauze, if you +please! Push the chloroform, Mr. Johnson. Have the +small saw ready in case it is necessary to remove the +jaw." + +The patient was moaning gently under the towel +which had been placed over her face. She tried +to raise her arms and to draw up her knees, but two +dressers restrained her. The heavy air was full of +the penetrating smells of carbolic acid and of +chloroform. A muffled cry came from under the towel, +and then a snatch of a song, sung in a high, +quavering, monotonous voice: + + +"He says, says he, + +If you fly with me + +You'll be mistress of the ice-cream van. + +You'll be mistress of the----" + +It mumbled off into a drone and stopped. The surgeon +came across, still rubbing his hands, and spoke to an +elderly man in front of the novice. + +"Narrow squeak for the Government," he said. + +"Oh, ten is enough." + +"They won't have ten long. They'd do better to +resign before they are driven to it." + +"Oh, I should fight it out." + +"What's the use. They can't get past the +committee even if they got a vote in the House. I +was talking to----" + +"Patient's ready, sir," said the dresser. + +"Talking to McDonald--but I'll tell you about it +presently." He walked back to the patient, who was +breathing in long, heavy gasps. "I propose," said +he, passing his hand over the tumour in an almost +caressing fashion, "to make a free incision over the +posterior border, and to take another forward at +right angles to the lower end of it. Might I +trouble you for a medium knife, Mr. Johnson?" + +The novice, with eyes which were dilating with +horror, saw the surgeon pick up the long, gleaming +knife, dip it into a tin basin, and balance it in his +fingers as an artist might his brush. Then he saw +him pinch up the skin above the tumour with his left +hand. At the sight his nerves, which had already +been tried once or twice that day, gave way utterly. +His head swain round, and he felt that in another +instant he might faint. He dared not look at the +patient. He dug his thumbs into his ears lest some +scream should come to haunt him, and he fixed his +eyes rigidly upon the wooden ledge in front of him. +One glance, one cry, would, he knew, break down the +shred of self-possession which he still retained. He +tried to think of cricket, of green fields and +rippling water, of his sisters at home--of anything +rather than of what was going on so near him. + +And yet somehow, even with his ears stopped up, +sounds seemed to penetrate to him and to carry their +own tale. He heard, or thought that he heard, the +long hissing of the carbolic engine. Then he was +conscious of some movement among the dressers. Were +there groans, too, breaking in upon him, and some +other sound, some fluid sound, which was more +dreadfully suggestive still? His mind would keep +building up every step of the operation, and +fancy made it more ghastly than fact could have been. +His nerves tingled and quivered. Minute by minute +the giddiness grew more marked, the numb, sickly +feeling at his heart more distressing. And then +suddenly, with a groan, his head pitching forward, +and his brow cracking sharply upon the narrow wooden +shelf in front of him, he lay in a dead faint. + + +When he came to himself, he was lying in the +empty theatre, with his collar and shirt undone. The +third year's man was dabbing a wet sponge over his +face, and a couple of grinning dressers were looking +on. + +"All right," cried the novice, sitting up and +rubbing his eyes. "I'm sorry to have made an ass of +myself." + +"Well, so I should think," said his companion. + +"What on earth did you faint about?" + +"I couldn't help it. It was that operation." + +"What operation?" + +"Why, that cancer." + +There was a pause, and then the three students +burst out laughing. "Why, you juggins!" cried the +senior man, "there never was an operation at all! +They found the patient didn't stand the chloroform +well, and so the whole thing was off. Archer has +been giving us one of his racy lectures, and you +fainted just in the middle of his favourite story." + + + + +A STRAGGLER OF '15. + + +It was a dull October morning, and heavy, rolling +fog-wreaths lay low over the wet grey roofs of the +Woolwich houses. Down in the long, brick-lined +streets all was sodden and greasy and cheerless. +From the high dark buildings of the arsenal came the +whirr of many wheels, the thudding of weights, and +the buzz and babel of human toil. Beyond, the +dwellings of the workingmen, smoke-stained and +unlovely, radiated away in a lessening perspective of +narrowing road and dwindling wall. + +There were few folk in the streets, for the +toilers had all been absorbed since break of day by +the huge smoke-spouting monster, which sucked in the +manhood of the town, to belch it forth weary and +work-stained every night. Little groups of children +straggled to school, or loitered to peep through the +single, front windows at the big, gilt-edged Bibles, +balanced upon small, three-legged tables, which were +their usual adornment. Stout women, with thick, red +arms and dirty aprons, stood upon the whitened +doorsteps, leaning upon their brooms, and shrieking +their morning greetings across the road. One +stouter, redder, and dirtier than the rest, had +gathered a small knot of cronies around her and was +talking energetically, with little shrill titters +from her audience to punctuate her remarks. + +"Old enough to know better!" she cried, in answer +to an exclamation from one of the listeners. "If he +hain't no sense now, I 'specs he won't learn much on +this side o'Jordan. Why, 'ow old is he at all? +Blessed if I could ever make out." + +"Well, it ain't so hard to reckon," said a sharp- +featured pale-faced woman with watery blue eyes. +"He's been at the battle o' Waterloo, and has the +pension and medal to prove it." + +"That were a ter'ble long time agone," remarked a +third. "It were afore I were born." + +"It were fifteen year after the beginnin' of the +century," cried a younger woman, who had stood +leaning against the wall, with a smile of superior +knowledge upon her face. "My Bill was a-saying so +last Sabbath, when I spoke to him o' old Daddy +Brewster, here." + +"And suppose he spoke truth, Missus Simpson, 'ow +long agone do that make it?" + +"It's eighty-one now," said the original speaker, +checking off the years upon her coarse red +fingers, "and that were fifteen. Ten and ten, and +ten, and ten, and ten--why, it's only sixty-and-six +year, so he ain't so old after all." + +"But he weren't a newborn babe at the battle, +silly!" cried the young woman with a chuckle. +"S'pose he were only twenty, then he couldn't be less +than six-and-eighty now, at the lowest." + +"Aye, he's that--every day of it," cried several. + +"I've had 'bout enough of it," remarked the large +woman gloomily. "Unless his young niece, or +grandniece, or whatever she is, come to-day, I'm off, +and he can find some one else to do his work. Your +own 'ome first, says I." + +"Ain't he quiet, then, Missus Simpson?" asked the +youngest of the group. + +"Listen to him now," she answered, with her hand +half raised and her head turned slantwise towards the +open door. From the upper floor there came a +shuffling, sliding sound with a sharp tapping of a +stick. "There he go back and forrards, doing what he +call his sentry go. 'Arf the night through he's at +that game, the silly old juggins. At six o'clock +this very mornin there he was beatin' with a stick at +my door. `Turn out, guard!' he cried, and a lot more +jargon that I could make nothing of. Then what with +his coughin' and 'awkin' and spittin', there ain't no +gettin' a wink o' sleep. Hark to him now!" + +"Missus Simpson, Missus Simpson!" cried a cracked +and querulous voice from above. + +"That's him!" she cried, nodding her head with an +air of triumph. "He do go on somethin' scandalous. +Yes, Mr. Brewster, sir." + +"I want my morning ration, Missus Simpson." + +"It's just ready, Mr. Brewster, sir." + +"Blessed if he ain't like a baby cryin' for its +pap," said the young woman. + +"I feel as if I could shake his old bones up +sometimes!" cried Mrs. Simpson viciously. "But who's +for a 'arf of fourpenny?" + +The whole company were about to shuffle off to +the public house, when a young girl stepped across +the road and touched the housekeeper timidly upon the +arm. "I think that is No. 56 Arsenal View," she +said. "Can you tell me if Mr. Brewster lives here?" + +The housekeeper looked critically at the +newcomer. She was a girl of about twenty, broad- +faced and comely, with a turned-up nose and large, +honest grey eyes. Her print dress, her straw hat, +with its bunch of glaring poppies, and the bundle she +carried, had all a smack of the country. + +"You're Norah Brewster, I s'pose," said Mrs. +Simpson, eyeing her up and down with no friendly +gaze. + +"Yes, I've come to look after my Granduncle +Gregory." + +"And a good job too," cried the housekeeper, with +a toss of her head. "It's about time that some of +his own folk took a turn at it, for I've had enough +of it. There you are, young woman! In you go and +make yourself at home. There's tea in the caddy and +bacon on the dresser, and the old man will be about +you if you don't fetch him his breakfast. I'll send +for my things in the evenin'." With a nod she +strolled off with her attendant gossips in the +direction of the public house. + +Thus left to her own devices, the country girl +walked into the front room and took off her hat and +jacket. It was a low-roofed apartment with a +sputtering fire upon which a small brass kettle was +singing cheerily. A stained cloth lay over half the +table, with an empty brown teapot, a loaf of bread, +and some coarse crockery. Norah Brewster looked +rapidly about her, and in an instant took over her +new duties. Ere five minutes had passed the tea was +made, two slices of bacon were frizzling on the pan, +the table was rearranged, the antimacassars +straightened over the sombre brown furniture, and the +whole room had taken a new air of comfort and +neatness. This done she looked round curiously at +the prints upon the walls. Over the fireplace, in a +small, square case, a brown medal caught her eye, +hanging from a strip of purple ribbon. Beneath was a +slip of newspaper cutting. She stood on her +tiptoes, with her fingers on the edge of the +mantelpiece, and craned her neck up to see it, +glancing down from time to time at the bacon which +simmered and hissed beneath her. The cutting was +yellow with age, and ran in this way: + +"On Tuesday an interesting ceremony was performed +at the barracks of the Third Regiment of Guards, +when, in the presence of the Prince Regent, Lord +Hill, Lord Saltoun, and an assemblage which comprised +beauty as well as valour, a special medal was +presented to Corporal Gregory Brewster, of Captain +Haldane's flank company, in recognition of his +gallantry in the recent great battle in the Lowlands. +It appears that on the ever-memorable 18th of June +four companies of the Third Guards and of the +Coldstreams, under the command of Colonels Maitland +and Byng, held the important farmhouse of Hougoumont +at the right of the British position. At a critical +point of the action these troops found themselves +short of powder. Seeing that Generals Foy and Jerome +Buonaparte were again massing their infantry for an +attack on the position, Colonel Byng dispatched +Corporal Brewster to the rear to hasten up the +reserve ammunition. Brewster came upon two powder +tumbrils of the Nassau division, and succeeded, after +menacing the drivers with his musket, in inducing +them to convey their powder to Hougoumont. In +his absence, however, the hedges surrounding the +position had been set on fire by a howitzer battery +of the French, and the passage of the carts full of +powder became a most hazardous matter. The first +tumbril exploded, blowing the driver to fragments. +Daunted by the fate of his comrade, the second driver +turned his horses, but Corporal Brewster, springing +upon his seat, hurled the man down, and urging the +powder cart through the flames, succeeded in forcing +his way to his companions. To this gallant deed may +be directly attributed the success of the British +arms, for without powder it would have been +impossible to have held Hougoumont, and the Duke of +Wellington had repeatedly declared that had +Hougoumont fallen, as well as La Haye Sainte, he +would have found it impossible to have held his +ground. Long may the heroic Brewster live to +treasure the medal which he has so bravely won, and +to look back with pride to the day when, in the +presence of his comrades, he received this tribute to +his valour from the august hands of the first +gentleman of the realm." + +The reading of this old cutting increased in the +girl's mind the veneration which she had always had +for her warrior kinsman. From her infancy he had +been her hero, and she remembered how her father used +to speak of his courage and his strength, how he +could strike down a bullock with a blow of his fist +and carry a fat sheep under either arm. True, she +had never seen him, but a rude painting at home which +depicted a square-faced, clean shaven, stalwart man +with a great bearskin cap, rose ever before her +memory when she thought of him. + +She was still gazing at the brown medal and +wondering what the "Dulce et decorum est" might +mean, which was inscribed upon the edge, when there +came a sudden tapping and shuffling upon the stair, +and there at the door was standing the very man who +had been so often in her thoughts. + +But could this indeed be he? Where was the +martial air, the flashing eye, the warrior face which +she had pictured? There, framed in the doorway, was +a huge twisted old man, gaunt and puckered, with +twitching hands and shuffling, purposeless feet. A +cloud of fluffy white hair, a red-veined nose, two +thick tufts of eyebrow and a pair of dimly +questioning, watery blue eyes--these were what met +her gaze. He leaned forward upon a stick, while his +shoulders rose and fell with his crackling, rasping +breathing. + +"I want my morning rations," he crooned, as he +stumped forward to his chair. "The cold nips me +without 'em. See to my fingers!" He held out his +distorted hands, all blue at the tips, wrinkled +and gnarled, with huge, projecting knuckles. + +"It's nigh ready," answered the girl, gazing at +him with wonder in her eyes. "Don't you know who I +am, granduncle? I am Norah Brewster from Witham." + +"Rum is warm," mumbled the old man, rocking to +and fro in his chair, "and schnapps is warm, and +there's 'eat in soup, but it's a dish o' tea for me. +What did you say your name was?" + +"Norah Brewster." + +"You can speak out, lass. Seems to me folk's +voices isn't as loud as they used." + +"I'm Norah Brewster, uncle. I'm your grandniece +come down from Essex way to live with you." + +"You'll be brother Jarge's girl! Lor, to think +o' little Jarge having a girl!" He chuckled hoarsely +to himself, and the long, stringy sinews of his +throat jerked and quivered. + +"I am the daughter of your brother George's son," +said she, as she turned the bacon. + +"Lor, but little Jarge was a rare un!" he +continued. "Eh, by Jimini, there was no chousing +Jarge. He's got a bull pup o' mine that I gave him +when I took the bounty. You've heard him speak of +it, likely?" + +"Why, grandpa George has been dead this twenty +year," said she, pouring out the tea. + +"Well, it was a bootiful pup--aye, a well-bred +un, by Jimini! I'm cold for lack o' my rations. Rum +is good, and so is schnapps, but I'd as lief have tea +as either." + +He breathed heavily while he devoured his food. +"It's a middlin' goodish way you've come," said he at +last. "Likely the stage left yesternight." + +"The what, uncle?" + +"The coach that brought you." + +"Nay, I came by the mornin' train." + +"Lor, now, think o' that! You ain't afeard o' +those newfangled things! By Jimini, to think of you +comin' by railroad like that! What's the world a- +comin' to!" + +There was silence for some minutes while Norah +sat stirring her tea and glancing sideways at the +bluish lips and champing jaws of her companion. + +"You must have seen a deal o' life, uncle," said +she. "It must seem a long, long time to you!" + +"Not so very long neither. I'm ninety, come +Candlemas; but it don't seem long since I took the +bounty. And that battle, it might have been +yesterday. Eh, but I get a power o' good from my +rations!" He did indeed look less worn and +colourless than when she first saw him. His face was +flushed and his back more erect. + +"Have you read that?" he asked, jerking his head +towards the cutting. + +"Yes, uncle, and I'm sure you must be proud of +it." + +"Ah, it was a great day for me! A great day! +The Regent was there, and a fine body of a man too! +`The ridgment is proud of you,' says he. `And I'm +proud of the ridgment,' say I. `A damned good answer +too!' says he to Lord Hill, and they both bu'st out +a-laughin'. But what be you a-peepin' out o' the +window for?" + +"Oh, uncle, here's a regiment of soldiers coming +down the street with the band playing in front of +them." + +"A ridgment, eh? Where be my glasses? Lor, but +I can hear the band, as plain as plain! Here's the +pioneers an' the drum-major! What be their number, +lass?" His eyes were shining and his bony yellow +fingers, like the claws of some fierce old bird, dug +into her shoulder. + +"They don't seem to have no number, uncle. +They've something wrote on their shoulders. +Oxfordshire, I think it be." + +"Ah, yes!" he growled. "I heard as they'd +dropped the numbers and given them newfangled names. +There they go, by Jimini! They're young mostly, but +they hain't forgot how to march. They have the +swing-aye, I'll say that for them. They've got the +swing." He gazed after them until the last files +had turned the corner and the measured tramp of their +marching had died away in the distance. + +He had just regained his chair when the door +opened and a gentleman stepped in. + +"Ah, Mr. Brewster! Better to-day?" he asked. + +"Come in, doctor! Yes, I'm better. But there's +a deal o' bubbling in my chest. It's all them +toobes. If I could but cut the phlegm, I'd be right. +Can't you give me something to cut the phlegm?" + +The doctor, a grave-faced young man, put his +fingers to the furrowed, blue-corded wrist. + +"You must be careful," he said. "You must take +no liberties." The thin tide of life seemed to +thrill rather than to throb under his finger. + +The old man chuckled. + +"I've got brother Jarge's girl to look after me +now. She'll see I don't break barracks or do what I +hadn't ought to. Why, darn my skin, I knew something +was amiss! + +"With what?" + +"Why, with them soldiers. You saw them pass, +doctor--eh? They'd forgot their stocks. Not one on +'em had his stock on." He croaked and chuckled for a +long time over his discovery. "It wouldn't ha' done +for the Dook!" he muttered. "No, by Jimini! the Dook +would ha' had a word there." + +The doctor smiled. "Well, you are doing very +well," said he. "I'll look in once a week or so, and +see how you are." As Norah followed him to the door, +he beckoned her outside. + +"He is very weak," he whispered. "If you find +him failing you must send for me." + +"What ails him, doctor?" + +"Ninety years ails him. His arteries are pipes +of lime. His heart is shrunken and flabby. The man +is worn out." + +Norah stood watching the brisk figure of the +young doctor, and pondering over these new +responsibilities which had come upon her. When she +turned a tall, brown-faced artilleryman, with the +three gold chevrons of sergeant upon his arm, was +standing, carbine in hand, at her elbow. + +"Good-morning, miss," said he, raising one thick +finger to his jaunty, yellow-banded cap. "I b'lieve +there's an old gentleman lives here of the name of +Brewster, who was engaged in the battle o' Waterloo?" + +"It's my granduncle, sir," said Norah, casting +down her eyes before the keen, critical gaze of the +young soldier. "He is in the front parlour." + +"Could I have a word with him, miss? I'll call +again if it don't chance to be convenient." + +"I am sure that he would be very glad to see you, +sir. He's in here, if you'll step in. Uncle, here's +a gentleman who wants to speak with you." + +"Proud to see you, sir--proud and glad, sir," cried +the sergeant, taking three steps forward into the +room, and grounding his carbine while he raised his +hand, palm forwards, in a salute. Norah stood by the +door, with her mouth and eyes open, wondering if her +granduncle had ever, in his prime, looked like this +magnificent creature, and whether he, in his turn, +would ever come to resemble her granduncle. + +The old man blinked up at his visitor, and shook +his head slowly. "Sit ye down, sergeant," said he, +pointing with his stick to a chair. "You're full +young for the stripes. Lordy, it's easier to get +three now than one in my day. Gunners were old +soldiers then and the grey hairs came quicker than +the three stripes." + +"I am eight years' service, sir," cried the +sergeant. "Macdonald is my name--Sergeant Macdonald, +of H Battery, Southern Artillery Division. I have +called as the spokesman of my mates at the gunner's +barracks to say that we are proud to have you in the +town, sir." + +Old Brewster chuckled and rubbed his bony hands. +"That were what the Regent said," he cried. "`The +ridgment is proud of ye,' says he. `And I am proud +of the ridgment,' says I. `And a damned good answer +too,' says he, and he and Lord Hill bu'st out a- +laughin'." + +"The non-commissioned mess would be proud and +honoured to see you, sir," said Sergeant Macdonald; +"and if you could step as far you'll always find a +pipe o' baccy and a glass o' grog a-waitin' you." + +The old man laughed until he coughed. "Like to +see me, would they? The dogs!" said he. "Well, +well, when the warm weather comes again I'll maybe +drop in. Too grand for a canteen, eh? Got your mess +just the same as the orficers. What's the world a- +comin' to at all!" + +"You was in the line, sir, was you not?" asked +the sergeant respectfully. + +"The line?" cried the old man, with shrill scorn. +"Never wore a shako in my life. I am a guardsman, I +am. Served in the Third Guards--the same they call +now the Scots Guards. Lordy, but they have all +marched away--every man of them--from old Colonel +Byng down to the drummer boys, and here am I a +straggler--that's what I am, sergeant, a straggler! +I'm here when I ought to be there. But it ain't my +fault neither, for I'm ready to fall in when the word +comes." + +"We've all got to muster there," answered the +sergeant. "Won't you try my baccy, sir?" handing +over a sealskin pouch. + +Old Brewster drew a blackened clay pipe from his +pocket, and began to stuff the tobacco into the bowl. +In an instant it slipped through his fingers, and was +broken to pieces on the floor. His lip quivered, +his nose puckered up, and he began crying with the +long, helpless sobs of a child. "I've broke my +pipe," he cried. + +"Don't, uncle; oh, don't!" cried Norah, bending +over him, and patting his white head as one soothes a +baby. "It don't matter. We can easy get another." + +"Don't you fret yourself, sir," said the +sergeant. "'Ere's a wooden pipe with an amber mouth, +if you'll do me the honour to accept it from me. I'd +be real glad if you will take it." + +"Jimini!" cried he, his smiles breaking in an +instant through his tears. "It's a fine pipe. See +to my new pipe, Norah. I lay that Jarge never had a +pipe like that. You've got your firelock there, +sergeant?" + +"Yes, sir. I was on my way back from the butts +when I looked in." + +"Let me have the feel of it. Lordy, but it seems +like old times to have one's hand on a musket. +What's the manual, sergeant, eh? Cock your +firelock--look to your priming--present your +firelock--eh, sergeant? Oh, Jimini, I've broke your +musket in halves!" + +"That's all right, sir," cried the gunner +laughing. "You pressed on the lever and opened the +breech-piece. That's where we load 'em, you know." + +"Load 'em at the wrong end! Well, well, to +think o' that! And no ramrod neither! I've +heard tell of it, but I never believed it afore. Ah! +it won't come up to brown Bess. When there's work to +be done, you mark my word and see if they don't come +back to brown Bess." + +"By the Lord, sir!" cried the sergeant hotly, +"they need some change out in South Africa now. I see +by this mornin's paper that the Government has +knuckled under to these Boers. They're hot about it +at the non-com. mess, I can tell you, sir." + +"Eh--eh," croaked old Brewster. "By Jimini! it +wouldn't ha' done for the Dook; the Dook would ha' +had a word to say over that." + +"Ah, that he would, sir!" cried the sergeant; and +God send us another like him. But I've wearied you +enough for one sitting. I'll look in again, and I'll +bring a comrade or two with me, if I may, for there +isn't one but would be proud to have speech with +you." + +So, with another salute to the veteran and a +gleam of white teeth at Norah, the big gunner +withdrew, leaving a memory of blue cloth and of gold +braid behind him. Many days had not passed, however, +before he was back again, and during all the long +winter he was a frequent visitor at Arsenal View. +There came a time, at last, when it might be doubted +to which of the two occupants his visits were +directed, nor was it hard to say by which he was most +anxiously awaited. He brought others with him; +and soon, through all the lines, a pilgrimage to +Daddy Brewster's came to be looked upon as the proper +thing to do. Gunners and sappers, linesmen and +dragoons, came bowing and bobbing into the little +parlour, with clatter of side arms and clink of +spurs, stretching their long legs across the +patchwork rug, and hunting in the front of their +tunics for the screw of tobacco or paper of snuff +which they had brought as a sign of their esteem. + +It was a deadly cold winter, with six weeks on +end of snow on the ground, and Norah had a hard task +to keep the life in that time-worn body. There were +times when his mind would leave him, and when, save +an animal outcry when the hour of his meals came +round, no word would fall from him. He was a white- +haired child, with all a child's troubles and +emotions. As the warm weather came once more, +however, and the green buds peeped forth again upon +the trees, the blood thawed in his veins, and he +would even drag himself as far as the door to bask in +the life-giving sunshine. + +"It do hearten me up so," he said one morning, as +he glowed in the hot May sun. "It's a job to keep +back the flies, though. They get owdacious in this +weather, and they do plague me cruel." + +"I'll keep them off you, uncle," said Norah. + +"Eh, but it's fine! This sunshine makes me think +o' the glory to come. You might read me a bit o' the +Bible, lass. I find it wonderful soothing." + +"What part would you like, uncle?" + +"Oh, them wars." + +"The wars?" + +"Aye, keep to the wars! Give me the Old +Testament for choice. There's more taste to it, to +my mind. When parson comes he wants to get off to +something else; but it's Joshua or nothing with me. +Them Israelites was good soldiers--good growed +soldiers, all of 'em." + +"But, uncle," pleaded Norah, "it's all peace in +the next world." + +"No, it ain't, gal." + +"Oh, yes, uncle, surely!" + +The old corporal knocked his stick irritably upon +the ground. "I tell ye it ain't, gal. I asked +parson." + +"Well, what did he say?" + +"He said there was to be a last fight. He even +gave it a name, he did. The battle of Arm--Arm----" + +"Armageddon." + +"Aye, that's the name parson said. I 'specs the +Third Guards'll be there. And the Dook--the Dook'll +have a word to say." + +An elderly, grey-whiskered gentleman had been +walking down the street, glancing up at the +numbers of the houses. Now as his eyes fell upon the +old man, he came straight for him. + +"Hullo!" said he; "perhaps you are Gregory +Brewster?" + +"My name, sir," answered the veteran. + +"You are the same Brewster, as I understand, who +is on the roll of the Scots Guards as having been +present at the battle of Waterloo?" + +"I am that man, sir, though we called it the +Third Guards in those days. It was a fine ridgment, +and they only need me to make up a full muster." + +"Tut, tut! they'll have to wait years for that," +said the gentleman heartily. "But I am the colonel +of the Scots Guards, and I thought I would like to +have a word with you." + +Old Gregory Brewster was up in an instant, with +his hand to his rabbit-skin cap. "God bless me!" he +cried, "to think of it! to think of it!" + +"Hadn't the gentleman better come in?" suggested +the practical Norah from behind the door. + +"Surely, sir, surely; walk in, sir, if I may be +so bold." In his excitement he had forgotten his +stick, and as he led the way into the parlour his +knees tottered, and he threw out his hands. In an +instant the colonel had caught him on one side and +Norah on the other. + +"Easy and steady," said the colonel, as he led +him to his armchair. + +"Thank ye, sir; I was near gone that time. But, +Lordy I why, I can scarce believe it. To think of me +the corporal of the flank company and you the colonel +of the battalion! How things come round, to be +sure!" + +"Why, we are very proud of you in London," said +the colonel. "And so you are actually one of the men +who held Hougoumont." He looked at the bony, +trembling hands, with their huge, knotted knuckles, +the stringy throat, and the heaving, rounded +shoulders. Could this, indeed, be the last of that +band of heroes? Then he glanced at the half-filled +phials, the blue liniment bottles, the long-spouted +kettle, and the sordid details of the sick room. +"Better, surely, had he died under the blazing +rafters of the Belgian farmhouse," thought the +colonel. + +"I hope that you are pretty comfortable and +happy," he remarked after a pause. + +"Thank ye, sir. I have a good deal o' trouble +with my toobes--a deal o' trouble. You wouldn't +think the job it is to cut the phlegm. And I need my +rations. I gets cold without 'em. And the flies! I +ain't strong enough to fight against them." + +"How's the memory?" asked the colonel. + +"Oh, there ain't nothing amiss there. Why, +sir, I could give you the name of every man in +Captain Haldane's flank company." + +"And the battle--you remember it?" + +"Why, I sees it all afore me every time I shuts +my eyes. Lordy, sir, you wouldn't hardly believe how +clear it is to me. There's our line from the +paregoric bottle right along to the snuff box. D'ye +see? Well, then, the pill box is for Hougoumont on +the right--where we was--and Norah's thimble for La +Haye Sainte. There it is, all right, sir; and here +were our guns, and here behind the reserves and the +Belgians. Ach, them Belgians!" He spat furiously +into the fire. "Then here's the French, where my +pipe lies; and over here, where I put my baccy pouch, +was the Proosians a-comin' up on our left flank. +Jimini, but it was a glad sight to see the smoke of +their guns!" + +"And what was it that struck you most now in +connection with the whole affair?" asked the colonel. + +"I lost three half-crowns over it, I did," +crooned old Brewster. "I shouldn't wonder if I was +never to get that money now. I lent 'em to Jabez +Smith, my rear rank man, in Brussels. `Only till +pay-day, Grig,' says he. By Gosh! he was stuck by a +lancer at Quatre Bras, and me with not so much as a +slip o' paper to prove the debt! Them three half- +crowns is as good as lost to me." + +The colonel rose from his chair laughing. "The +officers of the Guards want you to buy yourself some +little trifle which may add to your comfort," he +said. "It is not from me, so you need not thank me." +He took up the old man's tobacco pouch and slipped a +crisp banknote inside it. + +"Thank ye kindly, sir. But there's one favour +that I would like to ask you, colonel." + +"Yes, my man." + +"If I'm called, colonel, you won't grudge me a +flag and a firing party? I'm not a civilian; I'm a +guardsman--I'm the last of the old Third Guards." + +"All right, my man, I'll see to it," said the +colonel. "Good-bye; I hope to have nothing but good +news from you." + +"A kind gentleman, Norah," croaked old Brewster, +as they saw him walk past the window; "but, Lordy, he +ain't fit to hold the stirrup o' my Colonel Byng!" + +It was on the very next day that the old corporal +took a sudden change for the worse. Even the golden +sunlight streaming through the window seemed unable +to warm that withered frame. The doctor came and +shook his head in silence. All day the man lay with +only his puffing blue lips and the twitching of his +scraggy neck to show that he still held the breath of +life. Norah and Sergeant Macdonald had sat by +him in the afternoon, but he had shown no +consciousness of their presence. He lay peacefully, +his eyes half closed, his hands under his cheek, as +one who is very weary. + +They had left him for an instant and were sitting +in the front room, where Norah was preparing tea, +when of a sudden they heard a shout that rang through +the house. Loud and clear and swelling, it pealed in +their ears--a voice full of strength and energy and +fiery passion. "The Guards need powder!" it cried; +and yet again, "The Guards need powder!" + +The sergeant sprang from his chair and rushed in, +followed by the trembling Norah. There was the old +man standing up, his blue eyes sparkling, his white +hair bristling, his whole figure towering and +expanding, with eagle head and glance of fire. "The +Guards need powder!" he thundered once again, "and, +by God, they shall have it!" He threw up his long +arms, and sank back with a groan into his chair. The +sergeant stooped over him, and his face darkened. + +"Oh, Archie, Archie," sobbed the frightened girl, +"what do you think of him?" + +The sergeant turned away. "I think," said he, +"that the Third Guards have a full muster now." + + + + +THE THIRD GENERATION. + + +Scudamore Lane, sloping down riverwards from just +behind the Monument, lies at night in the shadow of +two black and monstrous walls which loom high above +the glimmer of the scattered gas lamps. The +footpaths are narrow, and the causeway is paved with +rounded cobblestones, so that the endless drays roar +along it like breaking waves. A few old-fashioned +houses lie scattered among the business premises, and +in one of these, half-way down on the left-hand side, +Dr. Horace Selby conducts his large practice. It is +a singular street for so big a man; but a specialist +who has an European reputation can afford to live +where he likes. In his particular branch, too, +patients do not always regard seclusion as a +disadvantage. + +It was only ten o'clock. The dull roar of the +traffic which converged all day upon London Bridge +had died away now to a mere confused murmur. It was +raining heavily, and the gas shone dimly through the +streaked and dripping glass, throwing little +circles upon the glistening cobblestones. The air +was full of the sounds of the rain, the thin swish of +its fall, the heavier drip from the eaves, and the +swirl and gurgle down the two steep gutters and +through the sewer grating. There was only one figure +in the whole length of Scudamore Lane. It was that +of a man, and it stood outside the door of Dr. Horace +Selby. + +He had just rung and was waiting for an answer. +The fanlight beat full upon the gleaming shoulders of +his waterproof and upon his upturned features. It +was a wan, sensitive, clear-cut face, with some +subtle, nameless peculiarity in its expression, +something of the startled horse in the white-rimmed +eye, something too of the helpless child in the drawn +cheek and the weakening of the lower lip. The man- +servant knew the stranger as a patient at a bare +glance at those frightened eyes. Such a look had +been seen at that door many times before. + +"Is the doctor in?" + +The man hesitated. + +"He has had a few friends to dinner, sir. He +does not like to be disturbed outside his usual +hours, sir." + +"Tell him that I MUST see him. Tell him that +it is of the very first importance. Here is my +card." He fumbled with his trembling fingers in +trying to draw one from his case. "Sir Francis +Norton is the name. Tell him that Sir Francis +Norton, of Deane Park, must see him without delay." + +"Yes, sir." The butler closed his fingers upon +the card and the half-sovereign which accompanied it. +"Better hang your coat up here in the hall. It is +very wet. Now if you will wait here in the +consulting-room, I have no doubt that I shall be able +to send the doctor in to you." + +It was a large and lofty room in which the young +baronet found himself. The carpet was so soft and +thick that his feet made no sound as he walked across +it. The two gas jets were turned only half-way up, +and the dim light with the faint aromatic smell which +filled the air had a vaguely religious suggestion. +He sat down in a shining leather armchair by the +smouldering fire and looked gloomily about him. Two +sides of the room were taken up with books, fat and +sombre, with broad gold lettering upon their backs. +Beside him was the high, old-fashioned mantelpiece of +white marble--the top of it strewed with cotton +wadding and bandages, graduated measures, and little +bottles. There was one with a broad neck just above +him containing bluestone, and another narrower one +with what looked like the ruins of a broken pipestem +and "Caustic" outside upon a red label. +Thermometers, hypodermic syringes bistouries and +spatulas were scattered about both on the mantelpiece +and on the central table on either side of the +sloping desk. On the same table, to the right, stood +copies of the five books which Dr. Horace Selby had +written upon the subject with which his name is +peculiarly associated, while on the left, on the top +of a red medical directory, lay a huge glass model of +a human eye the size of a turnip, which opened down +the centre to expose the lens and double chamber +within. + +Sir Francis Norton had never been remarkable for +his powers of observation, and yet he found himself +watching these trifles with the keenest attention. +Even the corrosion of the cork of an acid bottle +caught his eye, and he wondered that the doctor did +not use glass stoppers. Tiny scratches where the +light glinted off from the table, little stains upon +the leather of the desk, chemical formulae scribbled +upon the labels of the phials--nothing was too slight +to arrest his attention. And his sense of hearing +was equally alert. The heavy ticking of the solemn +black clock above the mantelpiece struck quite +painfully upon his ears. Yet in spite of it, and in +spite also of the thick, old-fashioned wooden +partition, he could hear voices of men talking in the +next room, and could even catch scraps of their +conversation. "Second hand was bound to take it." +"Why, you drew the last of them yourself!" + +"How could I play the queen when I knew that the +ace was against me?" The phrases came in little +spurts falling back into the dull murmur of +conversation. And then suddenly he heard the +creaking of a door and a step in the hall, and knew +with a tingling mixture of impatience and horror that +the crisis of his life was at hand. + +Dr. Horace Selby was a large, portly man with an +imposing presence. His nose and chin were bold and +pronounced, yet his features were puffy, a +combination which would blend more freely with the +wig and cravat of the early Georges than with the +close-cropped hair and black frock-coat of the end of +the nineteenth century. He was clean shaven, for his +mouth was too good to cover--large, flexible, and +sensitive, with a kindly human softening at either +corner which with his brown sympathetic eyes had +drawn out many a shame-struck sinner's secret. Two +masterful little bushy side-whiskers bristled out +from under his ears spindling away upwards to merge +in the thick curves of his brindled hair. To his +patients there was something reassuring in the mere +bulk and dignity of the man. A high and easy bearing +in medicine as in war bears with it a hint of +victories in the past, and a promise of others to +come. Dr. Horace Selby's face was a consolation, and +so too were the large, white, soothing hands, one of +which he held out to his visitor. + +"I am sorry to have kept you waiting. It is a +conflict of duties, you perceive--a host's to his +guests and an adviser's to his patient. But now I am +entirely at your disposal, Sir Francis. But dear me, +you are very cold." + +"Yes, I am cold." + +"And you are trembling all over. Tut, tut, this +will never do! This miserable night has chilled you. +Perhaps some little stimulant----" + +"No, thank you. I would really rather not. And +it is not the night which has chilled me. I am +frightened, doctor." + +The doctor half-turned in his chair, and he +patted the arch of the young man's knee, as he might +the neck of a restless horse. + +"What then?" he asked, looking over his shoulder +at the pale face with the startled eyes. + +Twice the young man parted his lips. Then he +stooped with a sudden gesture, and turning up the +right leg of his trousers he pulled down his sock and +thrust forward his shin. The doctor made a clicking +noise with his tongue as he glanced at it. + +"Both legs?" + +"No, only one." + +"Suddenly?" + +"This morning." + +"Hum." + +The doctor pouted his lips, and drew his finger +and thumb down the line of his chin. "Can you +account for it?" he asked briskly. + +"No." + +A trace of sternness came into the large brown +eyes. + +"I need not point out to you that unless the most +absolute frankness----" + +The patient sprang from his chair. "So help me +God!" he cried, "I have nothing in my life with which +to reproach myself. Do you think that I would be +such a fool as to come here and tell you lies. Once +for all, I have nothing to regret." He was a +pitiful, half-tragic and half-grotesque figure, as he +stood with one trouser leg rolled to the knee, and +that ever present horror still lurking in his eyes. +A burst of merriment came from the card-players in +the next room, and the two looked at each other in +silence. + +"Sit down," said the doctor abruptly, "your +assurance is quite sufficient." He stooped and ran +his finger down the line of the young man's shin, +raising it at one point. "Hum, serpiginous," he +murmured, shaking his head. "Any other symptoms?" + +"My eyes have been a little weak." + +"Let me see your teeth." He glanced at them, and +again made the gentle, clicking sound of sympathy and +disapprobation. + +"Now your eye." He lit a lamp at the +patient's elbow, and holding a small crystal lens +to concentrate the light, he threw it obliquely upon +the patient's eye. As he did so a glow of pleasure +came over his large expressive face, a flush of such +enthusiasm as the botanist feels when he packs the +rare plant into his tin knapsack, or the astronomer +when the long-sought comet first swims into the field +of his telescope. + +"This is very typical--very typical indeed," he +murmured, turning to his desk and jotting down a few +memoranda upon a sheet of paper. "Curiously enough, +I am writing a monograph upon the subject. It is +singular that you should have been able to furnish so +well-marked a case." He had so forgotten the patient +in his symptom, that he had assumed an almost +congratulatory air towards its possessor. He +reverted to human sympathy again, as his patient +asked for particulars. + +"My dear sir, there is no occasion for us to go +into strictly professional details together," said he +soothingly. "If, for example, I were to say that you +have interstitial keratitis, how would you be the +wiser? There are indications of a strumous +diathesis. In broad terms, I may say that you have a +constitutional and hereditary taint." + +The young baronet sank back in his chair, and his +chin fell forwards upon his chest. The doctor sprang +to a side-table and poured out half a glass of +liqueur brandy which he held to his patient's lips. +A little fleck of colour came into his cheeks as he +drank it down. + +"Perhaps I spoke a little abruptly," said the +doctor, "but you must have known the nature of your +complaint. Why, otherwise, should you have come to +me?" + +"God help me, I suspected it; but only today when +my leg grew bad. My father had a leg like this." + +"It was from him, then----?" + +"No, from my grandfather. You have heard of Sir +Rupert Norton, the great Corinthian?" + +The doctor was a man of wide reading with a +retentive, memory. The name brought back instantly +to him the remembrance of the sinister reputation of +its owner--a notorious buck of the thirties--who had +gambled and duelled and steeped himself in drink and +debauchery, until even the vile set with whom he +consorted had shrunk away from him in horror, and +left him to a sinister old age with the barmaid wife +whom he had married in some drunken frolic. As he +looked at the young man still leaning back in the +leather chair, there seemed for the instant to +flicker up behind him some vague presentiment of that +foul old dandy with his dangling seals, many-wreathed +scarf, and dark satyric face. What was he now? An +armful of bones in a mouldy box. But his deeds-- +they were living and rotting the blood in the veins +of an innocent man. + +"I see that you have heard of him," said the +young baronet. "He died horribly, I have been told; +but not more horribly than he had lived. My father +was his only son. He was a studious man, fond of +books and canaries and the country; but his innocent +life did not save him." + +"His symptoms were cutaneous, I understand." + +"He wore gloves in the house. That was the first +thing I can remember. And then it was his throat. +And then his legs. He used to ask me so often about +my own health, and I thought him so fussy, for how +could I tell what the meaning of it was. He was +always watching me--always with a sidelong eye fixed +upon me. Now, at last, I know what he was watching +for." + +"Had you brothers or sisters?" + +"None, thank God." + +"Well, well, it is a sad case, and very typical +of many which come in my way. You are no lonely +sufferer, Sir Francis. There are many thousands who +bear the same cross as you do." + +"But where is the justice of it, doctor?" cried +the young man, springing from his chair and pacing up +and down the consulting-room. "If I were heir to my +grandfather's sins as well as to their results, I +could understand it, but I am of my father's +type. I love all that is gentle and beautiful--music +and poetry and art. The coarse and animal is +abhorrent to me. Ask any of my friends and they +would tell you that. And now that this vile, +loathsome thing--ach, I am polluted to the marrow, +soaked in abomination! And why? Haven't I a right +to ask why? Did I do it? Was it my fault? Could I +help being born? And look at me now, blighted and +blasted, just as life was at its sweetest. Talk +about the sins of the father--how about the sins of +the Creator?" He shook his two clinched hands in the +air--the poor impotent atom with his pin-point of +brain caught in the whirl of the infinite. + +The doctor rose and placing his hands upon his +shoulders he pressed him back into his chair once +more. "There, there, my dear lad," said he; "you +must not excite yourself. You are trembling all +over. Your nerves cannot stand it. We must take +these great questions upon trust. What are we, after +all? Half-evolved creatures in a transition stage, +nearer perhaps to the Medusa on the one side than to +perfected humanity on the other. With half a +complete brain we can't expect to understand the +whole of a complete fact, can we, now? It is all +very dim and dark, no doubt; but I think that Pope's +famous couplet sums up the whole matter, and from my +heart, after fifty years of varied experience, I can +say----" + +But the young baronet gave a cry of impatience +and disgust. "Words, words, words! You can sit +comfortably there in your chair and say them--and +think them too, no doubt. You've had your life, but +I've never had mine. You've healthy blood in your +veins; mine is putrid. And yet I am as innocent as +you. What would words do for you if you were in this +chair and I in that? Ah, it's such a mockery and a +make-believe! Don't think me rude, though, doctor. +I don't mean to be that. I only say that it is +impossible for you or any other man to realise it. +But I've a question to ask you, doctor. It's one on +which my whole life must depend." He writhed his +fingers together in an agony of apprehension. + +"Speak out, my dear sir. I have every sympathy +with you." + +"Do you think--do you think the poison has spent +itself on me? Do you think that if I had children +they would suffer?" + +"I can only give one answer to that. `The third +and fourth generation,' says the trite old text. You +may in time eliminate it from your system, but many +years must pass before you can think of marriage." + +"I am to be married on Tuesday," whispered the +patient. + +It was the doctor's turn to be thrilled with +horror. There were not many situations which +would yield such a sensation to his seasoned +nerves. He sat in silence while the babble of the +card-table broke in upon them again. "We had a +double ruff if you had returned a heart." "I was +bound to clear the trumps." They were hot and angry +about it. + +"How could you?" cried the doctor severely. "It +was criminal." + +"You forget that I have only learned how I stand +to-day." He put his two hands to his temples and +pressed them convulsively. "You are a man of the +world, Dr. Selby. You have seen or heard of such +things before. Give me some advice. I'm in your +hands. It is all very sudden and horrible, and I +don't think I am strong enough to bear it." + +The doctor's heavy brows thickened into two +straight lines, and he bit his nails in perplexity. + +"The marriage must not take place." + +"Then what am I to do?" + +"At all costs it must not take place." + +"And I must give her up?" + +"There can be no question about that." + +The young man took out a pocketbook and drew from +it a small photograph, holding it out towards the +doctor. The firm face softened as he looked at it. + +"It is very hard on you, no doubt. I can +appreciate it more now that I have seen that. But +there is no alternative at all. You must give up +all thought of it." + +"But this is madness, doctor--madness, I tell +you. No, I won't raise my voice. I forgot myself. +But realise it, man. I am to be married on Tuesday. +This coming Tuesday, you understand. And all the +world knows it. How can I put such a public affront +upon her. It would be monstrous." + +"None the less it must be done. My dear lad, +there is no way out of it." + +"You would have me simply write brutally and +break the engagement at the last moment without a +reason. I tell you I couldn't do it." + +"I had a patient once who found himself in a +somewhat similar situation some years ago," said the +doctor thoughtfully. "His device was a singular one. +He deliberately committed a penal offence, and so +compelled the young lady's people to withdraw their +consent to the marriage." + +The young baronet shook his head. "My personal +honour is as yet unstained," said he. "I have little +else left, but that, at least, I will preserve." + +"Well, well, it is a nice dilemma, and the choice +lies with you." + +"Have you no other suggestion?" + +"You don't happen to have property in Australia?" + +"None." + +"But you have capital?" + +"Yes." + +"Then you could buy some. To-morrow morning +would do. A thousand mining shares would be enough. +Then you might write to say that urgent business +affairs have compelled you to start at an hour's +notice to inspect your property. That would give you +six months, at any rate." + +"Well, that would be possible. Yes, certainly, +it would be possible. But think of her position. +The house full of wedding presents--guests coming +from a distance. It is awful. And you say that +there is no alternative." + +The doctor shrugged his shoulders. + +"Well, then, I might write it now, and start to- +morrow--eh? Perhaps you would let me use your desk. +Thank you. I am so sorry to keep you from your +guests so long. But I won't be a moment now." + +He wrote an abrupt note of a few lines. Then +with a sudden impulse he tore it to shreds and flung +it into the fireplace. + +"No, I can't sit down and tell her a lie, +doctor," he said rising. "We must find some other +way out of this. I will think it over and let you +know my decision. You must allow me to double your +fee as I have taken such an unconscionable time. Now +good-bye, and thank you a thousand times for your +sympathy and advice." + +"Why, dear me, you haven't even got your +prescription yet. This is the mixture, and I should +recommend one of these powders every morning, and the +chemist will put all directions upon the ointment +box. You are placed in a cruel situation, but I +trust that these may be but passing clouds. When may +I hope to hear from you again?" + +"To-morrow morning." + +"Very good. How the rain is splashing in the +street! You have your waterproof there. You will +need it. Good-bye, then, until to-morrow." + +He opened the door. A gust of cold, damp air +swept into the hall. And yet the doctor stood for a +minute or more watching the lonely figure which +passed slowly through the yellow splotches of the gas +lamps, and into the broad bars of darkness between. +It was but his own shadow which trailed up the wall +as he passed the lights, and yet it looked to the +doctor's eye as though some huge and sombre figure +walked by a manikin's side and led him silently up +the lonely street. + +Dr. Horace Selby heard again of his patient next +morning, and rather earlier than he had expected. A +paragraph in the Daily News caused him to push away +his breakfast untasted, and turned him sick and faint +while he read it. "A Deplorable Accident," it +was headed, and it ran in this way: + +"A fatal accident of a peculiarly painful +character is reported from King William Street. +About eleven o'clock last night a young man was +observed while endeavouring to get out of the way of +a hansom to slip and fall under the wheels of a +heavy, two-horse dray. On being picked up his +injuries were found to be of the most shocking +character, and he expired while being conveyed to the +hospital. An examination of his pocketbook and +cardcase shows beyond any question that the deceased +is none other than Sir Francis Norton, of Deane Park, +who has only within the last year come into the +baronetcy. The accident is made the more deplorable +as the deceased, who was only just of age, was on the +eve of being married to a young lady belonging to one +of the oldest families in the South. With his wealth +and his talents the ball of fortune was at his feet, +and his many friends will be deeply grieved to know +that his promising career has been cut short in so +sudden and tragic a fashion." + + + + +A FALSE START. + + +"Is Dr. Horace Wilkinson at home?" + +"I am he. Pray step in." + +The visitor looked somewhat astonished at having +the door opened to him by the master of the house. + +"I wanted to have a few words." + +The doctor, a pale, nervous young man, dressed in +an ultra-professional, long black frock-coat, with a +high, white collar cutting off his dapper side- +whiskers in the centre, rubbed his hands together and +smiled. In the thick, burly man in front of him he +scented a patient, and it would be his first. His +scanty resources had begun to run somewhat low, and, +although he had his first quarter's rent safely +locked away in the right-hand drawer of his desk, it +was becoming a question with him how he should meet +the current expenses of his very simple housekeeping. +He bowed, therefore, waved his visitor in, closed the +hall door in a careless fashion, as though his own +presence thereat had been a purely accidental +circumstance, and finally led the burly stranger +into his scantily furnished front room, where he +motioned him to a seat. Dr. Wilkinson planted +himself behind his desk, and, placing his finger-tips +together, he gazed with some apprehension at his +companion. What was the matter with the man? He +seemed very red in the face. Some of his old +professors would have diagnosed his case by now, and +would have electrified the patient by describing his +own symptoms before he had said a word about them. +Dr. Horace Wilkinson racked his brains for some clue, +but Nature had fashioned him as a plodder--a very +reliable plodder and nothing more. He could think of +nothing save that the visitor's watch-chain had a +very brassy appearance, with a corollary to the +effect that he would be lucky if he got half-a-crown +out of him. Still, even half-a-crown was something +in those early days of struggle. + +Whilst the doctor had been running his eyes over +the stranger, the latter had been plunging his hands +into pocket after pocket of his heavy coat. The heat +of the weather, his dress, and this exercise of +pocket-rummaging had all combined to still further +redden his face, which had changed from brick to +beet, with a gloss of moisture on his brow. This +extreme ruddiness brought a clue at last to the +observant doctor. Surely it was not to be attained +without alcohol. In alcohol lay the secret of +this man's trouble. Some little delicacy was needed, +however, in showing him that he had read his case +aright--that at a glance he had penetrated to the +inmost sources of his ailments. + +"It's very hot," observed the stranger, mopping +his forehead. + +"Yes, it is weather which tempts one to drink +rather more beer than is good for one," answered Dr. +Horace Wilkinson, looking very knowingly at his +companion from over his finger-tips. + +"Dear, dear, you shouldn't do that." + +"I! I never touch beer." + +"Neither do I. I've been an abstainer for twenty +years." + +This was depressing. Dr. Wilkinson blushed until +he was nearly as red as the other. "May I ask what +I can do for you?" he asked, picking up his +stethoscope and tapping it gently against his thumb- +nail. + +"Yes, I was just going to tell you. I heard of +your coming, but I couldn't get round before----" He +broke into a nervous little cough. + +"Yes?" said the doctor encouragingly. + +"I should have been here three weeks ago, but you +know how these things get put off." He coughed again +behind his large red hand. + +"I do not think that you need say anything more," +said the doctor, taking over the case with an +easy air of command. "Your cough is quite +sufficient. It is entirely bronchial by the sound. +No doubt the mischief is circumscribed at present, +but there is always the danger that it may spread, so +you have done wisely to come to me. A little +judicious treatment will soon set you right. Your +waistcoat, please, but not your shirt. Puff out your +chest and say ninety-nine in a deep voice." + +The red-faced man began to laugh. "It's all +right, doctor," said he. "That cough comes from +chewing tobacco, and I know it's a very bad habit. +Nine-and-ninepence is what I have to say to you, for +I'm the officer of the gas company, and they have a +claim against you for that on the metre." + +Dr. Horace Wilkinson collapsed into his chair. +"Then you're not a patient?" he gasped. + +"Never needed a doctor in my life, sir." + +"Oh, that's all right." The doctor concealed his +disappointment under an affectation of facetiousness. +"You don't look as if you troubled them much. I +don't know what we should do if every one were as +robust. I shall call at the company's offices and +pay this small amount." + +"If you could make it convenient, sir, now that I +am here, it would save trouble----" + +"Oh, certainly!" These eternal little sordid +money troubles were more trying to the doctor than +plain living or scanty food. He took out his +purse and slid the contents on to the table. +There were two half-crowns and some pennies. In his +drawer he had ten golden sovereigns. But those were +his rent. If he once broke in upon them he was lost. +He would starve first. + +"Dear me! " said he, with a smile, as at some +strange, unheard-of incident. "I have run short of +small change. I am afraid I shall have to call upon +the company, after all." + +"Very well, sir." The inspector rose, and with a +practised glance around, which valued every article +in the room, from the two-guinea carpet to the eight- +shilling muslin curtains, he took his departure. + +When he had gone Dr. Wilkinson rearranged his +room, as was his habit a dozen times in the day. He +laid out his large Quain's Dictionary of Medicine in +the forefront of the table so as to impress the +casual patient that he had ever the best authorities +at his elbow. Then he cleared all the little +instruments out of his pocket-case--the scissors, the +forceps, the bistouries, the lancets--and he laid +them all out beside the stethoscope, to make as good +a show as possible. His ledger, day-book, and +visiting-book were spread in front of him. There was +no entry in any of them yet, but it would not look +well to have the covers too glossy and new, so he +rubbed them together and daubed ink over them. +Neither would it be well that any patient should +observe that his name was the first in the book, so +he filled up the first page of each with notes of +imaginary visits paid to nameless patients during the +last three weeks. Having done all this, he rested +his head upon his hands and relapsed into the +terrible occupation of waiting. + +Terrible enough at any time to the young +professional man, but most of all to one who knows +that the weeks, and even the days during which he can +hold out are numbered. Economise as he would, the +money would still slip away in the countless little +claims which a man never understands until he lives +under a rooftree of his own. Dr. Wilkinson could not +deny, as he sat at his desk and looked at the little +heap of silver and coppers, that his chances of being +a successful practitioner in Sutton were rapidly +vanishing away. + +And yet it was a bustling, prosperous town, with +so much money in it that it seemed strange that a man +with a trained brain and dexterous fingers should be +starved out of it for want of employment. At his +desk, Dr. Horace Wilkinson could see the never-ending +double current of people which ebbed and flowed in +front of his window. It was a busy street, and the +air was forever filled with the dull roar of life, +the grinding of the wheels, and the patter of +countless feet. Men, women, and children, +thousands and thousands of them passed in the day, +and yet each was hurrying on upon his own business, +scarce glancing at the small brass plate, or wasting +a thought upon the man who waited in the front room. +And yet how many of them would obviously, glaringly +have been the better for his professional assistance. +Dyspeptic men, anemic women, blotched faces, bilious +complexions--they flowed past him, they needing him, +he needing them, and yet the remorseless bar of +professional etiquette kept them forever apart. What +could he do? Could he stand at his own front door, +pluck the casual stranger by the sleeve, and whisper +in his ear, "Sir, you will forgive me for remarking +that you are suffering from a severe attack of acne +rosacea, which makes you a peculiarly unpleasant +object. Allow me to suggest that a small +prescription containing arsenic, which will not cost +you more than you often spend upon a single meal, +will be very much to your advantage." Such an +address would be a degradation to the high and lofty +profession of Medicine, and there are no such +sticklers for the ethics of that profession as some +to whom she has been but a bitter and a grudging +mother. + +Dr. Horace Wilkinson was still looking moodily +out of the window, when there came a sharp clang at +the bell. Often it had rung, and with every ring +his hopes had sprung up, only to dwindle away again, +and change to leaden disappointment, as he faced some +beggar or touting tradesman. But the doctor's spirit +was young and elastic, and again, in spite of all +experience, it responded to that exhilarating +summons. He sprang to his feet, cast his eyes over +the table, thrust out his medical books a little more +prominently, and hurried to the door. A groan +escaped him as he entered the hall. He could see +through the half-glazed upper panels that a gypsy +van, hung round with wicker tables and chairs, had +halted before his door, and that a couple of the +vagrants, with a baby, were waiting outside. He had +learned by experience that it was better not even to +parley with such people. + +"I have nothing for you," said he, loosing the +latch by an inch. "Go away!" + +He closed the door, but the bell clanged once +more. "Get away! Get away!" he cried impatiently, +and walked back into his consulting-room. He had +hardly seated himself when the bell went for the +third time. In a towering passion he rushed back, +flung open the door. + +"What the----?" + +"If you please, sir, we need a doctor." + +In an instant he was rubbing his hands again with +his blandest professional smile. These were +patients, then, whom he had tried to hunt from +his doorstep--the very first patients, whom he +had waited for so impatiently. They did not look +very promising. The man, a tall, lank-haired gypsy, +had gone back to the horse's head. There remained a +small, hard-faced woman with a great bruise all round +her eye. She wore a yellow silk handkerchief round +her head, and a baby, tucked in a red shawl, was +pressed to her bosom. + +"Pray step in, madam," said Dr. Horace Wilkinson, +with his very best sympathetic manner. In this case, +at least, there could be no mistake as to diagnosis. +"If you will sit on this sofa, I shall very soon make +you feel much more comfortable." + +He poured a little water from his carafe into a +saucer, made a compress of lint, fastened it over the +injured eye, and secured the whole with a spica +bandage, secundum artem. + +"Thank ye kindly, sir," said the woman, when his +work was finished; "that's nice and warm, and may God +bless your honour. But it wasn't about my eye at all +that I came to see a doctor." + +"Not your eye?" Dr. Horace Wilkinson was +beginning to be a little doubtful as to the +advantages of quick diagnosis. It is an excellent +thing to be able to surprise a patient, but hitherto +it was always the patient who had surprised him. + +"The baby's got the measles." + +The mother parted the red shawl, and exhibited a +little dark, black-eyed gypsy baby, whose swarthy +face was all flushed and mottled with a dark-red +rash. The child breathed with a rattling sound, and +it looked up at the doctor with eyes which were heavy +with want of sleep and crusted together at the lids. + +"Hum! Yes. Measles, sure enough--and a smart +attack." + +"I just wanted you to see her, sir, so that you +could signify." + +"Could what?" + +"Signify, if anything happened." + +"Oh, I see--certify." + +"And now that you've seen it, sir, I'll go on, +for Reuben--that's my man--is in a hurry." + +"But don't you want any medicine?" + +"Oh, now you've seen it, it's all right. I'll let +you know if anything happens." + +"But you must have some medicine. The child is +very ill." He descended into the little room which +he had fitted as a surgery, and he made up a two- +ounce bottle of cooling medicine. In such cities as +Sutton there are few patients who can afford to pay a +fee to both doctor and chemist, so that unless the +physician is prepared to play the part of both he +will have little chance of making a living at either. + +"There is your medicine, madam. You will +find the directions upon the bottle. Keep the +child warm and give it a light diet." + +"Thank you kindly, sir." She shouldered her baby +and marched for the door. + +"Excuse me, madam," said the doctor nervously. +"Don't you think it too small a matter to make a bill +of? Perhaps it would be better if we had a +settlement at once." + +The gypsy woman looked at him reproachfully out +of her one uncovered eye. + +"Are you going to charge me for that?" she asked. +"How much, then?" + +"Well, say half-a-crown." He mentioned the sum +in a half-jesting way, as though it were too small to +take serious notice of, but the gypsy woman raised +quite a scream at the mention of it. + +"'Arf-a-crown! for that?" + +"Well, my good woman, why not go to the poor +doctor if you cannot afford a fee?" + +She fumbled in her pocket, craning awkwardly to +keep her grip upon the baby. + +"Here's sevenpence," she said at last, holding +out a little pile of copper coins. "I'll give you +that and a wicker footstool." + +"But my fee is half-a-crown." The doctor's views +of the glory of his profession cried out against this +wretched haggling, and yet what was he to do? +"Where am I to get 'arf-a-crown? It is well for +gentlefolk like you who sit in your grand houses, and +can eat and drink what you like, an' charge 'arf-a- +crown for just saying as much as, `'Ow d'ye do?' We +can't pick up' arf-crowns like that. What we gets we +earns 'ard. This sevenpence is just all I've got. +You told me to feed the child light. She must feed +light, for what she's to have is more than I know." + +Whilst the woman had been speaking, Dr. Horace +Wilkinson's eyes had wandered to the tiny heap of +money upon the table, which represented all that +separated him from absolute starvation, and he +chuckled to himself at the grim joke that he should +appear to this poor woman to be a being living in the +lap of luxury. Then he picked up the odd coppers, +leaving only the two half-crowns upon the table. + +"Here you are," he said brusquely. "Never mind +the fee, and take these coppers. They may be of some +use to you. Good-bye!" He bowed her out, and closed +the door behind her. After all she was the thin edge +of the wedge. These wandering people have great +powers of recommendation. All large practices have +been built up from such foundations. The hangers-on +to the kitchen recommend to the kitchen, they to the +drawing-room, and so it spreads. At least he could +say now that he had had a patient. + +He went into the back room and lit the spirit- +kettle to boil the water for his tea, laughing +the while at the recollection of his recent +interview. If all patients were like this one it +could easily be reckoned how many it would take to +ruin him completely. Putting aside the dirt upon his +carpet and the loss of time, there were twopence gone +upon the bandage, fourpence or more upon the +medicine, to say nothing of phial, cork, label, and +paper. Then he had given her fivepence, so that his +first patient had absorbed altogether not less than +one sixth of his available capital. If five more +were to come he would be a broken man. He sat down +upon the portmanteau and shook with laughter at the +thought, while he measured out his one spoonful and a +half of tea at one shilling eightpence into the brown +earthenware teapot. Suddenly, however, the laugh +faded from his face, and he cocked his ear towards +the door, standing listening with a slanting head and +a sidelong eye. There had been a rasping of wheels +against the curb, the sound of steps outside, and +then a loud peal at the bell. With his teaspoon in +his hand he peeped round the corner and saw with +amazement that a carriage and pair were waiting +outside, and that a powdered footman was standing at +the door. The spoon tinkled down upon the floor, and +he stood gazing in bewilderment. Then, pulling +himself together, he threw open the door. + +"Young man," said the flunky, "tell your master, +Dr. Wilkinson, that he is wanted just as quick as +ever he can come to Lady Millbank, at the Towers. He +is to come this very instant. We'd take him with us, +but we have to go back to see if Dr. Mason is home +yet. Just you stir your stumps and give him the +message." + +The footman nodded and was off in an instant, +while the coachman lashed his horses and the carriage +flew down the street. + +Here was a new development. Dr. Horace Wilkinson +stood at his door and tried to think it all out. +Lady Millbank, of the Towers! People of wealth and +position, no doubt. And a serious case, or why this +haste and summoning of two doctors? But, then, why +in the name of all that is wonderful should he be +sent for? + +He was obscure, unknown, without influence. +There must be some mistake. Yes, that must be the +true explanation; or was it possible that some one +was attempting a cruel hoax upon him? At any rate, +it was too positive a message to be disregarded. He +must set off at once and settle the matter one way or +the other. + +But he had one source of information. At the +corner of the street was a small shop where one of +the oldest inhabitants dispensed newspapers and +gossip. He could get information there if anywhere. +He put on his well-brushed top hat, secreted +instruments and bandages in all his pockets, and +without waiting for his tea closed up his +establishment and started off upon his adventure. + +The stationer at the corner was a human directory +to every one and everything in Sutton, so that he +soon had all the information which he wanted. Sir +John Millbank was very well known in the town, it +seemed. He was a merchant prince, an exporter of +pens, three times mayor, and reported to be fully +worth two millions sterling. + +The Towers was his palatial seat, just outside +the city. His wife had been an invalid for some +years, and was growing worse. So far the whole thing +seemed to be genuine enough. By some amazing chance +these people really had sent for him. + +And then another doubt assailed him, and he +turned back into the shop. + +"I am your neighbour, Dr. Horace Wilkinson," said +he. "Is there any other medical man of that name in +the town?" + +No, the stationer was quite positive that there +was not. + +That was final, then. A great good fortune had +come in his way, and he must take prompt advantage of +it. He called a cab and drove furiously to the +Towers, with his brain in a whirl, giddy with hope +and delight at one moment, and sickened with fears +and doubts at the next lest the case should in +some way be beyond his powers, or lest he should find +at some critical moment that he was without the +instrument or appliance that was needed. Every +strange and outre case of which he had ever heard +or read came back into his mind, and long before he +reached the Towers he had worked himself into a +positive conviction that he would be instantly +required to do a trephining at the least. + +The Towers was a very large house, standing back +amid trees, at the head of a winding drive. As he +drove up the doctor sprang out, paid away half his +worldly assets as a fare, and followed a stately +footman who, having taken his name, led him through +the oak-panelled, stained-glass hall, gorgeous with +deers' heads and ancient armour, and ushered him into +a large sitting-room beyond. A very irritable- +looking, acid-faced man was seated in an armchair by +the fireplace, while two young ladies in white were +standing together in the bow window at the further +end. + +"Hullo! hullo! hullo! What's this--heh?" cried +the irritable man. "Are you Dr. Wilkinson? Eh?" + +"Yes, sir, I am Dr. Wilkinson." + +"Really, now. You seem very young--much younger +than I expected. Well, well, well, Mason's old, and +yet he don't seem to know much about it. I suppose +we must try the other end now. You're the +Wilkinson who wrote something about the lungs? Heh?" + +Here was a light! The only two letters which the +doctor had ever written to The Lancet--modest little +letters thrust away in a back column among the +wrangles about medical ethics and the inquiries as to +how much it took to keep a horse in the country--had +been upon pulmonary disease. They had not been +wasted, then. Some eye had picked them out and +marked the name of the writer. Who could say that +work was ever wasted, or that merit did not promptly +meet with its reward? + +"Yes, I have written on the subject." + +"Ha! Well, then, where's Mason?" + +"I have not the pleasure of his acquaintance." + +"No?--that's queer too. He knows you and thinks +a lot of your opinion. You're a stranger in the +town, are you not?" + +"Yes, I have only been here a very short time." + +"That was what Mason said. He didn't give me the +address. Said he would call on you and bring you, +but when the wife got worse of course I inquired for +you and sent for you direct. I sent for Mason, too, +but he was out. However, we can't wait for him, so +just run away upstairs and do what you can." + +"Well, I am placed in a rather delicate +position," said Dr. Horace Wilkinson, with some +hesitation. "I am here, as I understand, to meet my +colleague, Dr. Mason, in consultation. It would, +perhaps, hardly be correct for me to see the patient +in his absence. I think that I would rather wait." + +"Would you, by Jove! Do you think I'll let my +wife get worse while the doctor is coolly kicking his +heels in the room below? No, sir, I am a plain man, +and I tell you that you will either go up or go out." + +The style of speech jarred upon the doctor's +sense of the fitness of things, but still when a +man's wife is ill much may be overlooked. He +contented himself by bowing somewhat stiffly. "I +shall go up, if you insist upon it," said he. + +"I do insist upon it. And another thing, I won't +have her thumped about all over the chest, or any +hocus-pocus of the sort. She has bronchitis and +asthma, and that's all. If you can cure it well and +good. But it only weakens her to have you tapping +and listening, and it does no good either." + +Personal disrespect was a thing that the doctor +could stand; but the profession was to him a holy +thing, and a flippant word about it cut him to the +quick. + +"Thank you," said he, picking up his hat. "I +have the honour to wish you a very good day. I +do not care to undertake the responsibility of this +case." + +"Hullo! what's the matter now?" + +"It is not my habit to give opinions without +examining my patient. I wonder that you should +suggest such a course to a medical man. I wish you +good day." + +But Sir John Millbank was a commercial man, and +believed in the commercial principle that the more +difficult a thing is to attain the more valuable it +is. A doctor's opinion had been to him a mere matter +of guineas. But here was a young man who seemed to +care nothing either for his wealth or title. His +respect for his judgment increased amazingly. + +"Tut! tut!" said he; "Mason is not so thin- +skinned. There! there! Have your way! Do what you +like and I won't say another word. I'll just run +upstairs and tell Lady Millbank that you are coming." + +The door had hardly closed behind him when the +two demure young ladies darted out of their corner, +and fluttered with joy in front of the astonished +doctor. + +"Oh, well done! well done!" cried the taller, +clapping her hands. + +"Don't let him bully you, doctor," said the +other. "Oh, it was so nice to hear you stand up +to him. That's the way he does with poor Dr. +Mason. Dr. Mason has never examined mamma yet. He +always takes papa's word for everything. Hush, +Maude; here he comes again." They subsided in an +instant into their corner as silent and demure as +ever. + +Dr. Horace Wilkinson followed Sir John up the +broad, thick-carpeted staircase, and into the +darkened sick room. In a quarter of an hour he had +sounded and sifted the case to the uttermost, and +descended with the husband once more to the drawing- +room. In front of the fireplace were standing two +gentlemen, the one a very typical, clean-shaven, +general practitioner, the other a striking-looking +man of middle age, with pale blue eyes and a long red +beard. + +"Hullo, Mason, you've come at last!" + +"Yes, Sir John, and I have brought, as I +promised, Dr. Wilkinson with me." + +"Dr. Wilkinson! Why, this is he." + +Dr. Mason stared in astonishment. "I have never +seen the gentleman before!" he cried. + +"Nevertheless I am Dr. Wilkinson--Dr. Horace +Wilkinson, of 114 Canal View." + +"Good gracious, Sir John!" cried Dr. Mason. + +"Did you think that in a case of such importance I +should call in a junior local practitioner! This is +Dr. Adam Wilkinson, lecturer on pulmonary diseases at +Regent's College, London, physician upon the +staff of the St. Swithin's Hospital, and author of a +dozen works upon the subject. He happened to be in +Sutton upon a visit, and I thought I would utilise +his presence to have a first-rate opinion upon Lady +Millbank." + +"Thank you," said Sir John, dryly. "But I fear +my wife is rather tired now, for she has just been +very thoroughly examined by this young gentleman. I +think we will let it stop at that for the present; +though, of course, as you have had the trouble of +coming here, I should be glad to have a note of your +fees." + +When Dr. Mason had departed, looking very +disgusted, and his friend, the specialist, very +amused, Sir John listened to all the young physician +had to say about the case. + +"Now, I'll tell you what," said he, when he had +finished. "I'm a man of my word, d'ye see? When I +like a man I freeze to him. I'm a good friend and a +bad enemy. I believe in you, and I don't believe in +Mason. From now on you are my doctor, and that of my +family. Come and see my wife every day. How does +that suit your book?" + +"I am extremely grateful to you for your kind +intentions toward me, but I am afraid there is no +possible way in which I can avail myself of them." + +"Heh! what d'ye mean?" + +"I could not possibly take Dr. Mason's place in +the middle of a case like this. It would be a most +unprofessional act." + +"Oh, well, go your own way!" cried Sir John, in +despair. "Never was such a man for making +difficulties. You've had a fair offer and you've +refused it, and now you can just go your own way." + +The millionaire stumped out of the room in a +huff, and Dr. Horace Wilkinson made his way homeward +to his spirit-lamp and his one-and-eightpenny tea, +with his first guinea in his pocket, and with a +feeling that he had upheld the best traditions of his +profession. + +And yet this false start of his was a true start +also, for it soon came to Dr. Mason's ears that his +junior had had it in his power to carry off his best +patient and had forborne to do so. To the honour of +the profession be it said that such forbearance is +the rule rather than the exception, and yet in this +case, with so very junior a practitioner and so very +wealthy a patient, the temptation was greater than is +usual. There was a grateful note, a visit, a +friendship, and now the well-known firm of Mason and +Wilkinson is doing the largest family practice in +Sutton. + + + + +THE CURSE OF EVE. + + +Robert Johnson was an essentially commonplace +man, with no feature to distinguish him from a +million others. He was pale of face, ordinary in +looks, neutral in opinions, thirty years of age, and +a married man. By trade he was a gentleman's +outfitter in the New North Road, and the competition +of business squeezed out of him the little character +that was left. In his hope of conciliating customers +he had become cringing and pliable, until working +ever in the same routine from day to day he seemed to +have sunk into a soulless machine rather than a man. +No great question had ever stirred him. At the end +of this snug century, self-contained in his own +narrow circle, it seemed impossible that any of the +mighty, primitive passions of mankind could ever +reach him. Yet birth, and lust, and illness, and +death are changeless things, and when one of these +harsh facts springs out upon a man at some sudden +turn of the path of life, it dashes off for the +moment his mask of civilisation and gives a glimpse +of the stranger and stronger face below. + +Johnson's wife was a quiet little woman, with +brown hair and gentle ways. His affection for her +was the one positive trait in his character. +Together they would lay out the shop window every +Monday morning, the spotless shirts in their green +cardboard boxes below, the neckties above hung in +rows over the brass rails, the cheap studs glistening +from the white cards at either side, while in the +background were the rows of cloth caps and the bank +of boxes in which the more valuable hats were +screened from the sunlight. She kept the books and +sent out the bills. No one but she knew the joys and +sorrows which crept into his small life. She had +shared his exultations when the gentleman who was +going to India had bought ten dozen shirts and an +incredible number of collars, and she had been as +stricken as he when, after the goods had gone, the +bill was returned from the hotel address with the +intimation that no such person had lodged there. For +five years they had worked, building up the business, +thrown together all the more closely because their +marriage had been a childless one. Now, however, +there were signs that a change was at hand, and that +speedily. She was unable to come downstairs, and her +mother, Mrs. Peyton, came over from Camberwell to +nurse her and to welcome her grandchild. + +Little qualms of anxiety came over Johnson as +his wife's time approached. However, after all, +it was a natural process. Other men's wives went +through it unharmed, and why should not his? He was +himself one of a family of fourteen, and yet his +mother was alive and hearty. It was quite the +exception for anything to go wrong. And yet in spite +of his reasonings the remembrance of his wife's +condition was always like a sombre background to all +his other thoughts. + +Dr. Miles of Bridport Place, the best man in the +neighbourhood, was retained five months in advance, +and, as time stole on, many little packets of +absurdly small white garments with frill work and +ribbons began to arrive among the big consignments of +male necessities. And then one evening, as Johnson +was ticketing the scarfs in the shop, he heard a +bustle upstairs, and Mrs. Peyton came running down to +say that Lucy was bad and that she thought the doctor +ought to be there without delay. + +It was not Robert Johnson's nature to hurry. He +was prim and staid and liked to do things in an +orderly fashion. It was a quarter of a mile from the +corner of the New North Road where his shop stood to +the doctor's house in Bridport Place. There were no +cabs in sight so he set off upon foot, leaving the +lad to mind the shop. At Bridport Place he was told +that the doctor had just gone to Harman Street to +attend a man in a fit. Johnson started off for +Harman Street, losing a little of his primness as he +became more anxious. Two full cabs but no empty ones +passed him on the way. At Harman Street he learned +that the doctor had gone on to a case of measles, +fortunately he had left the address--69 Dunstan Road, +at the other side of the Regent's Canal. Robert's +primness had vanished now as he thought of the women +waiting at home, and he began to run as hard as he +could down the Kingsland Road. Some way along he +sprang into a cab which stood by the curb and drove +to Dunstan Road. The doctor had just left, and +Robert Johnson felt inclined to sit down upon the +steps in despair. + +Fortunately he had not sent the cab away, and he +was soon back at Bridport Place. Dr. Miles had not +returned yet, but they were expecting him every +instant. Johnson waited, drumming his fingers on his +knees, in a high, dim lit room, the air of which was +charged with a faint, sickly smell of ether. The +furniture was massive, and the books in the shelves +were sombre, and a squat black clock ticked +mournfully on the mantelpiece. It told him that it +was half-past seven, and that he had been gone an +hour and a quarter. Whatever would the women think +of him! Every time that a distant door slammed he +sprang from his chair in a quiver of eagerness. +His ears strained to catch the deep notes of the +doctor's voice. And then, suddenly, with a gush of +joy he heard a quick step outside, and the sharp +click of the key in the lock. In an instant he was +out in the hall, before the doctor's foot was over +the threshold. + +"If you please, doctor, I've come for you," he +cried; "the wife was taken bad at six o'clock." + +He hardly knew what he expected the doctor to do. +Something very energetic, certainly--to seize some +drugs, perhaps, and rush excitedly with him through +the gaslit streets. Instead of that Dr. Miles threw +his umbrella into the rack, jerked off his hat with a +somewhat peevish gesture, and pushed Johnson back +into the room. + +"Let's see! You DID engage me, didn't you?" +he asked in no very cordial voice. + +"Oh, yes, doctor, last November. Johnson the +outfitter, you know, in the New North Road." + +"Yes, yes. It's a bit overdue," said the doctor, +glancing at a list of names in a note-book with a +very shiny cover. "Well, how is she?" + +"I don't----" + +"Ah, of course, it's your first. You'll know +more about it next time." + +"Mrs. Peyton said it was time you were there, +sir." + +"My dear sir, there can be no very pressing hurry +in a first case. We shall have an all-night +affair, I fancy. You can't get an engine to go +without coals, Mr. Johnson, and I have had nothing +but a light lunch." + +"We could have something cooked for you-- +something hot and a cup of tea." + +"Thank you, but I fancy my dinner is actually on +the table. I can do no good in the earlier stages. +Go home and say that I am coming, and I will be round +immediately afterwards." + +A sort of horror filled Robert Johnson as he +gazed at this man who could think about his dinner at +such a moment. He had not imagination enough to +realise that the experience which seemed so +appallingly important to him, was the merest everyday +matter of business to the medical man who could not +have lived for a year had he not, amid the rush of +work, remembered what was due to his own health. To +Johnson he seemed little better than a monster. His +thoughts were bitter as he sped back to his shop. + +"You've taken your time," said his mother-in-law +reproachfully, looking down the stairs as he entered. + +"I couldn't help it!" he gasped. "Is it over?" + +"Over! She's got to be worse, poor dear, before +she can be better. Where's Dr. Miles!" + +"He's coming after he's had dinner." The old +woman was about to make some reply, when, from +the half-opened door behind a high whinnying voice +cried out for her. She ran back and closed the door, +while Johnson, sick at heart, turned into the shop. +There he sent the lad home and busied himself +frantically in putting up shutters and turning out +boxes. When all was closed and finished he seated +himself in the parlour behind the shop. But he could +not sit still. He rose incessantly to walk a few +paces and then fell back into a chair once more. +Suddenly the clatter of china fell upon his ear, and +he saw the maid pass the door with a cup on a tray +and a smoking teapot. + +"Who is that for, Jane?" he asked. + +"For the mistress, Mr. Johnson. She says she +would fancy it." + +There was immeasurable consolation to him in that +homely cup of tea. It wasn't so very bad after all +if his wife could think of such things. So light- +hearted was he that he asked for a cup also. He had +just finished it when the doctor arrived, with a +small black leather bag in his hand. + +"Well, how is she?" he asked genially. + +"Oh, she's very much better," said Johnson, with +enthusiasm. + +"Dear me, that's bad!" said the doctor. "Perhaps +it will do if I look in on my morning round?" + +"No, no," cried Johnson, clutching at his thick +frieze overcoat. "We are so glad that you have come. +And, doctor, please come down soon and let me know +what you think about it." + +The doctor passed upstairs, his firm, heavy steps +resounding through the house. Johnson could hear his +boots creaking as he walked about the floor above +him, and the sound was a consolation to him. It was +crisp and decided, the tread of a man who had plenty +of self-confidence. Presently, still straining his +ears to catch what was going on, he heard the +scraping of a chair as it was drawn along the floor, +and a moment later he heard the door fly open and +someone come rushing downstairs. Johnson sprang up +with his hair bristling, thinking that some dreadful +thing had occurred, but it was only his mother-in- +law, incoherent with excitement and searching for +scissors and some tape. She vanished again and Jane +passed up the stairs with a pile of newly aired +linen. Then, after an interval of silence, Johnson +heard the heavy, creaking tread and the doctor came +down into the parlour. + +"That's better," said he, pausing with his hand +upon the door. "You look pale, Mr. Johnson." + +"Oh no, sir, not at all," he answered +deprecatingly, mopping his brow with his +handkerchief. + +"There is no immediate cause for alarm," said +Dr. Miles. "The case is not all that we could +wish it. Still we will hope for the best." + +"Is there danger, sir?" gasped Johnson. + +"Well, there is always danger, of course. It is +not altogether a favourable case, but still it might +be much worse. I have given her a draught. I saw as +I passed that they have been doing a little building +opposite to you. It's an improving quarter. The +rents go higher and higher. You have a lease of your +own little place, eh?" + +"Yes, sir, yes!" cried Johnson, whose ears were +straining for every sound from above, and who felt +none the less that it was very soothing that the +doctor should be able to chat so easily at such a +time. "That's to say no, sir, I am a yearly tenant." + +"Ah, I should get a lease if I were you. There's +Marshall, the watchmaker, down the street. I +attended his wife twice and saw him through the +typhoid when they took up the drains in Prince +Street. I assure you his landlord sprung his rent +nearly forty a year and he had to pay or clear out." + +"Did his wife get through it, doctor?" + +"Oh yes, she did very well. Hullo! hullo!" + +He slanted his ear to the ceiling with a +questioning face, and then darted swiftly from the +room. + +It was March and the evenings were chill, so +Jane had lit the fire, but the wind drove the smoke +downwards and the air was full of its acrid taint. +Johnson felt chilled to the bone, though rather by +his apprehensions than by the weather. He crouched +over the fire with his thin white hands held out to +the blaze. At ten o'clock Jane brought in the joint +of cold meat and laid his place for supper, but he +could not bring himself to touch it. He drank a +glass of the beer, however, and felt the better for +it. The tension of his nerves seemed to have reacted +upon his hearing, and he was able to follow the most +trivial things in the room above. Once, when the +beer was still heartening him, he nerved himself to +creep on tiptoe up the stair and to listen to what +was going on. The bedroom door was half an inch +open, and through the slit he could catch a glimpse +of the clean-shaven face of the doctor, looking +wearier and more anxious than before. Then he rushed +downstairs like a lunatic, and running to the door he +tried to distract his thoughts by watching what; was +going on in the street. The shops were all shut, and +some rollicking boon companions came shouting along +from the public-house. He stayed at the door until +the stragglers had thinned down, and then came back +to his seat by the fire. In his dim brain he was +asking himself questions which had never intruded +themselves before. Where was the justice of it? +What had his sweet, innocent little wife done that +she should be used so? Why was nature so cruel? He +was frightened at his own thoughts, and yet wondered +that they had never occurred to him before. + +As the early morning drew in, Johnson, sick at +heart and shivering in every limb, sat with his great +coat huddled round him, staring at the grey ashes and +waiting hopelessly for some relief. His face was +white and clammy, and his nerves had been numbed into +a half conscious state by the long monotony of +misery. But suddenly all his feelings leapt into +keen life again as he heard the bedroom door open and +the doctor's steps upon the stair. Robert Johnson +was precise and unemotional in everyday life, but he +almost shrieked now as he rushed forward to know if +it were over. + +One glance at the stern, drawn face which met him +showed that it was no pleasant news which had sent +the doctor downstairs. His appearance had altered as +much as Johnson's during the last few hours. His +hair was on end, his face flushed, his forehead +dotted with beads of perspiration. There was a +peculiar fierceness in his eye, and about the lines +of his mouth, a fighting look as befitted a man who +for hours on end had been striving with the hungriest +of foes for the most precious of prizes. But there +was a sadness too, as though his grim opponent +had been overmastering him. He sat down and leaned +his head upon his hand like a man who is fagged out. + +"I thought it my duty to see you, Mr. Johnson, +and to tell you that it is a very nasty case. Your +wife's heart is not strong, and she has some symptoms +which I do not like. What I wanted to say is that if +you would like to have a second opinion I shall be +very glad to meet anyone whom you might suggest." + +Johnson was so dazed by his want of sleep and the +evil news that he could hardly grasp the doctor's +meaning. The other, seeing him hesitate, thought +that he was considering the expense. + +"Smith or Hawley would come for two guineas," +said he. "But I think Pritchard of the City Road is +the best man." + +"Oh, yes, bring the best man," cried Johnson. + +"Pritchard would want three guineas. He is a +senior man, you see." + +"I'd give him all I have if he would pull her +through. Shall I run for him?" + +"Yes. Go to my house first and ask for the green +baize bag. The assistant will give it to you. Tell +him I want the A. C. E. mixture. Her heart is too +weak for chloroform. Then go for Pritchard and bring +him back with you." + +It was heavenly for Johnson to have something +to do and to feel that he was of some use to his +wife. He ran swiftly to Bridport Place, his +footfalls clattering through the silent streets and +the big dark policemen turning their yellow funnels +of light on him as he passed. Two tugs at the night- +bell brought down a sleepy, half-clad assistant, who +handed him a stoppered glass bottle and a cloth bag +which contained something which clinked when you +moved it. Johnson thrust the bottle into his pocket, +seized the green bag, and pressing his hat firmly +down ran as hard as he could set foot to ground until +he was in the City Road and saw the name of Pritchard +engraved in white upon a red ground. He bounded in +triumph up the three steps which led to the door, and +as he did so there was a crash behind him. His +precious bottle was in fragments upon the pavement. + +For a moment he felt as if it were his wife's +body that was lying there. But the run had freshened +his wits and he saw that the mischief might be +repaired. He pulled vigorously at the night-bell. + +"Well, what's the matter?" asked a gruff voice at +his elbow. He started back and looked up at the +windows, but there was no sign of life. He was +approaching the bell again with the intention of +pulling it, when a perfect roar burst from the wall. + +"I can't stand shivering here all night," cried +the voice. "Say who you are and what you want or I +shut the tube." + +Then for the first time Johnson saw that the end +of a speaking-tube hung out of the wall just above +the bell. He shouted up it,-- + +"I want you to come with me to meet Dr. Miles at a +confinement at once." + +"How far?" shrieked the irascible voice. + +"The New North Road, Hoxton." + +"My consultation fee is three guineas, payable at +the time." + +"All right," shouted Johnson. "You are to bring +a bottle of A. C. E. mixture with you." + +"All right! Wait a bit!" + +Five minutes later an elderly, hard-faced man, +with grizzled hair, flung open the door. As he +emerged a voice from somewhere in the shadows +cried,-- + +"Mind you take your cravat, John," and he +impatiently growled something over his shoulder in +reply. + +The consultant was a man who had been hardened by +a life of ceaseless labour, and who had been driven, +as so many others have been, by the needs of his own +increasing family to set the commercial before the +philanthropic side of his profession. Yet beneath +his rough crust he was a man with a kindly heart. + +"We don't want to break a record," said he, +pulling up and panting after attempting to keep up +with Johnson for five minutes. "I would go quicker +if I could, my dear sir, and I quite sympathise with +your anxiety, but really I can't manage it." + +So Johnson, on fire with impatience, had to slow +down until they reached the New North Road, when he +ran ahead and had the door open for the doctor when +he came. He heard the two meet outside the bed-room, +and caught scraps of their conversation. "Sorry to +knock you up--nasty case--decent people." Then it +sank into a mumble and the door closed behind them. + +Johnson sat up in his chair now, listening +keenly, for he knew that a crisis must be at hand. +He heard the two doctors moving about, and was able +to distinguish the step of Pritchard, which had a +drag in it, from the clean, crisp sound of the +other's footfall. There was silence for a few +minutes and then a curious drunken, mumbling sing- +song voice came quavering up, very unlike anything +which be had heard hitherto. At the same time a +sweetish, insidious scent, imperceptible perhaps to +any nerves less strained than his, crept down the +stairs and penetrated into the room. The voice +dwindled into a mere drone and finally sank away into +silence, and Johnson gave a long sigh of relief, for +he knew that the drug had done its work and that, +come what might, there should be no more pain for the +sufferer. + +But soon the silence became even more trying to +him than the cries had been. He had no clue now as +to what was going on, and his mind swarmed with +horrible possibilities. He rose and went to the +bottom of the stairs again. He heard the clink of +metal against metal, and the subdued murmur of the +doctors' voices. Then he heard Mrs. Peyton say +something, in a tone as of fear or expostulation, and +again the doctors murmured together. For twenty +minutes he stood there leaning against the wall, +listening to the occasional rumbles of talk without +being able to catch a word of it. And then of a +sudden there rose out of the silence the strangest +little piping cry, and Mrs. Peyton screamed out in +her delight and the man ran into the parlour and +flung himself down upon the horse-hair sofa, drumming +his heels on it in his ecstasy. + +But often the great cat Fate lets us go only to +clutch us again in a fiercer grip. As minute after +minute passed and still no sound came from above save +those thin, glutinous cries, Johnson cooled from his +frenzy of joy, and lay breathless with his ears +straining. They were moving slowly about. They were +talking in subdued tones. Still minute after minute +passing, and no word from the voice for which he +listened. His nerves were dulled by his night of +trouble, and he waited in limp wretchedness upon his +sofa. There he still sat when the doctors came down +to him--a bedraggled, miserable figure with his face +grimy and his hair unkempt from his long vigil. He +rose as they entered, bracing himself against the +mantelpiece. + +"Is she dead?" he asked. + +"Doing well," answered the doctor. + +And at the words that little conventional spirit +which had never known until that night the capacity +for fierce agony which lay within it, learned for the +second time that there were springs of joy also which +it had never tapped before. His impulse was to fall +upon his knees, but he was shy before the doctors. + +"Can I go up?" + +"In a few minutes." + +"I'm sure, doctor, I'm very--I'm very----" he +grew inarticulate. "Here are your three guineas, Dr. +Pritchard. I wish they were three hundred." + +"So do I," said the senior man, and they laughed +as they shook hands. + +Johnson opened the shop door for them and heard +their talk as they stood for an instant outside. + +"Looked nasty at one time." + +"Very glad to have your help." + +"Delighted, I'm sure. Won't you step round and +have a cup of coffee?" + +"No, thanks. I'm expecting another case." + +The firm step and the dragging one passed away to +the right and the left. Johnson turned from the door +still with that turmoil of joy in his heart. He +seemed to be making a new start in life. He felt +that he was a stronger and a deeper man. Perhaps all +this suffering had an object then. It might prove to +be a blessing both to his wife and to him. The very +thought was one which he would have been incapable of +conceiving twelve hours before. He was full of new +emotions. If there had been a harrowing there had +been a planting too. + +"Can I come up?" he cried, and then, without +waiting for an answer, he took the steps three at a +time. + +Mrs. Peyton was standing by a soapy bath with a +bundle in her hands. From under the curve of a brown +shawl there looked out at him the strangest little +red face with crumpled features, moist, loose lips, +and eyelids which quivered like a rabbit's nostrils. +The weak neck had let the head topple over, and it +rested upon the shoulder. + +"Kiss it, Robert!" cried the grandmother. "Kiss +your son!" + +But he felt a resentment to the little, red, +blinking creature. He could not forgive it yet +for that long night of misery. He caught sight of a +white face in the bed and he ran towards it with such +love and pity as his speech could find no words for. + +"Thank God it is over! Lucy, dear, it was +dreadful!" + +"But I'm so happy now. I never was so happy in +my life." + +Her eyes were fixed upon the brown bundle. + +"You mustn't talk," said Mrs. Peyton. + +"But don't leave me," whispered his wife. + +So he sat in silence with his hand in hers. The +lamp was burning dim and the first cold light of dawn +was breaking through the window. The night had been +long and dark but the day was the sweeter and the +purer in consequence. London was waking up. The +roar began to rise from the street. Lives had come +and lives had gone, but the great machine was still +working out its dim and tragic destiny. + + + + +SWEETHEARTS. + + +It is hard for the general practitioner who sits +among his patients both morning and evening, and sees +them in their homes between, to steal time for one +little daily breath of cleanly air. To win it he +must slip early from his bed and walk out between +shuttered shops when it is chill but very clear, and +all things are sharply outlined, as in a frost. It +is an hour that has a charm of its own, when, but for +a postman or a milkman, one has the pavement to +oneself, and even the most common thing takes an +ever-recurring freshness, as though causeway, and +lamp, and signboard had all wakened to the new day. +Then even an inland city may seem beautiful, and bear +virtue in its smoke-tainted air. + +But it was by the sea that I lived, in a town +that was unlovely enough were it not for its glorious +neighbour. And who cares for the town when one can +sit on the bench at the headland, and look out over +the huge, blue bay, and the yellow scimitar that +curves before it. I loved it when its +great face was freckled with the fishing boats, and I +loved it when the big ships went past, far out, a +little hillock of white and no hull, with topsails +curved like a bodice, so stately and demure. But +most of all I loved it when no trace of man marred +the majesty of Nature, and when the sun-bursts +slanted down on it from between the drifting +rainclouds. Then I have seen the further edge draped +in the gauze of the driving rain, with its thin grey +shading under the slow clouds, while my headland was +golden, and the sun gleamed upon the breakers and +struck deep through the green waves beyond, showing +up the purple patches where the beds of seaweed are +lying. Such a morning as that, with the wind in his +hair, and the spray on his lips, and the cry of the +eddying gulls in his ear, may send a man back braced +afresh to the reek of a sick-room, and the dead, drab +weariness of practice. + +It was on such another day that I first saw my +old man. He came to my bench just as I was leaving +it. My eye must have picked him out even in a +crowded street, for he was a man of large frame and +fine presence, with something of distinction in the +set of his lip and the poise of his head. He limped +up the winding path leaning heavily upon his stick, +as though those great shoulders had become too much +at last for the failing limbs that bore them. As he +approached, my eyes caught Nature's danger +signal, that faint bluish tinge in nose and lip which +tells of a labouring heart. + +"The brae is a little trying, sir," said I. +"Speaking as a physician, I should say that you +would do well to rest here before you go further." + +He inclined his head in a stately, old-world +fashion, and seated himself upon the bench. Seeing +that he had no wish to speak I was silent also, but I +could not help watching him out of the corners of my +eyes, for he was such a wonderful survival of the +early half of the century, with his low-crowned, +curly-brimmed hat, his black satin tie which fastened +with a buckle at the back, and, above all, his large, +fleshy, clean-shaven face shot with its mesh of +wrinkles. Those eyes, ere they had grown dim, had +looked out from the box-seat of mail coaches, and had +seen the knots of navvies as they toiled on the +brown embankments. Those lips had smiled over the +first numbers of "Pickwick," and had gossiped of the +promising young man who wrote them. The face itself +was a seventy-year almanack, and every seam an entry +upon it where public as well as private sorrow left +its trace. That pucker on the forehead stood for the +Mutiny, perhaps; that line of care for the Crimean +winter, it may be; and that last little sheaf of +wrinkles, as my fancy hoped, for the death of +Gordon. And so, as I dreamed in my foolish way, the +old gentleman with the shining stock was gone, and it +was seventy years of a great nation's life that took +shape before me on the headland in the morning. + +But he soon brought me back to earth again. As +he recovered his breath he took a letter out of his +pocket, and, putting on a pair of horn-rimmed eye- +glasses, he read it through very carefully. Without +any design of playing the spy I could not help +observing that it was in a woman's hand. When he had +finished it he read it again, and then sat with the +corners of his mouth drawn down and his eyes staring +vacantly out over the bay, the most forlorn-looking +old gentleman that ever I have seen. All that is +kindly within me was set stirring by that wistful +face, but I knew that he was in no humour for talk, +and so, at last, with my breakfast and my patients +calling me, I left him on the bench and started for +home. + +I never gave him another thought until the next +morning, when, at the same hour, he turned up upon +the headland, and shared the bench which I had been +accustomed to look upon as my own. He bowed again +before sitting down, but was no more inclined than +formerly to enter into conversation. There had been +a change in him during the last twenty-four hours, +and all for the worse. The face seemed more +heavy and more wrinkled, while that ominous venous +tinge was more pronounced as he panted up the hill. +The clean lines of his cheek and chin were marred by +a day's growth of grey stubble, and his large, +shapely head had lost something of the brave carriage +which had struck me when first I glanced at him. He +had a letter there, the same, or another, but still +in a woman's hand, and over this he was moping and +mumbling in his senile fashion, with his brow +puckered, and the corners of his mouth drawn down +like those of a fretting child. So I left him, with +a vague wonder as to who he might be, and why a +single spring day should have wrought such a change +upon him. + +So interested was I that next morning I was on +the look out for him. Sure enough, at the same hour, +I saw him coming up the hill; but very slowly, with a +bent back and a heavy head. It was shocking to me to +see the change in him as he approached. + +"I am afraid that our air does not agree with +you, sir," I ventured to remark. + +But it was as though he had no heart for talk. +He tried, as I thought, to make some fitting reply, +but it slurred off into a mumble and silence. How +bent and weak and old he seemed--ten years older at +the least than when first I had seen him! It went to +my heart to see this fine old fellow wasting +away before my eyes. There was the eternal letter +which he unfolded with his shaking fingers. Who was +this woman whose words moved him so? Some daughter, +perhaps, or granddaughter, who should have been the +light of his home instead of---- I smiled to find +how bitter I was growing, and how swiftly I was +weaving a romance round an unshaven old man and his +correspondence. Yet all day he lingered in my mind, +and I had fitful glimpses of those two trembling, +blue-veined, knuckly hands with the paper rustling +between them. + +I had hardly hoped to see him again. Another +day's decline must, I thought, hold him to his room, +if not to his bed. Great, then, was my surprise +when, as I approached my bench, I saw that he was +already there. But as I came up to him I could +scarce be sure that it was indeed the same man. +There were the curly-brimmed hat, and the shining +stock, and the horn glasses, but where were the stoop +and the grey-stubbled, pitiable face? He was clean- +shaven and firm lipped, with a bright eye and a head +that poised itself upon his great shoulders like an +eagle on a rock. His back was as straight and square +as a grenadier's, and he switched at the pebbles with +his stick in his exuberant vitality. In the button- +hole of his well-brushed black coat there glinted a +golden blossom, and the corner of a dainty red +silk handkerchief lapped over from his breast pocket. +He might have been the eldest son of the weary +creature who had sat there the morning before. + +"Good morning, Sir, good morning!" he cried with +a merry waggle of his cane. + +"Good morning!" I answered how beautiful the bay +is looking." + +"Yes, Sir, but you should have seen it just +before the sun rose." + +"What, have you been here since then?" + +"I was here when there was scarce light to see +the path." + +"You are a very early riser." + +"On occasion, sir; on occasion!" He cocked his +eye at me as if to gauge whether I were worthy of his +confidence. "The fact is, sir, that my wife is +coming back to me to day." + +I suppose that my face showed that I did not +quite see the force of the explanation. My eyes, +too, may have given him assurance of sympathy, for he +moved quite close to me and began speaking in a low, +confidential voice, as if the matter were of such +weight that even the sea-gulls must be kept out of +our councils. + +"Are you a married man, Sir?" + +"No, I am not." + +"Ah, then you cannot quite understand it. My +wife and I have been married for nearly fifty +years, and we have never been parted, never at +all, until now." + +"Was it for long?" I asked. + +"Yes, sir. This is the fourth day. She had to +go to Scotland. A matter of duty, you understand, +and the doctors would not let me go. Not that I +would have allowed them to stop me, but she was on +their side. Now, thank God! it is over, and she may +be here at any moment." + +"Here!" + +"Yes, here. This headland and bench were old +friends of ours thirty years ago. The people with +whom we stay are not, to tell the truth, very +congenial, and we have, little privacy among them. +That is why we prefer to meet here. I could not be +sure which train would bring her, but if she had come +by the very earliest she would have found me +waiting." + +"In that case----" said I, rising. + +"No, sir, no," he entreated, "I beg that you will +stay. It does not weary you, this domestic talk of +mine?" + +"On the contrary." + +"I have been so driven inwards during these few +last days! Ah, what a nightmare it has been! Perhaps +it may seem strange to you that an old fellow like me +should feel like this." + +"It is charming." + +"No credit to me, sir! There's not a man on +this planet but would feel the same if he had +the good fortune to be married to such a woman. +Perhaps, because you see me like this, and hear me +speak of our long life together, you conceive that +she is old, too." + +He laughed heartily, and his eyes twinkled at the +humour of the idea. + +"She's one of those women, you know, who have +youth in their hearts, and so it can never be very +far from their faces. To me she's just as she was +when she first took my hand in hers in '45. A wee +little bit stouter, perhaps, but then, if she had a +fault as a girl, it was that she was a shade too +slender. She was above me in station, you know--I a +clerk, and she the daughter of my employer. Oh! it +was quite a romance, I give you my word, and I won +her; and, somehow, I have never got over the +freshness and the wonder of it. To think that that +sweet, lovely girl has walked by my side all through +life, and that I have been able----" + +He stopped suddenly, and I glanced round at him +in surprise. He was shaking all over, in every fibre +of his great body. His hands were clawing at the +woodwork, and his feet shuffling on the gravel. I +saw what it was. He was trying to rise, but was so +excited that he could not. I half extended my hand, +but a higher courtesy constrained me to draw it back +again and turn my face to the sea. An instant +afterwards he was up and hurrying down the path. + +A woman was coming towards us. She was quite +close before he had seen her--thirty yards at the +utmost. I know not if she had ever been as he +described her, or whether it was but some ideal which +he carried in his brain. The person upon whom I +looked was tall, it is true, but she was thick and +shapeless, with a ruddy, full-blown face, and a +skirt grotesquely gathered up. There was a green +ribbon in her hat, which jarred upon my eyes, and her +blouse-like bodice was full and clumsy. And this was +the lovely girl, the ever youthful! My heart sank as +I thought how little such a woman might appreciate +him, how unworthy she might be of his love. + +She came up the path in her solid way, while he +staggered along to meet her. Then, as they came +together, looking discreetly out of the furthest +corner of my eye, I saw that he put out both his +hands, while she, shrinking from a public caress, +took one of them in hers and shook it. As she did so +I saw her face, and I was easy in my mind for my old +man. God grant that when this hand is shaking, and +when this back is bowed, a woman's eyes may look so +into mine. + + + + +A PHYSIOLOGIST'S WIFE. + + +Professor Ainslie Grey had not come down to +breakfast at the usual hour. The presentation +chiming-clock which stood between the terra-cotta +busts of Claude Bernard and of John Hunter upon the +dining-room mantelpiece had rung out the half-hour +and the three-quarters. Now its golden hand was +verging upon the nine, and yet there were no signs of +the master of the house. + +It was an unprecedented occurrence. During the +twelve years that she had kept house for him, his +youngest sister had never known him a second behind +his time. She sat now in front of the high silver +coffee-pot, uncertain whether to order the gong to be +resounded or to wait on in silence. Either course +might be a mistake. Her brother was not a man who +permitted mistakes. + +Miss Ainslie Grey was rather above the middle +height, thin, with peering, puckered eyes, and the +rounded shoulders which mark the bookish woman. Her +face was long and spare, flecked with +colour above the cheek-bones, with a reasonable, +thoughtful forehead, and a dash of absolute obstinacy +in her thin lips and prominent chin. Snow white +cuffs and collar, with a plain dark dress, cut with +almost Quaker-like simplicity, bespoke the primness +of her taste. An ebony cross hung over her flattened +chest. She sat very upright in her chair, listening +with raised eyebrows, and swinging her eye-glasses +backwards and forwards with a nervous gesture which +was peculiar to her. + +Suddenly she gave a sharp, satisfied jerk of the +head, and began to pour out the coffee. From outside +there came the dull thudding sound of heavy feet upon +thick carpet. The door swung open, and the Professor +entered with a quick, nervous step. He nodded to his +sister, and seating himself at the other side of the +table, began to open the small pile of letters which +lay beside his plate. + +Professor Ainslie Grey was at that time forty- +three years of age--nearly twelve years older than +his sister. His career had been a brilliant one. At +Edinburgh, at Cambridge, and at Vienna he had laid +the foundations of his great reputation, both in +physiology and in zoology. + +His pamphlet, On the Mesoblastic Origin of +Excitomotor Nerve Roots, had won him his fellowship +of the Royal Society; and his researches, Upon +the Nature of Bathybius, with some Remarks upon +Lithococci, had been translated into at least three +European languages. He had been referred to by one +of the greatest living authorities as being the very +type and embodiment of all that was best in modern +science. No wonder, then, that when the commercial +city of Birchespool decided to create a medical +school, they were only too glad to confer the chair +of physiology upon Mr. Ainslie Grey. They valued him +the more from the conviction that their class was +only one step in his upward journey, and that the +first vacancy would remove him to some more +illustrious seat of learning. + +In person he was not unlike his sister. The same +eyes, the same contour, the same intellectual +forehead. His lips, however, were firmer, and his +long, thin, lower jaw was sharper and more decided. +He ran his finger and thumb down it from time to +time, as he glanced over his letters. + +"Those maids are very noisy," he remarked, as a +clack of tongues sounded in the distance. + +"It is Sarah," said his sister; "I shall speak +about it." + +She had handed over his coffee-cup, and was +sipping at her own, glancing furtively through her +narrowed lids at the austere face of her brother. + +"The first great advance of the human race," +said the Professor, "was when, by the +development of their left frontal convolutions, they +attained the power of speech. Their second advance +was when they learned to control that power. Woman +has not yet attained the second stage." + +He half closed his eyes as he spoke, and thrust +his chin forward, but as he ceased he had a trick of +suddenly opening both eyes very wide and staring +sternly at his interlocutor. + +"I am not garrulous, John," said his sister. + +"No, Ada; in many respects you approach the +superior or male type." + +The Professor bowed over his egg with the manner +of one who utters a courtly compliment; but the lady +pouted, and gave an impatient little shrug of her +shoulders. + +"You were late this morning, John," she remarked, +after a pause. + +"Yes, Ada; I slept badly. Some little cerebral +congestion, no doubt due to over-stimulation of the +centers of thought. I have been a little disturbed +in my mind." + +His sister stared across at him in astonishment. +The Professor's mental processes had hitherto been as +regular as his habits. Twelve years' continual +intercourse had taught her that he lived in a serene +and rarefied atmosphere of scientific calm, high +above the petty emotions which affect humbler minds. + +"You are surprised, Ada," he remarked. "Well, I +cannot wonder at it. I should have been surprised +myself if I had been told that I was so sensitive to +vascular influences. For, after all, all +disturbances are vascular if you probe them deep +enough. I am thinking of getting married." + +"Not Mrs. O'James" cried Ada Grey, laying down her +egg-spoon. + +"My dear, you have the feminine quality of +receptivity very remarkably developed. Mrs. O'James +is the lady in question." + +"But you know so little of her. The Esdailes +themselves know so little. She is really only an +acquaintance, although she is staying at The Lindens. +Would it not be wise to speak to Mrs. Esdaile first, +John?" + +"I do not think, Ada, that Mrs. Esdaile is at all +likely to say anything which would materially affect +my course of action. I have given the matter due +consideration. The scientific mind is slow at +arriving at conclusions, but having once formed them, +it is not prone to change. Matrimony is the natural +condition of the human race. I have, as you know, +been so engaged in academical and other work, that I +have had no time to devote to merely personal +questions. It is different now, and I see no valid +reason why I should forego this opportunity of +seeking a suitable helpmate." + +"And you are engaged?" + +"Hardly that, Ada. I ventured yesterday to +indicate to the lady that I was prepared to submit to +the common lot of humanity. I shall wait upon her +after my morning lecture, and learn how far my +proposals meet with her acquiescence. But you frown, +Ada!" + +His sister started, and made an effort to conceal +her expression of annoyance. She even stammered out +some few words of congratulation, but a vacant look +had come into her brother's eyes, and he was +evidently not listening to her. + +"I am sure, John, that I wish you the happiness +which you deserve. If I hesitated at all, it is +because I know how much is at stake, and because the +thing is so sudden, so unexpected." Her thin white +hand stole up to the black cross upon her bosom. +"These are moments when we need guidance, John. If I +could persuade you to turn to spiritual----" + +The Professor waved the suggestion away with a +deprecating hand. + +"It is useless to reopen that question," he said. +"We cannot argue upon it. You assume more than I can +grant. I am forced to dispute your premises. We +have no common basis." + +His sister sighed. + +"You have no faith," she said. + +"I have faith in those great evolutionary forces +which are leading the human race to some unknown but +elevated goal." + +"You believe in nothing." + +"On the contrary, my dear Ada, I believe in the +differentiation of protoplasm." + +She shook her head sadly. It was the one subject +upon which she ventured to dispute her brother's +infallibility. + +"This is rather beside the question," remarked +the Professor, folding up his napkin. "If I am not +mistaken, there is some possibility of another +matrimonial event occurring in the family. Eh, Ada? +What!" + +His small eyes glittered with sly facetiousness +as he shot a twinkle at his sister. She sat very +stiff, and traced patterns upon the cloth with the +sugar-tongs. + +"Dr. James M`Murdo O'Brien----" said the +Professor, sonorously. + +"Don't, John, don't!" cried Miss Ainslie Grey. + +"Dr. James M`Murdo O'Brien," continued her +brother inexorably, "is a man who has already made +his mark upon the science of the day. He is my first +and my most distinguished pupil. I assure you, Ada, +that his `Remarks upon the Bile-Pigments, with +special reference to Urobilin,' is likely to live as +a classic. It is not too much to say that he +has revolutionised our views about urobilin." + +He paused, but his sister sat silent, with bent +head and flushed cheeks. The little ebony cross rose +and fell with her hurried breathings. + +"Dr. James M`Murdo O'Brien has, as you know, the +offer of the physiological chair at Melbourne. He +has been in Australia five years, and has a brilliant +future before him. To-day he leaves us for +Edinburgh, and in two months' time, he goes out to +take over his new duties. You know his feeling +towards you. It, rests with you as to whether he +goes out alone. Speaking for myself, I cannot +imagine any higher mission for a woman of culture +than to go through life in the company of a man who +is capable of such a research as that which Dr. James +M`Murdo O'Brien has brought to a successful +conclusion." + +"He has not spoken to me," murmured the lady. + +"Ah, there are signs which are more subtle than +speech," said her brother, wagging his head. "But +you are pale. Your vasomotor system is excited. +Your arterioles have contracted. Let me entreat you +to compose yourself. I think I hear the carriage. I +fancy that you may have a visitor this morning, Ada. +You will excuse me now." + +With a quick glance at the clock he strode off +into the hall, and within a few minutes he was +rattling in his quiet, well-appointed brougham +through the brick-lined streets of Birchespool. + +His lecture over, Professor Ainslie Grey paid a +visit to his laboratory, where he adjusted several +scientific instruments, made a note as to the +progress of three separate infusions of bacteria, cut +half-a-dozen sections with a microtome, and finally +resolved the difficulties of seven different +gentlemen, who were pursuing researches in as many +separate lines of inquiry. Having thus +conscientiously and methodically completed the +routine of his duties, he returned to his carriage +and ordered the coachman to drive him to The Lindens. +His face as he drove was cold and impassive, but he +drew his fingers from time to time down his prominent +chin with a jerky, twitchy movement. + +The Lindens was an old-fashioned, ivy-clad house +which had once been in the country, but was now +caught in the long, red-brick feelers of the growing +city. It still stood back from the road in the +privacy of its own grounds. A winding path, lined +with laurel bushes, led to the arched and porticoed +entrance. To the right was a lawn, and at the far +side, under the shadow of a hawthorn, a lady sat in a +garden-chair with a book in her hands. At the click +of the gate she started, and the Professor, catching +sight of her, turned away from the door, and +strode in her direction. + +"What! won't you go in and see Mrs. Esdaile?" she +asked, sweeping out from under the shadow of the +hawthorn. + +She was a small woman, strongly feminine, from +the rich coils of her light-coloured hair to the +dainty garden slipper which peeped from under her +cream-tinted dress. One tiny well-gloved hand was +outstretched in greeting, while the other pressed a +thick, green-covered volume against her side. Her +decision and quick, tactful manner bespoke the mature +woman of the world; but her upraised face had +preserved a girlish and even infantile expression of +innocence in its large, fearless, grey eyes, and +sensitive, humorous mouth. Mrs. O'James was a widow, +and she was two-and-thirty years of age; but neither +fact could have been deduced from her appearance. + +"You will surely go in and see Mrs. Esdaile," she +repeated, glancing up at him with eyes which had in +them something between a challenge and a caress. + +"I did not come to see Mrs. Esdaile," he +answered, with no relaxation of his cold and grave +manner; "I came to see you." + +"I am sure I should be highly honoured," she +said, with just the slightest little touch of brogue +in her accent. "What are the students to do +without their Professor?" + +"I have already completed my academic duties. +Take my arm, and we shall walk in the sunshine. +Surely we cannot wonder that Eastern people should +have made a deity of the sun. It is the great +beneficent force of Nature--man's ally against cold, +sterility, and all that is abhorrent to him. What +were you reading?" + +"Hale's Matter and Life." + +The Professor raised his thick eyebrows. + +"Hale!" he said, and then again in a kind of +whisper, "Hale!" + +"You differ from him?" she asked. + +"It is not I who differ from him. I am only a +monad--a thing of no moment. The whole tendency of +the highest plane of modern thought differs from him. +He defends the indefensible. He is an excellent +observer, but a feeble reasoner. I should not +recommend you to found your conclusions upon Hale." + +"I must read Nature's Chronicle to counteract his +pernicious influence," said Mrs. O'James, with a +soft, cooing laugh. + +Nature's Chronicle was one of the many books in +which Professor Ainslie Grey had enforced the +negative doctrines of scientific agnosticism. + +"It is a faulty work," said he; "I cannot +recommend it. I would rather refer you to the +standard writings of some of my older and more +eloquent colleagues." + +There was a pause in their talk as they paced up +and down on the green, velvet-like lawn in the genial +sunshine. + +"Have you thought at all," he asked at last, "of +the matter upon which I spoke to you last night?" + +She said nothing, but walked by his side with her +eyes averted and her face aslant. + +"I would not hurry you unduly," he continued. "I +know that it is a matter which can scarcely be +decided off-hand. In my own case, it cost me some +thought before I ventured to make the suggestion. I +am not an emotional man, but I am conscious in your +presence of the great evolutionary instinct which +makes either sex the complement of the other." + +"You believe in love, then?" she asked, with a +twinkling, upward glance. + +"I am forced to." + +"And yet you can deny the soul?" + +"How far these questions are psychic and how far +material is still sub judice," said the +Professor, with an air of toleration. "Protoplasm +may prove to be the physical basis of love as well as +of life." + +"How inflexible you are!" she exclaimed; "you +would draw love down to the level of physics." + +"Or draw physics up to the level of love." + +"Come, that is much better," she cried, with her +sympathetic laugh. "That is really very pretty, and +puts science in quite a delightful light." + +Her eyes sparkled, and she tossed her chin with +the pretty, wilful air of a woman who is mistress of +the situation. + +"I have reason to believe," said the Professor, +"that my position here will prove to be only a +stepping-stone to some wider scene of scientific +activity. Yet, even here, my chair brings me in some +fifteen hundred pounds a year, which is supplemented +by a few hundreds from my books. I should therefore +be in a position to provide you with those comforts +to which you are accustomed. So much for my +pecuniary position. As to my constitution, it has +always been sound. I have never suffered from any +illness in my life, save fleeting attacks of +cephalalgia, the result of too prolonged a +stimulation of the centres of cerebration. My father +and mother had no sign of any morbid diathesis, but I +will not conceal from you that my grandfather was +afflicted with podagra." + +Mrs. O'James looked startled. + +"Is that very serious?" she asked. + +"It is gout," said the Professor. + +"Oh, is that all? It sounded much worse than +that." + +"It is a grave taint, but I trust that I shall +not be a victim to atavism. I have laid these facts +before you because they are factors which cannot be +overlooked in forming your decision. May I ask now +whether you see your way to accepting my proposal?" + +He paused in his walk, and looked earnestly and +expectantly down at her. + +A struggle was evidently going on in her mind. +Her eyes were cast down, her little slipper tapped +the lawn, and her fingers played nervously with her +chatelain. Suddenly, with a sharp, quick gesture +which had in it something of ABANDON and +recklessness, she held out her hand to her companion. + +"I accept," she said. + +They were standing under the shadow of the +hawthorn. He stooped gravely down, and kissed her +glove-covered fingers. + +"I trust that you may never have cause to regret +your decision," he said. + +"I trust that you never may," she cried, with a +heaving breast. + +There were tears in her eyes, and her lips +twitched with some strong emotion. + +"Come into the sunshine again," said he. "It is +the great restorative. Your nerves are shaken. Some +little congestion of the medulla and pons. It is +always instructive to reduce psychic or +emotional conditions to their physical +equivalents. You feel that your anchor is still firm +in a bottom of ascertained fact." + +"But it is so dreadfully unromantic," said Mrs. +O'James, with her old twinkle. + +"Romance is the offspring of imagination and of +ignorance. Where science throws her calm, clear +light there is happily no room for romance." + +"But is not love romance?" she asked. + +"Not at all. Love has been taken away from the +poets, and has been brought within the domain of true +science. It may prove to be one of the great cosmic +elementary forces. When the atom of hydrogen draws +the atom of chlorine towards it to form the perfected +molecule of hydrochloric acid, the force which it +exerts may be intrinsically similar to that which +draws me to you. Attraction and repulsion appear to +be the primary forces. This is attraction." + +"And here is repulsion," said Mrs. O'James, as a +stout, florid lady came sweeping across the lawn in +their direction. "So glad you have come out, Mrs. +Esdaile! Here is Professor Grey." + +"How do you do, Professor?" said the lady, with +some little pomposity of manner. "You were very wise +to stay out here on so lovely a day. Is it not +heavenly?" + +"It is certainly very fine weather," the +Professor answered. + +"Listen to the wind sighing in the trees!" cried +Mrs. Esdaile, holding up one finger. "it is Nature's +lullaby. Could you not imagine it, Professor Grey, +to be the whisperings of angels?" + +"The idea had not occurred to me, madam." + +"Ah, Professor, I have always the same complaint +against you. A want of rapport with the deeper +meanings of nature. Shall I say a want of +imagination. You do not feel an emotional thrill at +the singing of that thrush?" + +"I confess that I am not conscious of one, Mrs. +Esdaile." + +"Or at the delicate tint of that background of +leaves? See the rich greens!" + +"Chlorophyll," murmured the Professor. + +"Science is so hopelessly prosaic. It dissects +and labels, and loses sight of the great things in +its attention to the little ones. You have a poor +opinion of woman's intellect, Professor Grey. I +think that I have heard you say so." + +"It is a question of avoirdupois," said the +Professor, closing his eyes and shrugging his +shoulders. "The female cerebrum averages two ounces +less in weight than the male. No doubt there are +exceptions. Nature is always elastic." + +"But the heaviest thing is not always the +strongest," said Mrs. O'James, laughing. "Isn't +there a law of compensation in science? May we +not hope to make up in quality for what we lack +in quantity?" + +"I think not," remarked the Professor, gravely. +"But there is your luncheon-gong. No, thank you, Mrs. +Esdaile, I cannot stay. My carriage is waiting. +Good-bye. Good-bye, Mrs. O'James." + +He raised his hat and stalked slowly away among +the laurel bushes. + +"He has no taste," said Mrs. Esdaile--" no eye +for beauty." + +"On the contrary," Mrs. O'James answered, with a +saucy little jerk of the chin. "He has just asked me +to be his wife." + + +As Professor Ainslie Grey ascended the steps of +his house, the hall-door opened and a dapper +gentleman stepped briskly out. He was somewhat +sallow in the face, with dark, beady eyes, and a +short, black beard with an aggressive bristle. +Thought and work had left their traces upon his face, +but he moved with the brisk activity of a man who had +not yet bade good-bye to his youth. + +"I'm in luck's way," he cried. "I wanted to see +you." + +"Then come back into the library," said the +Professor; "you must stay and have lunch with us." + +The two men entered the hall, and the Professor +led the way into his private sanctum. He motioned +his companion into an arm-chair. + +"I trust that you have been successful, O'Brien," +said he. "I should be loath to exercise any undue +pressure upon my sister Ada; but I have given her to +understand that there is no one whom I should prefer +for a brother-in-law to my most brilliant scholar, +the author of Some Remarks upon the Bile-Pigments, +with special reference to Urobilin." + +"You are very kind, Professor Grey--you have +always been very kind," said the other. "I +approached Miss Grey upon the subject; she did not +say No." + +"She said Yes, then?" + +"No; she proposed to leave the matter open until +my return from Edinburgh. I go to-day, as you know, +and I hope to commence my research to-morrow." + +"On the comparative anatomy of the vermiform +appendix, by James M`Murdo O'Brien," said the +Professor, sonorously. "It is a glorious subject--a +subject which lies at the very root of evolutionary +philosophy." + +"Ah! she is the dearest girl," cried O'Brien, +with a sudden little spurt of Celtic enthusiasm--"she +is the soul of truth and of honour." + +"The vermiform appendix----" began the Professor. + +"She is an angel from heaven," interrupted the +other. "I fear that it is my advocacy of scientific +freedom in religious thought which stands in my way +with her." + +"You must not truckle upon that point. You must +be true to your convictions; let there be no +compromise there." + +"My reason is true to agnosticism, and yet I am +conscious of a void--a vacuum. I had feelings at the +old church at home between the scent of the incense +and the roll of the organ, such as I have never +experienced in the laboratory or the lecture-room." + +"Sensuous-purely sensuous," said the Professor, +rubbing his chin. "Vague hereditary tendencies +stirred into life by the stimulation of the nasal and +auditory nerves." + +"Maybe so, maybe so," the younger man answered +thoughtfully. "But this was not what I wished to +speak to you about. Before I enter your family, your +sister and you have a claim to know all that I can +tell you about my career. Of my worldly prospects I +have already spoken to you. There is only one point +which I have omitted to mention. I am a widower." + +The Professor raised his eyebrows. + +"This is news indeed," said he. + +"I married shortly after my arrival in Australia. +Miss Thurston was her name. I met her in society. +It was a most unhappy match." + +Some painful emotion possessed him. His quick, +expressive features quivered, and his white hands +tightened upon the arms of the chair. The Professor +turned away towards the window. + +"You are the best judge," he remarked "but I +should not think that it was necessary to go into +details." + +"You have a right to know everything--you and +Miss Grey. It is not a matter on which I can well +speak to her direct. Poor Jinny was the best of +women, but she was open to flattery, and liable to be +misled by designing persons. She was untrue to me, +Grey. It is a hard thing to say of the dead, but she +was untrue to me. She fled to Auckland with a man +whom she had known before her marriage. The brig +which carried them foundered, and not a soul was +saved." + +"This is very painful, O'Brien," said the +Professor, with a deprecatory motion of his hand. "I +cannot see, however, how it affects your relation to +my sister." + +"I have eased my conscience," said O'Brien, +rising from his chair; "I have told you all that +there is to tell. I should not like the story to +reach you through any lips but my own." + +"You are right, O'Brien. Your action has +been most honourable and considerate. But you +are not to blame in the matter, save that perhaps you +showed a little precipitancy in choosing a life- +partner without due care and inquiry." + +O'Brien drew his hand across his eyes. + +"Poor girl!" he cried. "God help me, I love her +still! But I must go." + +"You will lunch with us?" + +"No, Professor; I have my packing still to do. I +have already bade Miss Grey adieu. In two months I +shall see you again." + +"You will probably find me a married man." + +"Married!" + +"Yes, I have been thinking of it." + +"My dear Professor, let me congratulate you with +all my heart. I had no idea. Who is the lady?" + +"Mrs. O'James is her name--a widow of the same +nationality as yourself. But to return to matters of +importance, I should be very happy to see the proofs +of your paper upon the vermiform appendix. I may be +able to furnish you with material for a footnote or +two." + +"Your assistance will be invaluable to me," said +O'Brien, with enthusiasm, and the two men parted in +the hall. The Professor walked back into the dining- +room, where his sister was already seated at the +luncheon-table. + +"I shall be married at the registrar's," he +remarked; "I should strongly recommend you to do +the same." + +Professor Ainslie Grey was as good as his word. +A fortnight's cessation of his classes gave him an +opportunity which was too good to let pass. Mrs. +O'James was an orphan, without relations and almost +without friends in the country. There was no +obstacle in the way of a speedy wedding. They were +married, accordingly, in the quietest manner +possible, and went off to Cambridge together, where +the Professor and his charming wife were present at +several academic observances, and varied the routine +of their honeymoon by incursions into biological +laboratories and medical libraries. Scientific +friends were loud in their congratulations, not only +upon Mrs. Grey's beauty, but upon the unusual +quickness and intelligence which she displayed in +discussing physiological questions. The Professor +was himself astonished at the accuracy of her +information. "You have a remarkable range of +knowledge for a woman, Jeannette," he remarked upon +more than one occasion. He was even prepared to +admit that her cerebrum might be of the normal +weight. + +One foggy, drizzling morning they returned to +Birchespool, for the next day would re-open the +session, and Professor Ainslie Grey prided himself +upon having never once in his life failed to +appear in his lecture-room at the very stroke of +the hour. Miss Ada Grey welcomed them with a +constrained cordiality, and handed over the keys of +office to the new mistress. Mrs. Grey pressed her +warmly to remain, but she explained that she had +already accepted an invitation which would engage her +for some months. The same evening she departed for +the south of England. + +A couple of days later the maid carried a card +just after breakfast into the library where the +Professor sat revising his morning lecture. It +announced the re-arrival of Dr. James M`Murdo +O'Brien. Their meeting was effusively genial on the +part of the younger man, and coldly precise on that +of his former teacher. + +"You see there have been changes," said the +Professor. + +"So I heard. Miss Grey told me in her letters, +and I read the notice in the British Medical Journal. +So it's really married you are. How quickly and +quietly you have managed it all!" + +"I am constitutionally averse to anything in the +nature of show or ceremony. My wife is a sensible +woman--I may even go the length of saying that, for a +woman, she is abnormally sensible. She quite agreed +with me in the course which I have adopted." + +"And your research on Vallisneria?" + +"This matrimonial incident has interrupted it, +but I have resumed my classes, and we shall soon +be quite in harness again." + +"I must see Miss Grey before I leave England. We +have corresponded, and I think that all will be well. +She must come out with me. I don't think I could go +without her." + +The Professor shook his head. + +"Your nature is not so weak as you pretend," he +said. "Questions of this sort are, after all, quite +subordinate to the great duties of life." + +O'Brien smiled. + +"You would have me take out my Celtic soul and +put in a Saxon one," he said. "Either my brain is +too small or my heart is too big. But when may I +call and pay my respects to Mrs. Grey? Will she be +at home this afternoon?" + +"She is at home now. Come into the morning-room. +She will be glad to make your acquaintance." + +They walked across the linoleum-paved hall. The +Professor opened the door of the room, and walked in, +followed by his friend. Mrs. Grey was sitting in a +basket-chair by the window, light and fairy-like in a +loose-flowing, pink morning-gown. Seeing a visitor, +she rose and swept towards them. The Professor heard +a dull thud behind him. O'Brien had fallen back into +a chair, with his hand pressed tight to his side. + +"Jinny!" he gasped--"Jinny!" + +Mrs. Grey stopped dead in her advance, and stared +at him with a face from which every expression had +been struck out, save one of astonishment and horror. +Then with a sharp intaking of the breath she reeled, +and would have fallen had the Professor not thrown +his long, nervous arm round her. + +"Try this sofa," said he. + +She sank back among the cushions with the same +white, cold, dead look upon her face. The Professor +stood with his back to the empty fireplace and +glanced from the one to the other. + +"So, O'Brien," he said at last, "you have already +made the acquaintance of my wife!" + +"Your wife, " cried his friend hoarsely. "She is +no wife of yours. God help me, she is MY wife." + +The Professor stood rigidly upon the hearthrug. +His long, thin fingers were intertwined, and his head +sunk a little forward. His two companions had eyes +only for each other. + +"Jinny!" said he. + +"James!" + +"How could you leave me so, Jinny? How could you +have the heart to do it? I thought you were dead. I +mourned for your death--ay, and you have made me +mourn for you living. You have withered my life." + +She made no answer, but lay back among her +cushions with her eyes still fixed upon him. + +"Why do you not speak?" + +"Because you are right, James. I HAVE treated +you cruelly--shamefully. But it is not as bad as you +think." + +"You fled with De Horta." + +"No, I did not. At the last moment my better +nature prevailed. He went alone. But I was ashamed +to come back after what I had written to you. I +could not face you. I took passage alone to England +under a new name, and here I have lived ever since. +It seemed to me that I was beginning life again. I +knew that you thought I was drowned. Who could have +dreamed that fate would throw us together again! +When the Professor asked me----" + +She stopped and gave a gasp for breath. + +"You are faint," said the Professor--"keep the +head low; it aids the cerebral circulation." He +flattened down the cushion. "I am sorry to leave +you, O'Brien; but I have my class duties to look to. +Possibly I may find you here when I return." + +With a grim and rigid face he strode out of the +room. Not one of the three hundred students who +listened to his lecture saw any change in his manner +and appearance, or could have guessed that the +austere gentleman in front of them had found out +at last how hard it is to rise above one's humanity. +The lecture over, he performed his routine duties in +the laboratory, and then drove back to his own house. +He did not enter by the front door, but passed +through the garden to the folding glass casement +which led out of the morning-room. As he approached +he heard his wife's voice and O'Brien's in loud and +animated talk. He paused among the rose-bushes, +uncertain whether to interrupt them or no. Nothing +was further from his nature than play the +eavesdropper; but as he stood, still hesitating, +words fell upon his ear which struck him rigid and +motionless. + +"You are still my wife, Jinny," said O'Brien; "I +forgive you from the bottom of my heart. I love you, +and I have never ceased to love you, though you had +forgotten me." + +"No, James, my heart was always in Melbourne. I +have always been yours. I thought that it was better +for you that I should seem to be dead." + +"You must choose between us now, Jinny. If you +determine to remain here, I shall not open my lips. +There shall be no scandal. If, on the other hand, +you come with me, it's little I care about the +world's opinion. Perhaps I am as much to blame as +you. I thought too much of my work and too little of +my wife." + +The Professor heard the cooing, caressing laugh +which he knew so well. + +"I shall go with you, James," she said. + +"And the Professor----?" + +"The poor Professor! But he will not mind much, +James; he has no heart." + +"We must tell him our resolution." + +"There is no need," said Professor Ainslie Grey, +stepping in through the open casement. "I have +overheard the latter part of your conversation. I +hesitated to interrupt you before you came to a +conclusion." + +O'Brien stretched out his hand and took that of +the woman. They stood together with the sunshine on +their faces. The Professor paused at the casement +with his hands behind his back, and his long black +shadow fell between them. + +"You have come to a wise decision," said he. "Go +back to Australia together, and let what has passed +be blotted out of your lives." + +"But you--you----" stammered O'Brien. + +The Professor waved his hand. + +"Never trouble about me," he said. + +The woman gave a gasping cry. + +"What can I do or say?" she wailed. "How could I +have foreseen this? I thought my old life was dead. +But it has come back again, with all its hopes and +its desires. What can I say to you, Ainslie? I +have brought shame and disgrace upon a worthy man. I +have blasted your life. How you must hate and loathe +me! I wish to God that I had never been born!" + +"I neither hate nor loathe you, Jeannette," said +the Professor, quietly. "You are wrong in regretting +your birth, for you have a worthy mission before you +in aiding the life-work of a man who has shown +himself capable of the highest order of scientific +research. I cannot with justice blame you personally +for what has occurred. How far the individual monad +is to be held responsible for hereditary and +engrained tendencies, is a question upon which +science has not yet said her last word." + +He stood with his finger-tips touching, and his +body inclined as one who is gravely expounding a +difficult and impersonal subject. O'Brien had +stepped forward to say something, but the other's +attitude and manner froze the words upon his lips. +Condolence or sympathy would be an impertinence to +one who could so easily merge his private griefs in +broad questions of abstract philosophy. + +"It is needless to prolong the situation," the +Professor continued, in the same measured tones. "My +brougham stands at the door. I beg that you will use +it as your own. Perhaps it would be as well that you +should leave the town without unnecessary delay. +Your things, Jeannette, shall be forwarded." + +O'Brien hesitated with a hanging head. + +"I hardly dare offer you my hand," he said. + +"On the contrary. I think that of the three of +us you come best out of the affair. You have nothing +to be ashamed of." + +"Your sister----" + +"I shall see that the matter is put to her in its +true light. Good-bye! Let me have a copy of your +recent research. Good-bye, Jeannette!" + +"Good-bye!" + +Their hands met, and for one short moment their +eyes also. It was only a glance, but for the first +and last time the woman's intuition cast a light for +itself into the dark places of a strong man's soul. +She gave a little gasp, and her other hand rested for +an instant, as white and as light as thistle-down, +upon his shoulder. + +"James, James!" she cried. "Don't you see that he +is stricken to the heart?" + +He turned her quietly away from him. + +"I am not an emotional man," he said. "I have my +duties--my research on Vallisneria. The brougham is +there. Your cloak is in the hall. Tell John where +you wish to be driven. He will bring you anything +you need. Now go." + +His last two words were so sudden, so volcanic, +in such contrast to his measured voice and mask- +like face, that they swept the two away from +him. He closed the door behind them and paced slowly +up and down the room. Then he passed into the +library and looked out over the wire blind. The +carriage was rolling away. He caught a last glimpse +of the woman who had been his wife. He saw the +feminine droop of her head, and the curve of her +beautiful throat. + +Under some foolish, aimless impulse, he took a +few quick steps towards the door. Then he turned, +and throwing himself into his study-chair he plunged +back into his work. + + +There was little scandal about this singular +domestic incident. The Professor had few personal +friends, and seldom went into society. His marriage +had been so quiet that most of his colleagues had +never ceased to regard him as a bachelor. Mrs. +Esdaile and a few others might talk, but their field +for gossip was limited, for they could only guess +vaguely at the cause of this sudden separation. + +The Professor was as punctual as ever at his +classes, and as zealous in directing the laboratory +work of those who studied under him. His own private +researches were pushed on with feverish energy. It +was no uncommon thing for his servants, when they +came down of a morning, to hear the shrill +scratchings of his tireless pen, or to meet him on +the staircase as he ascended, grey and silent, to his +room. In vain his friends assured him that such a +life must undermine his health. He lengthened his +hours until day and night were one long, ceaseless +task. + +Gradually under this discipline a change came +over his appearance. His features, always inclined +to gauntness, became even sharper and more +pronounced. There were deep lines about his temples +and across his brow. His cheek was sunken and his +complexion bloodless. His knees gave under him when +he walked; and once when passing out of his lecture- +room he fell and had to be assisted to his carriage. + +This was just before the end of the session and +soon after the holidays commenced the professors who +still remained in Birchespool were shocked to hear +that their brother of the chair of physiology had +sunk so low that no hopes could be entertained of his +recovery. Two eminent physicians had consulted over +his case without being able to give a name to the +affection from which he suffered. A steadily +decreasing vitality appeared to be the only symptom-- +a bodily weakness which left the mind unclouded. He +was much interested himself in his own case, and made +notes of his subjective sensations as an aid to +diagnosis. Of his approaching end he spoke in +his usual unemotional and somewhat pedantic fashion. +"It is the assertion," he said, "of the liberty of the +individual cell as opposed to the cell-commune. It +is the dissolution of a co-operative society. The +process is one of great interest." + +And so one grey morning his co-operative society +dissolved. Very quietly and softly he sank into his +eternal sleep. His two physicians felt some slight +embarrassment when called upon to fill in his +certificate. + +"It is difficult to give it a name," said one. + +"Very," said the other. + +"If he were not such an unemotional man, I should +have said that he had died from some sudden nervous +shock--from, in fact, what the vulgar would call a +broken heart." + +"I don't think poor Grey was that sort of a man +at all." + +"Let us call it cardiac, anyhow," said the older +physician. + +So they did so. + + + + +THE CASE OF LADY SANNOX. + + +The relations between Douglas Stone and the +notorious Lady Sannox were very well known both among +the fashionable circles of which she was a brilliant +member, and the scientific bodies which numbered him +among their most illustrious confreres. There +was naturally, therefore, a very widespread interest +when it was announced one morning that the lady had +absolutely and for ever taken the veil, and that the +world would see her no more. When, at the very tail +of this rumour, there came the assurance that the +celebrated operating surgeon, the man of steel +nerves, had been found in the morning by his valet, +seated on one side of his bed, smiling pleasantly +upon the universe, with both legs jammed into one +side of his breeches and his great brain about as +valuable as a cap full of porridge, the matter was +strong enough to give quite a little thrill of +interest to folk who had never hoped that their jaded +nerves were capable of such a sensation. + +Douglas Stone in his prime was one of the +most remarkable men in England. Indeed, he +could hardly be said to have ever reached his prime, +for he was but nine-and-thirty at the time of this +little incident. Those who knew him best were aware +that, famous as he was as a surgeon, he might have +succeeded with even greater rapidity in any of a +dozen lines of life. He could have cut his way to +fame as a soldier, struggled to it as an explorer, +bullied for it in the courts, or built it out of +stone and iron as an engineer. He was born to be +great, for he could plan what another man dare not +do, and he could do what another man dare not plan. +In surgery none could follow him. His nerve, his +judgment, his intuition, were things apart. Again +and again his knife cut away death, but grazed the +very springs of life in doing it, until his +assistants were as white as the patient. His energy, +his audacity, his full-blooded self-confidence--does +not the memory of them still linger to the south of +Marylebone Road and the north of Oxford Street? + +His vices were as magnificent as his virtues, and +infinitely more picturesque. Large as was his +income, and it was the third largest of all +professional men in London, it was far beneath the +luxury of his living. Deep in his complex nature lay +a rich vein of sensualism, at the sport of which he +placed all the prizes of his life. The eye, the +ear, the touch, the palate--all were his masters. +The bouquet of old vintages, the scent of rare +exotics, the curves and tints of the daintiest +potteries of Europe--it was to these that the quick- +running stream of gold was transformed. And then +there came his sudden mad passion for Lady Sannox, +when a single interview with two challenging glances +and a whispered word set him ablaze. She was the +loveliest woman in London, and the only one to him. +He was one of the handsomest men in London, but not +the only one to her. She had a liking for new +experiences, and was gracious to most men who wooed +her. It may have been cause or it may have been +effect that Lord Sannox looked fifty, though he was +but six-and-thirty. + +He was a quiet, silent, neutral-tinted man, this +lord, with thin lips and heavy eyelids, much given to +gardening, and full of home-like habits. He had at +one time been fond of acting, had even rented a +theatre in London, and on its boards had first seen +Miss Marion Dawson, to whom he had offered his hand, +his title, and the third of a county. Since his +marriage this early hobby had become distasteful to +him. Even in private theatricals it was no longer +possible to persuade him to exercise the talent which +he had often shown that he possessed. He was happier +with a spud and a watering-can among his orchids and +chrysanthemums. + +It was quite an interesting problem whether he +was absolutely devoid of sense, or miserably wanting +in spirit. Did he know his lady's ways and condone +them, or was he a mere blind, doting fool? It was a +point to be discussed over the teacups in snug little +drawing-rooms, or with the aid of a cigar in the bow +windows of clubs. Bitter and plain were the comments +among men upon his conduct. There was but one who +had a good word to say for him, and he was the most +silent member in the smoking-room. He had seen him +break in a horse at the university, and it seemed to +have left an impression upon his mind. + +But when Douglas Stone became the favourite, all +doubts as to Lord Sannox's knowledge or ignorance +were set for ever at rest. There, was no subterfuge +about Stone. In his high-handed, impetuous fashion, +he set all caution and discretion at defiance. The +scandal became notorious. A learned body intimated +that his name had been struck from the list of its +vice-presidents. Two friends implored him to +consider his professional credit. He cursed them all +three, and spent forty guineas on a bangle to take +with him to the lady. He was at her house every +evening, and she drove in his carriage in the +afternoons. There was not an attempt on either side +to conceal their relations; but there came at last a +little incident to interrupt them. + +It was a dismal winter's night, very cold and +gusty, with the wind whooping in the chimneys and +blustering against the window-panes. A thin spatter +of rain tinkled on the glass with each fresh sough of +the gale, drowning for the instant the dull gurgle +and drip from the eves. Douglas Stone had finished +his dinner, and sat by his fire in the study, a glass +of rich port upon the malachite table at his elbow. +As he raised it to his lips, he held it up against +the lamplight, and watched with the eye of a +connoisseur the tiny scales of beeswing which floated +in its rich ruby depths. The fire, as it spurted up, +threw fitful lights upon his bold, clear-cut face, +with its widely-opened grey eyes, its thick and yet +firm lips, and the deep, square jaw, which had +something Roman in its strength and its animalism. +He smiled from time to time as he nestled back in his +luxurious chair. Indeed, he had a right to feel well +pleased, for, against the advice of six colleagues, +he had performed an operation that day of which only +two cases were on record, and the result had been +brilliant beyond all expectation. No other man in +London would have had the daring to plan, or the +skill to execute, such a heroic measure. + +But he had promised Lady Sannox to see her that +evening and it was already half-past eight. His hand +was outstretched to the bell to order the +carriage when he heard the dull thud of the knocker. +An instant later there was the shuffling of feet in +the hall, and the sharp closing of a door. + +"A patient to see you, sir, in the consulting- +room, said the butler. + +"About himself?" + +"No, sir; I think he wants you to go out." + +"It is too late, cried Douglas Stone peevishly. +"I won't go." + +"This is his card, sir." + +The butler presented it upon the gold salver +which had been given to his master by the wife of a +Prime Minister. + +"`Hamil Ali, Smyrna.' Hum! The fellow is a +Turk, I suppose." + +"Yes, sir. He seems as if he came from abroad, +sir. And he's in a terrible way." + +"Tut, tut! I have an engagement. I must go +somewhere else. But I'll see him. Show him in here, +Pim." + +A few moments later the butler swung open the +door and ushered in a small and decrepit man, who +walked with a bent back and with the forward push of +the face and blink of the eyes which goes with +extreme short sight. His face was swarthy, and his +hair and beard of the deepest black. In one hand he +held a turban of white muslin striped with red, in +the other a small chamois leather bag. + +"Good-evening," said Douglas Stone, when the +butler had closed the door. "You speak English, I +presume?" + +"Yes, sir. I am from Asia Minor, but I speak +English when I speak slow." + +"You wanted me to go out, I understand?" + +"Yes, sir. I wanted very much that you should +see my wife." + +"I could come in the morning, but I have an +engagement which prevents me from seeing your wife +to-night." + +The Turk's answer was a singular one. He pulled +the string which closed the mouth of the chamois +leather bag, and poured a flood of gold on to the +table. + +"There are one hundred pounds there," said he, +"and I promise you that it will not take you an hour. +I have a cab ready at the door." + +Douglas Stone glanced at his watch. An hour +would not make it too late to visit Lady Sannox. He +had been there later. And the fee was an +extraordinarily high one. He had been pressed by his +creditors lately, and he could not afford to let such +a chance pass. He would go. + +"What is the case?" he asked. + +"Oh, it is so sad a one! So sad a one! You have +not, perhaps, heard of the daggers of the Almohades?" + +"Never." + +"Ah, they are Eastern daggers of a great age and +of a singular shape, with the hilt like what you call +a stirrup. I am a curiosity dealer, you understand, +and that is why I have come to England from Smyrna, +but next week I go back once more. Many things I +brought with me, and I have a few things left, but +among them, to my sorrow, is one of these daggers." + +"You will remember that I have an appointment, +sir," said the surgeon, with some irritation. "Pray +confine yourself to the necessary details." + +"You will see that it is necessary. To-day my +wife fell down in a faint in the room in which I keep +my wares, and she cut her lower lip upon this cursed +dagger of Almohades." + +"I see," said Douglas Stone, rising. "And you +wish me to dress the wound? " + +"No, no, it is worse than that." + +"What then?" + +"These daggers are poisoned." + +"Poisoned!" + +"Yes, and there is no man, East or West, who can +tell now what is the poison or what the cure. But +all that is known I know, for my father was in this +trade before me, and we have had much to do with +these poisoned weapons." + +"What are the symptoms?" + +"Deep sleep, and death in thirty hours." + +"And you say there is no cure. Why then should +you pay me this considerable fee?" + +"No drug can cure, but the knife may." + +"And how?" + +"The poison is slow of absorption. It remains +for hours in the wound." + +"Washing, then, might cleanse it?" + +"No more than in a snake-bite. It is too subtle +and too deadly." + +"Excision of the wound, then?" + +"That is it. If it be on the finger, take the +finger off. So said my father always. But think of +where this wound is, and that it is my wife. It is +dreadful!" + +But familiarity with such grim matters may take +the finer edge from a man's sympathy. To Douglas +Stone this was already an interesting case, and he +brushed aside as irrelevant the feeble objections of +the husband. + +"It appears to be that or nothing," said he +brusquely. It is better to lose a lip than a life." + +"Ah, yes, I know that you are right. Well, well, +it is kismet, and must be faced. I have the cab, and +you will come with me and do this thing." + +Douglas Stone took his case of bistouries from a +drawer, and placed it with a roll of bandage and a +compress of lint in his pocket. He must waste +no more time if he were to see Lady Sannox. + +"I am ready," said he, pulling on his overcoat. +Will you take a glass of wine before you go out into +this cold air?" + +His visitor shrank away, with a protesting hand +upraised. + +"You forget that I am a Mussulman, and a true +follower of the Prophet," said he. "But tell me what +is the bottle of green glass which you have placed in +your pocket?" + +"It is chloroform." + +"Ah, that also is forbidden to us. It is a +spirit, and we make no use of such things." + +"What! You would allow your wife to go through +an operation without an anaesthetic?" + +"Ah! she will feel nothing, poor soul. The deep +sleep has already come on, which is the first working +of the poison. And then I have given her of our +Smyrna opium. Come, sir, for already an hour has +passed." + +As they stepped out into the darkness, a sheet of +rain was driven in upon their faces, and the hall +lamp, which dangled from the arm of a marble +caryatid, went out with a fluff. Pim, the butler, +pushed the heavy door to, straining hard with his +shoulder against the wind, while the two men groped +their way towards the yellow glare which showed where +the cab was waiting. An instant later they were +rattling upon their journey. + +"Is it far?" asked Douglas Stone. + +"Oh, no. We have a very little quiet place off +the Euston Road." + +The surgeon pressed the spring of his repeater +and listened to the little tings which told him the +hour. It was a quarter past nine. He calculated the +distances, and the short time which it would take him +to perform so trivial an operation. He ought to +reach Lady Sannox by ten o'clock. Through the fogged +windows he saw the blurred gas-lamps dancing past, +with occasionally the broader glare of a shop front. +The rain was pelting and rattling upon the leathern +top of the carriage and the wheels swashed as they +rolled through puddle and mud. Opposite to him the +white headgear of his companion gleamed faintly +through the obscurity. The surgeon felt in his +pockets and arranged his needles, his ligatures and +his safety-pins, that no time might be wasted when +they arrived. He chafed with impatience and drummed +his foot upon the floor. + +But the cab slowed down at last and pulled up. +In an instant Douglas Stone was out, and the Smyrna +merchant's toe was at his very heel. + +"You can wait," said he to the driver. + +It was a mean-looking house in a narrow and +sordid street. The surgeon, who knew his London +well, cast a swift glance into the shadows, but +there was nothing distinctive--no shop, no movement, +nothing but a double line of dull, flat-faced houses, +a double stretch of wet flagstones which gleamed in +the lamplight, and a double rush of water in the +gutters which swirled and gurgled towards the sewer +gratings. The door which faced them was blotched and +discoloured, and a faint light in the fan pane above +it served to show the dust and the grime which +covered it. Above, in one of the bedroom windows, +there was a dull yellow glimmer. The merchant +knocked loudly, and, as he turned his dark face +towards the light, Douglas Stone could see that it +was contracted with anxiety. A bolt was drawn, and +an elderly woman with a taper stood in the doorway, +shielding the thin flame with her gnarled hand. + +"Is all well?" gasped the merchant. + +"She is as you left her, sir." + +"She has not spoken?" + +"No; she is in a deep sleep." + +The merchant closed the door, and Douglas Stone +walked down the narrow passage, glancing about him in +some surprise as he did so. There was no oilcloth, +no mat, no hat-rack. Deep grey dust and heavy +festoons of cobwebs met his eyes everywhere. +Following the old woman up the winding stair, his +firm footfall echoed harshly through the silent +house. There was no carpet. + +The bedroom was on the second landing. Douglas +Stone followed the old nurse into it, with the +merchant at his heels. Here, at least, there was +furniture and to spare. The floor was littered and +the corners piled with Turkish cabinets, inlaid +tables, coats of chain mail, strange pipes, and +grotesque weapons. A single small lamp stood upon a +bracket on the wall. Douglas Stone took it down, and +picking his way among the lumber, walked over to a +couch in the corner, on which lay a woman dressed in +the Turkish fashion, with yashmak and veil. The +lower part of the face was exposed, and the surgeon +saw a jagged cut which zigzagged along the border of +the under lip. + +"You will forgive the yashmak," said the Turk. +"You know our views about woman in the East." + +But the surgeon was not thinking about the +yashmak. This was no longer a woman to him. It was +a case. He stooped and examined the wound carefully. + +"There are no signs of irritation," said he. "We +might delay the operation until local symptoms +develop." + +The husband wrung his hands in incontrollable +agitation. + +"Oh! sir, sir!" he cried. "Do not trifle. You do +not know. It is deadly. I know, and I give you +my assurance that an operation is absolutely +necessary. Only the knife can save her." + +"And yet I am inclined to wait," said Douglas +Stone. + +"That is enough!" the Turk cried, angrily. +"Every minute is of importance, and I cannot stand +here and see my wife allowed to sink. It only +remains for me to give you my thanks for having come, +and to call in some other surgeon before it is too +late." + +Douglas Stone hesitated. To refund that hundred +pounds was no pleasant matter. But of course if he +left the case he must return the money. And if the +Turk were right and the woman died, his position +before a coroner might be an embarrassing one. + +"You have had personal experience of this +poison?" he asked. + +"I have." + +"And you assure me that an operation is needful." + +"I swear it by all that I hold sacred." + +"The disfigurement will be frightful." + +"I can understand that the mouth will not be a +pretty one to kiss." + +Douglas Stone turned fiercely upon the man. The +speech was a brutal one. But the Turk has his own +fashion of talk and of thought, and there was no time +for wrangling. Douglas Stone drew a bistoury +from his case, opened it and felt the keen straight +edge with his forefinger. Then he held the lamp +closer to the bed. Two dark eyes were gazing up at +him through the slit in the yashmak. They were all +iris, and the pupil was hardly to be seen. + +"You have given her a very heavy dose of opium." + +"Yes, she has had a good dose." + +He glanced again at the dark eyes which looked +straight at his own. They were dull and lustreless, +but, even as he gazed, a little shifting sparkle came +into them, and the lips quivered. + +"She is not absolutely unconscious," said he. + +"Would it not be well to use the knife while it +would be painless?" + +The same thought had crossed the surgeon's mind. +He grasped the wounded lip with his forceps, and with +two swift cuts he took out a broad V-shaped piece. +The woman sprang up on the couch with a dreadful +gurgling scream. Her covering was torn from her +face. It was a face that he knew. In spite of that +protruding upper lip and that slobber of blood, it +was a face that he knew. She kept on putting her +hand up to the gap and screaming. Douglas Stone sat +down at the foot of the couch with his knife and his +forceps. The room was whirling round, and he had +felt something go like a ripping seam behind his +ear. A bystander would have said that his face +was the more ghastly of the two. As in a dream, or +as if he had been looking at something at the play, +he was conscious that the Turk's hair and beard lay +upon the table, and that Lord Sannox was leaning +against the wall with his hand to his side, laughing +silently. The screams had died away now, and the +dreadful head had dropped back again upon the pillow, +but Douglas Stone still sat motionless, and Lord +Sannox still chuckled quietly to himself. + +"It was really very necessary for Marion, this +operation," said he, "not physically, but morally, +you know, morally." + +Douglas Stone stooped forwards and began to play +with the fringe of the coverlet. His knife tinkled +down upon the ground, but he still held the forceps +and something more. + +"I had long intended to make a little example," +said Lord Sannox, suavely. "Your note of Wednesday +miscarried, and I have it here in my pocket-book. I +took some pains in carrying out my idea. The wound, +by the way, was from nothing more dangerous than my +signet ring." + +He glanced keenly at his silent companion, and +cocked the small revolver which he held in his coat +pocket. But Douglas Stone was still picking at the +coverlet. + +"You see you have kept your appointment after +all," said Lord Sannox. + +And at that Douglas Stone began to laugh. He +laughed long and loudly. But Lord Sannox did +not laugh now. Something like fear sharpened and +hardened his features. He walked from the room, and +he walked on tiptoe. The old woman was waiting +outside. + +"Attend to your mistress when she awakes," said +Lord Sannox. + +Then he went down to the street. The cab was at +the door, and the driver raised his hand to his hat. + +"John," said Lord Sannox, "you will take the +doctor home first. He will want leading downstairs, +I think. Tell his butler that he has been taken ill +at a case." + +"Very good, sir." + +"Then you can take Lady Sannox home." + +"And how about yourself, sir?" + +"Oh, my address for the next few months will be +Hotel di Roma, Venice. Just see that the letters are +sent on. And tell Stevens to exhibit all the purple +chrysanthemums next Monday and to wire me the +result." + + + + +A QUESTION OF DIPLOMACY. + + +The Foreign Minister was down with the gout. For +a week he had been confined to the house, and he had +missed two Cabinet Councils at a time when the +pressure upon his department was severe. It is true +that he had an excellent undersecretary and an +admirable staff, but the Minister was a man of such +ripe experience and of such proven sagacity that +things halted in his absence. When his firm hand was +at the wheel the great ship of State rode easily and +smoothly upon her way; when it was removed she yawed +and staggered until twelve British editors rose up in +their omniscience and traced out twelve several +courses, each of which was the sole and only path to +safety. Then it was that the Opposition said vain +things, and that the harassed Prime Minister prayed +for his absent colleague. + +The Foreign Minister sat in his dressing-room in +the great house in Cavendish Square. It was May, and +the square garden shot up like a veil of green in +front of his window, but, in spite of the +sunshine, a fire crackled and sputtered in the grate +of the sick-room. In a deep-red plush armchair sat +the great statesman, his head leaning back upon a +silken pillow, one foot stretched forward and +supported upon a padded rest. His deeply-lined, +finely-chiselled face and slow-moving, heavily- +pouched eyes were turned upwards towards the carved +and painted ceiling, with that inscrutable expression +which had been the despair and the admiration of his +Continental colleagues upon the occasion of the +famous Congress when he had made his first appearance +in the arena of European diplomacy. Yet at the +present moment his capacity for hiding his emotions +had for the instant failed him, for about the lines +of his strong, straight mouth and the puckers of his +broad, overhanging forehead, there were sufficient +indications of the restlessness and impatience which +consumed him. + +And indeed there was enough to make a man chafe, +for he had much to think of and yet was bereft of the +power of thought. There was, for example, that +question of the Dobrutscha and the navigation of the +mouths of the Danube which was ripe for settlement. +The Russian Chancellor had sent a masterly statement +upon the subject, and it was the pet ambition of our +Minister to answer it in a worthy fashion. Then +there was the blockade of Crete, and the British +fleet lying off Cape Matapan, waiting for +instructions which might change the course of +European history. And there were those three +unfortunate Macedonian tourists, whose friends were +momentarily expecting to receive their ears or their +fingers in default of the exorbitant ransom which had +been demanded. They must be plucked out of those +mountains, by force or by diplomacy, or an outraged +public would vent its wrath upon Downing Street. All +these questions pressed for a solution, and yet here +was the Foreign Minister of England, planted in an +arm-chair, with his whole thoughts and attention +riveted upon the ball of his right toe! It was +humiliating--horribly humiliating! His reason +revolted at it. He had been a respecter of himself, +a respecter of his own will; but what sort of a +machine was it which could be utterly thrown out of +gear by a little piece of inflamed gristle? He +groaned and writhed among his cushions. + +But, after all, was it quite impossible that he +should go down to the House? Perhaps the doctor was +exaggerating the situation. There was a Cabinet +Council that day. He glanced at his watch. It must +be nearly over by now. But at least he might perhaps +venture to drive down as far as Westminster. He +pushed back the little round table with its bristle +of medicine-bottles, and levering himself up with a +hand upon either arm of the chair, he clutched a +thick oak stick and hobbled slowly across the room. +For a moment as he moved, his energy of mind and body +seemed to return to him. The British fleet should +sail from Matapan. Pressure should be brought to +bear upon the Turks. The Greeks should be shown--Ow! +In an instant the Mediterranean was blotted out, and +nothing remained but that huge, undeniable, +intrusive, red-hot toe. He staggered to the window +and rested his left hand upon the ledge, while he +propped himself upon his stick with his right. +Outside lay the bright, cool, square garden, a few +well-dressed passers-by, and a single, neatly- +appointed carriage, which was driving away from his +own door. His quick eye caught the coat-of-arms on +the panel, and his lips set for a moment and his +bushy eyebrows gathered ominously with a deep furrow +between them. He hobbled back to his seat and struck +the gong which stood upon the table. + +"Your mistress!" said he as the serving-man +entered. + +It was clear that it was impossible to think of +going to the House. The shooting up his leg warned +him that his doctor had not overestimated the +situation. But he had a little mental worry now +which had for the moment eclipsed his physical +ailments. He tapped the ground impatiently with his +stick until the door of the dressing-room swung +open, and a tall, elegant lady of rather more than +middle age swept into the chamber. Her hair was +touched with grey, but her calm, sweet face had all +the freshness of youth, and her gown of green shot +plush, with a sparkle of gold passementerie at her +bosom and shoulders, showed off the lines of her fine +figure to their best advantage. + +"You sent for me, Charles?" + +"Whose carriage was that which drove away just +now?" + +"Oh, you've been up!" she cried, shaking an +admonitory forefinger. "What an old dear it is! How +can you be so rash? What am I to say to Sir William +when he comes? You know that he gives up his cases +when they are insubordinate." + +"In this instance the case may give him up," said +the Minister, peevishly; "but I must beg, Clara, that +you will answer my question." + +"Oh! the carriage! It must have been Lord Arthur +Sibthorpe's." + +"I saw the three chevrons upon the panel," +muttered the invalid. + +His lady had pulled herself a little straighter +and opened her large blue eyes. + +"Then why ask?" she said. "One might almost +think, Charles, that you were laying a trap! Did you +expect that I should deceive you? You have not had +your lithia powder." + +"For Heaven's sake, leave it alone! I asked +because I was surprised that Lord Arthur should call +here. I should have fancied, Clara, that I had made +myself sufficiently clear on that point. Who +received him?" + +"I did. That is, I and Ida." + +"I will not have him brought into contact with +Ida. I do not approve of it. The matter has gone +too far already." + +Lady Clara seated herself on a velvet-topped +footstool, and bent her stately figure over the +Minister's hand, which she patted softly between her +own. + +"Now you have said it, Charles," said she. "It +has gone too far--I give you my word, dear, that I +never suspected it until it was past all mending. I +may be to blame--no doubt I am; but it was all so +sudden. The tail end of the season and a week at +Lord Donnythorne's. That was all. But oh! Charlie, +she loves him so, and she is our only one! How can +we make her miserable?" + +"Tut, tut!" cried the Minister impatiently, +slapping on the plush arm of his chair. "This is too +much. I tell you, Clara, I give you my word, that +all my official duties, all the affairs of this great +empire, do not give me the trouble that Ida does." + +"But she is our only one, Charles." + +"The more reason that she should not make a +mesalliance." + +"Mesalliance, Charles! Lord Arthur +Sibthorpe, son of the Duke of Tavistock, with a +pedigree from the Heptarchy. Debrett takes them +right back to Morcar, Earl of Northumberland." + +The Minister shrugged his shoulders. + +"Lord Arthur is the fourth son of the poorest +duke in England," said he. "He has neither prospects +nor profession." + +"But, oh! Charlie, you could find him both." + +"I do not like him. I do not care for the +connection." + +"But consider Ida! You know how frail her health +is. Her whole soul is set upon him. You would not +have the heart, Charles, to separate them?" + +There was a tap at the door. Lady Clara swept +towards it and threw it open. + +"Yes, Thomas?" + +"If you please, my lady, the Prime Minister is +below." + +"Show him up, Thomas." + +"Now, Charlie, you must not excite yourself over +public matters. Be very good and cool and +reasonable, like a darling. I am sure that I may +trust you." + +She threw her light shawl round the invalid's +shoulders, and slipped away into the bed-room as +the great man was ushered in at the door of the +dressing-room. + +"My dear Charles," said he cordially, stepping +into the room with all the boyish briskness for which +he was famous, "I trust that you find yourself a +little better. Almost ready for harness, eh? We +miss you sadly, both in the House and in the Council. +Quite a storm brewing over this Grecian business. +The Times took a nasty line this morning." + +"So I saw," said the invalid, smiling up at his +chief. "Well, well, we must let them see that the +country is not entirely ruled from Printing House +Square yet. We must keep our own course without +faltering." + +"Certainly, Charles, most undoubtedly," assented +the Prime Minister, with his hands in his pockets. + +"It was so kind of you to call. I am all +impatience to know what was done in the Council." + +"Pure formalities, nothing more. By-the-way, the +Macedonian prisoners are all right." + +"Thank Goodness for that! " + +"We adjourned all other business until we should +have you with us next week. The question of a +dissolution begins to press. The reports from the +provinces are excellent." + +The Foreign Minister moved impatiently and +groaned. + +"We must really straighten up our foreign +business a little," said he. "I must get Novikoff's +Note answered. It is clever, but the fallacies are +obvious. I wish, too, we could clear up the Afghan +frontier. This illness is most exasperating. There +is so much to be done, but my brain is clouded. +Sometimes I think it is the gout, and sometimes I put +it down to the colchicum." + +"What will our medical autocrat say?" laughed the +Prime Minister. "You are so irreverent, Charles. +With a bishop one may feel at one's ease. They are +not beyond the reach of argument. But a doctor with +his stethoscope and thermometer is a thing apart. +Your reading does not impinge upon him. He is +serenely above you. And then, of course, he takes +you at a disadvantage. With health and strength one +might cope with him. Have you read Hahnemann? What +are your views upon Hahnemann?" + +The invalid knew his illustrious colleague too +well to follow him down any of those by-paths of +knowledge in which he delighted to wander. To his +intensely shrewd and practical mind there was +something repellent in the waste of energy involved +in a discussion upon the Early Church or the twenty- +seven principles of Mesmer. It was his custom to +slip past such conversational openings with a quick +step and an averted face. + +"I have hardly glanced at his writings," said he. +"By-the-way, I suppose that there was no special +departmental news?" + +"Ah! I had almost forgotten. Yes, it was one of +the things which I had called to tell you. Sir +Algernon Jones has resigned at Tangier. There is a +vacancy there." + +"It had better be filled at once. The longer +delay the more applicants." + +"Ah, patronage, patronage!" sighed the Prime +Minister. "Every vacancy makes one doubtful friend +and a dozen very positive enemies. Who so bitter as +the disappointed place-seeker? But you are right, +Charles. Better fill it at once, especially as there +is some little trouble in Morocco. I understand that +the Duke of Tavistock would like the place for his +fourth son, Lord Arthur Sibthorpe. We are under some +obligation to the Duke." + +The Foreign Minister sat up eagerly. + +"My dear friend," he said, "it is the very +appointment which I should have suggested. Lord +Arthur would be very much better in Tangier at +present than in--in----" + +"Cavendish Square?" hazarded his chief, with a +little arch query of his eyebrows. + +"Well, let us say London. He has manner and +tact. He was at Constantinople in Norton's time." + +"Then he talks Arabic?" + +"A smattering. But his French is good." + +"Speaking of Arabic, Charles, have you dipped +into Averroes?" + +"No, I have not. But the appointment would be an +excellent one in every way. Would you have the great +goodness to arrange the matter in my absence?" + +"Certainly, Charles, certainly. Is there +anything else that I can do?" + +"No. I hope to be in the House by Monday." + +"I trust so. We miss you at every turn. The +Times will try to make mischief over that Grecian +business. A leader-writer is a terribly +irresponsible thing, Charles. There is no method by +which he may be confuted, however preposterous his +assertions. Good-bye! Read Porson! Goodbye!" + +He shook the invalid's hand, gave a jaunty wave +of his broad-brimmed hat, and darted out of the room +with the same elasticity and energy with which he had +entered it. + +The footman had already opened the great folding +door to usher the illustrious visitor to his +carriage, when a lady stepped from the drawing-room +and touched him on the sleeve. From behind the half- +closed portiere of stamped velvet a little pale face +peeped out, half-curious, half-frightened. + +"May I have one word?" + +"Surely, Lady Clara." + +"I hope it is not intrusive. I would not for the +world overstep the limits----" + +"My dear Lady Clara!" interrupted the Prime +Minister, with a youthful bow and wave. + +"Pray do not answer me if I go too far. But I +know that Lord Arthur Sibthorpe has applied for +Tangier. Would it be a liberty if I asked you what +chance he has?" + +"The post is filled up." + +"Oh!" + +In the foreground and background there was a +disappointed face. + +"And Lord Arthur has it." + +The Prime Minister chuckled over his little piece +of roguery. + +"We have just decided it," he continued. + +"Lord Arthur must go in a week. I am delighted +to perceive, Lady Clara, that the appointment has +your approval. Tangier is a place of extraordinary +interest. Catherine of Braganza and Colonel Kirke +will occur to your memory. Burton has written well +upon Northern Africa. I dine at Windsor, so I am +sure that you will excuse my leaving you. I trust +that Lord Charles will be better. He can hardly fail +to be so with such a nurse." + +He bowed, waved, and was off down the steps +to his brougham. As he drove away, Lady Clara +could see that he was already deeply absorbed in a +paper-covered novel. + +She pushed back the velvet curtains, and returned +into the drawing-room. Her daughter stood in the +sunlight by the window, tall, fragile, and exquisite, +her features and outline not unlike her mother's, but +frailer, softer, more delicate. The golden light +struck one half of her high-bred, sensitive face, and +glimmered upon her thickly-coiled flaxen hair, +striking a pinkish tint from her closely-cut costume +of fawn-coloured cloth with its dainty cinnamon +ruchings. One little soft frill of chiffon nestled +round her throat, from which the white, graceful neck +and well-poised head shot up like a lily amid moss. +Her thin white hands were pressed together, and her +blue eyes turned beseechingly upon her mother. + +"Silly girl! Silly girl!" said the matron, +answering that imploring look. She put her hands +upon her daughter's sloping shoulders and drew her +towards her. "It is a very nice place for a short +time. It will be a stepping stone." + +"But oh! mamma, in a week! Poor Arthur!" + +"He will be happy." + +"What! happy to part?" + +"He need not part. You shall go with him." + +"Oh! mamma!" + +"Yes, I say it." + +"Oh! mamma, in a week?" + +"Yes indeed. A great deal may be done in a week. +I shall order your trousseau to-day." + +"Oh! you dear, sweet angel! But I am so +frightened! And papa? Oh! dear, I am so +frightened!" + +"Your papa is a diplomatist, dear." + +"Yes, ma." + +"But, between ourselves, he married a diplomatist +too. If he can manage the British Empire, I think +that I can manage him, Ida. How long have you been +engaged, child?" + +"Ten weeks, mamma." + +"Then it is quite time it came to a head. Lord +Arthur cannot leave England without you. You must go +to Tangier as the Minister's wife. Now, you will sit +there on the settee, dear, and let me manage +entirely. There is Sir William's carriage! I do +think that I know how to manage Sir William. James, +just ask the doctor to step in this way!" + +A heavy, two-horsed carriage had drawn up at the +door, and there came a single stately thud upon the +knocker. An instant afterwards the drawing-room door +flew open and the footman ushered in the famous +physician. He was a small man, clean-shaven, with +the old-fashioned black dress and white cravat with +high-standing collar. He swung his golden pince- +nez in his right hand as he walked, and bent +forward with a peering, blinking expression, which +was somehow suggestive of the dark and complex cases +through which he had seen. + +"Ah" said he, as he entered. "My young patient! +I am glad of the opportunity." + +"Yes, I wish to speak to you about her, Sir +William. Pray take this arm-chair." + +"Thank you, I will sit beside her," said he, +taking his place upon the settee. "She is looking +better, less anaemic unquestionably, and a fuller +pulse. Quite a little tinge of colour, and yet not +hectic." + +"I feel stronger, Sir William." + +"But she still has the pain in the side." + +"Ah, that pain!" He tapped lightly under the +collar-bones, and then bent forward with his biaural +stethoscope in either ear. "Still a trace of +dulness--still a slight crepitation," he murmured. + +"You spoke of a change, doctor." + +"Yes, certainly a judicious change might be +advisable." + +"You said a dry climate. I wish to do to the +letter what you recommend." + +"You have always been model patients." + +"We wish to be. You said a dry climate." + +"Did I? I rather forget the particulars of our +conversation. But a dry climate is certainly +indicated." + +"Which one?" + +"Well, I think really that a patient should be +allowed some latitude. I must not exact too rigid +discipline. There is room for individual choice--the +Engadine, Central Europe, Egypt, Algiers, which you +like." + +"I hear that Tangier is also recommended." + +"Oh, yes, certainly; it is very dry." + +"You hear, Ida? Sir William says that you are to +go to Tangier." + +"Or any----" + +"No, no, Sir William! We feel safest when we are +most obedient. You have said Tangier, and we shall +certainly try Tangier." + +"Really, Lady Clara, your implicit faith is most +flattering. It is not everyone who would sacrifice +their own plans and inclinations so readily." + +"We know your skill and your experience, Sir +William. Ida shall try Tangier. I am convinced that +she will be benefited." + +"I have no doubt of it." + +"But you know Lord Charles. He is just a little +inclined to decide medical matters as he would an +affair of State. I hope that you will be firm with +him." + +"As long as Lord Charles honours me so far as to +ask my advice I am sure that he would not place me in +the false position of having that advice +disregarded." + +The medical baronet whirled round the cord of his +pince-nez and pushed out a protesting hand. + +"No, no, but you must be firm on the point of +Tangier." + +"Having deliberately formed the opinion that +Tangier is the best place for our young patient, I do +not think that I shall readily change my conviction." + +"Of course not." + +"I shall speak to Lord Charles upon the subject +now when I go upstairs." + +"Pray do." + +"And meanwhile she will continue her present +course of treatment. I trust that the warm African +air may send her back in a few months with all her +energy restored." + +He bowed in the courteous, sweeping, old-world +fashion which had done so much to build up his ten +thousand a year, and, with the stealthy gait of a man +whose life is spent in sick-rooms, he followed the +footman upstairs. + +As the red velvet curtains swept back into +position, the Lady Ida threw her arms round her +mother's neck and sank her face on to her bosom. + +"Oh! mamma, you ARE a diplomatist!" she +cried. + +But her mother's expression was rather that +of the general who looked upon the first smoke +of the guns than of one who had won the victory. + +"All will be right, dear," said she, glancing +down at the fluffy yellow curls and tiny ear. "There +is still much to be done, but I think we may venture +to order the trousseau." + +"Oh I how brave you are!" + +"Of course, it will in any case be a very quiet +affair. Arthur must get the license. I do not +approve of hole-and-corner marriages, but where the +gentleman has to take up an official position some +allowance must be made. We can have Lady Hilda +Edgecombe, and the Trevors, and the Grevilles, and I +am sure that the Prime Minister would run down if he +could." + +"And papa?" + +"Oh, yes; he will come too, if he is well enough. +We must wait until Sir William goes, and, meanwhile, +I shall write to Lord Arthur." + +Half an hour had passed, and quite a number of +notes had been dashed off in the fine, bold, park- +paling handwriting of the Lady Clara, when the door +clashed, and the wheels of the doctor's carriage were +heard grating outside against the kerb. The Lady +Clara laid down her pen, kissed her daughter, and +started off for the sick-room. The Foreign Minister +was lying back in his chair, with a red silk +handkerchief over his forehead, and his bulbous, +cotton-wadded foot still protruding upon its rest. + +"I think it is almost liniment time," said Lady +Clara, shaking a blue crinkled bottle. "Shall I put +on a little?" + +"Oh! this pestilent toe!" groaned the sufferer. +"Sir William won't hear of my moving yet. I do +think he is the most completely obstinate and pig- +headed man that I have ever met. I tell him that he +has mistaken his profession, and that I could find +him a post at Constantinople. We need a mule out +there." + +"Poor Sir William!" laughed Lady Clara. But how +has he roused your wrath?" + +"He is so persistent-so dogmatic." + +"Upon what point? " + +"Well, he has been laying down the law about Ida. +He has decreed, it seems, that she is to go to +Tangier." + +"He said something to that effect before he went +up to you." + +"Oh, he did, did he?" + +The slow-moving, inscrutable eye came sliding +round to her. + +Lady Clara's face had assumed an expression of +transparent obvious innocence, an intrusive candour +which is never seen in nature save when a woman is +bent upon deception. + +"He examined her lungs, Charles. He did not +say much, but his expression was very grave." + +"Not to say owlish," interrupted the Minister. + +"No, no, Charles; it is no laughing matter. He +said that she must have a change. I am sure that he +thought more than he said. He spoke of dulness and +crepitation. and the effects of the African air. +Then the talk turned upon dry, bracing health +resorts, and he agreed that Tangier was the place. +He said that even a few months there would work a +change." + +"And that was all?" + +"Yes, that was all." + +Lord Charles shrugged his shoulders with the air +of a man who is but half convinced. + +"But of course," said Lady Clara, serenely, if +you think it better that Ida should not go she shall +not. The only thing is that if she should get worse +we might feel a little uncomfortable afterwards. In +a weakness of that sort a very short time may make a +difference. Sir William evidently thought the matter +critical. Still, there is no reason why he should +influence you. It is a little responsibility, +however. If you take it all upon yourself and free +me from any of it, so that afterwards----" + +"My dear Clara, how you do croak!" + +"Oh! I don't wish to do that, Charles. But +you remember what happened to Lord Bellamy's +child. She was just Ida's age. That was another +case in which Sir William's advice was disregarded." + +Lord Charles groaned impatiently. + +"I have not disregarded it," said he. + +"No, no, of course not. I know your strong +sense, and your good heart too well, dear. You were +very wisely looking at both sides of the question. +That is what we poor women cannot do. It is emotion +against reason, as I have often heard you say. We +are swayed this way and that, but you men are +persistent, and so you gain your way with us. But I +am so pleased that you have decided for Tangier." + +"Have I?" + +"Well, dear, you said that you would not +disregard Sir William." + +"Well, Clara, admitting that Ida is to go to +Tangier, you will allow that it is impossible for me +to escort her? + +"Utterly." + +"And for you? + +"While you are ill my place is by your side." + +"There is your sister?" + +"She is going to Florida." + +"Lady Dumbarton, then?" + +"She is nursing her father. It is out of the +question." + +"Well, then, whom can we possibly ask? +Especially just as the season is commencing. You +see, Clara, the fates fight against Sir William." + +His wife rested her elbows against the back of +the great red chair, and passed her fingers through +the statesman's grizzled curls, stooping down as she +did so until her lips were close to his ear. + +"There is Lord Arthur Sibthorpe," said she +softly. + +Lord Charles bounded in his chair, and muttered a +word or two such as were more frequently heard from +Cabinet Ministers in Lord Melbourne's time than now. + +"Are you mad, Clara!" he cried. "What can have +put such a thought into your head?" + +"The Prime Minister." + +"Who? The Prime Minister?" + +"Yes, dear. Now do, do be good! Or perhaps I +had better not speak to you about it any more." + +"Well, I really think that you have gone rather +too far to retreat." + +"It was the Prime Minister, then, who told me +that Lord Arthur was going to Tangier." + +"It is a fact, though it had escaped my memory +for the instant." + +"And then came Sir William with his advice +about Ida. Oh! Charlie, it is surely more than +a coincidence!" + +"I am convinced," said Lord Charles, with his +shrewd, questioning gaze, "that it is very much more +than a coincidence, Lady Clara. You are a very +clever woman, my dear. A born manager and +organiser." + +Lady Clara brushed past the compliment. + +"Think of our own young days, Charlie," she +whispered, with her fingers still toying with his +hair. "What were you then? A poor man, not even +Ambassador at Tangier. But I loved you, and believed +in you, and have I ever regretted it? Ida loves and +believes in Lord Arthur, and why should she ever +regret it either?" + +Lord Charles was silent. His eyes were fixed +upon the green branches which waved outside the +window; but his mind had flashed back to a Devonshire +country-house of thirty years ago, and to the one +fateful evening when, between old yew hedges, he +paced along beside a slender girl, and poured out to +her his hopes, his fears, and his ambitious. He took +the white, thin hand and pressed it to his lips. + +"You, have been a good wife to me, Clara," said +he. + +She said nothing. She did not attempt to improve +upon her advantage. A less consummate general might +have tried to do so, and ruined all. She stood +silent and submissive, noting the quick play of +thought which peeped from his eyes and lip. There +was a sparkle in the one and a twitch of amusement in +the other, as he at last glanced up at her. + +"Clara," said he, "deny it if you can! You have +ordered the trousseau." + +She gave his ear a little pinch. + +"Subject to your approval," said she. + +"You have written to the Archbishop." + +"It is not posted yet." + +"You have sent a note to Lord Arthur." + +"How could you tell that?" + +"He is downstairs now." + +"No; but I think that is his brougham." + +Lord Charles sank back with a look of half- +comical despair. + +"Who is to fight against such a woman?" he cried. +"Oh! if I could send you to Novikoff! He is too much +for any of my men. But, Clara, I cannot have them up +here." + +"Not for your blessing?" + +"No, no!" + +"It would make them so happy." + +"I cannot stand scenes." + +"Then I shall convey it to them." + +"And pray say no more about it--to-day, at any +rate. I have been weak over the matter." + +"Oh! Charlie, you who are so strong!" + +"You have outflanked me, Clara. It was very well +done. I must congratulate you." + +"Well," she murmured, as she kissed him, "you +know I have been studying a very clever diplomatist +for thirty years." + + + + +A MEDICAL DOCUMENT. + + +Medical men are, as a class, very much too busy +to take stock of singular situations or dramatic +events. Thus it happens that the ablest chronicler +of their experiences in our literature was a lawyer. +A life spent in watching over death-beds--or over +birth-beds which are infinitely more trying--takes +something from a man's sense of proportion, as +constant strong waters might corrupt his palate. The +overstimulated nerve ceases to respond. Ask the +surgeon for his best experiences and he may reply +that he has seen little that is remarkable, or break +away into the technical. But catch him some night +when the fire has spurted up and his pipe is reeking, +with a few of his brother practitioners for company +and an artful question or allusion to set him going. +Then you will get some raw, green facts new plucked +from the tree of life. + +It is after one of the quarterly dinners of the +Midland Branch of the British Medical Association. +Twenty coffee cups, a dozer liqueur +glasses, and a solid bank of blue smoke which +swirls slowly along the high, gilded ceiling gives a +hint of a successful gathering. But the members have +shredded off to their homes. The line of heavy, +bulge-pocketed overcoats and of stethoscope-bearing +top hats is gone from the hotel corridor. Round the +fire in the sitting-room three medicos are still +lingering, however, all smoking and arguing, while a +fourth, who is a mere layman and young at that, sits +back at the table. Under cover of an open journal he +is writing furiously with a stylographic pen, asking +a question in an innocent voice from time to time and +so flickering up the conversation whenever it shows a +tendency to wane. + +The three men are all of that staid middle age +which begins early and lasts late in the profession. +They are none of them famous, yet each is of good +repute, and a fair type of his particular branch. +The portly man with the authoritative manner and the +white, vitriol splash upon his cheek is Charley +Manson, chief of the Wormley Asylum, and author of +the brilliant monograph--Obscure Nervous Lesions in +the Unmarried. He always wears his collar high like +that, since the half-successful attempt of a student +of Revelations to cut his throat with a splinter of +glass. The second, with the ruddy face and the merry +brown eyes, is a general practitioner, a man of +vast experience, who, with his three assistants +and his five horses, takes twenty-five hundred a year +in half-crown visits and shilling consultations out +of the poorest quarter of a great city. That cheery +face of Theodore Foster is seen at the side of a +hundred sick-beds a day, and if he has one-third more +names on his visiting list than in his cash book he +always promises himself that he will get level some +day when a millionaire with a chronic complaint--the +ideal combination--shall seek his services. The +third, sitting on the right with his dress shoes +shining on the top of the fender, is Hargrave, the +rising surgeon. His face has none of the broad +humanity of Theodore Foster's, the eye is stern and +critical, the mouth straight and severe, but there is +strength and decision in every line of it, and it is +nerve rather than sympathy which the patient demands +when he is bad enough to come to Hargrave's door. He +calls himself a jawman "a mere jawman" as he modestly +puts it, but in point of fact he is too young and too +poor to confine himself to a specialty, and there is +nothing surgical which Hargrave has not the skill and +the audacity to do. + +"Before, after, and during," murmurs the general +practitioner in answer to some interpolation of the +outsider's. "I assure you, Manson, one sees all +sorts of evanescent forms of madness." + +"Ah, puerperal!" throws in the other, +knocking the curved grey ash from his cigar. +"But you had some case in your mind, Foster." + +"Well, there was only one last week which was new +to me. I had been engaged by some people of the name +of Silcoe. When the trouble came round I went +myself, for they would not hear of an assistant. The +husband who was a policeman, was sitting at the head +of the bed on the further side. `This won't do,' +said I. `Oh yes, doctor, it must do,' said she. +`It's quite irregular and he must go,' said I. `It's +that or nothing,' said she. `I won't open my mouth +or stir a finger the whole night,' said he. So it +ended by my allowing him to remain, and there he sat +for eight hours on end. She was very good over the +matter, but every now and again HE would fetch a +hollow groan, and I noticed that he held his right +hand just under the sheet all the time, where I had +no doubt that it was clasped by her left. When it +was all happily over, I looked at him and his face +was the colour of this cigar ash, and his head had +dropped on to the edge of the pillow. Of course I +thought he had fainted with emotion, and I was just +telling myself what I thought of myself for having +been such a fool as to let him stay there, when +suddenly I saw that the sheet over his hand was all +soaked with blood; I whisked it down, and there was +the fellow's wrist half cut through. The woman +had one bracelet of a policeman's handcuff over her +left wrist and the other round his right one. When +she had been in pain she had twisted with all her +strength and the iron had fairly eaten into the bone +of the man's arm. `Aye, doctor,' said she, when she +saw I had noticed it. `He's got to take his share as +well as me. Turn and turn,' said she." + +"Don't you find it a very wearing branch of the +profession?" asks Foster after a pause. + +"My dear fellow, it was the fear of it that drove +me into lunacy work." + +"Aye, and it has driven men into asylums who +never found their way on to the medical staff. I was +a very shy fellow myself as a student, and I know +what it means." + +"No joke that in general practice," says the +alienist. + +"Well, you hear men talk about it as though it +were, but I tell you it's much nearer tragedy. Take +some poor, raw, young fellow who has just put up his +plate in a strange town. He has found it a trial all +his life, perhaps, to talk to a woman about lawn +tennis and church services. When a young man IS +shy he is shyer than any girl. Then down comes an +anxious mother and consults him upon the most +intimate family matters. `I shall never go to that +doctor again,' says she afterwards. `His manner is +so stiff and unsympathetic.' Unsympathetic! +Why, the poor lad was struck dumb and paralysed. I +have known general practitioners who were so shy that +they could not bring themselves to ask the way in the +street. Fancy what sensitive men like that must +endure before they get broken in to medical practice. +And then they know that nothing is so catching as +shyness, and that if they do not keep a face of +stone, their patient will be covered with confusion. +And so they keep their face of stone, and earn the +reputation perhaps of having a heart to correspond. +I suppose nothing would shake YOUR nerve, Manson." + +"Well, when a man lives year in year out among a +thousand lunatics, with a fair sprinkling of +homicidals among them, one's nerves either get set or +shattered. Mine are all right so far." + +"I was frightened once," says the surgeon. "It +was when I was doing dispensary work. One night I +had a call from some very poor people, and gathered +from the few words they said that their child was +ill. When I entered the room I saw a small cradle in +the corner. Raising the lamp I walked over and +putting back the curtains I looked down at the baby. +I tell you it was sheer Providence that I didn't drop +that lamp and set the whole place alight. The head +on the pillow turned and I saw a face looking up at +me which seemed to me to have more malignancy and +wickedness than ever I had dreamed of in a +nightmare. It was the flush of red over the +cheekbones, and the brooding eyes full of loathing of +me, and of everything else, that impressed me. I'll +never forget my start as, instead of the chubby face +of an infant, my eyes fell upon this creature. I +took the mother into the next room. `What is it?' I +asked. `A girl of sixteen,' said she, and then +throwing up her arms, `Oh, pray God she may be +taken!' The poor thing, though she spent her life in +this little cradle, had great, long, thin limbs which +she curled up under her. I lost sight of the case +and don't know what became of it, but I'll never +forget the look in her eyes." + +"That's creepy," says Dr. Foster. "But I think +one of my experiences would run it close. Shortly +after I put up my plate I had a visit from a little +hunch-backed woman who wished me to come and attend +to her sister in her trouble. When I reached the +house, which was a very poor one, I found two other +little hunched-backed women, exactly like the first, +waiting for me in the sitting-room. Not one of them +said a word, but my companion took the lamp and +walked upstairs with her two sisters behind her, and +me bringing up the rear. I can see those three queer +shadows cast by the lamp upon the wall as clearly as +I can see that tobacco pouch. In the room above +was the fourth sister, a remarkably beautiful girl in +evident need of my assistance. There was no wedding +ring upon her finger. The three deformed sisters +seated themselves round the room, like so many graven +images, and all night not one of them opened her +mouth. I'm not romancing, Hargrave; this is absolute +fact. In the early morning a fearful thunderstorm +broke out, one of the most violent I have ever known. +The little garret burned blue with the lightning, and +thunder roared and rattled as if it were on the very +roof of the house. It wasn't much of a lamp I had, +and it was a queer thing when a spurt of lightning +came to see those three twisted figures sitting round +the walls, or to have the voice of my patient drowned +by the booming of the thunder. By Jove! I don't +mind telling you that there was a time when I nearly +bolted from the room. All came right in the end, but +I never heard the true story of the unfortunate +beauty and her three crippled sisters." + +"That's the worst of these medical stories," +sighs the outsider. "They never seem to have an +end." + +"When a man is up to his neck in practice, my +boy, he has no time to gratify his private curiosity. +Things shoot across him and he gets a glimpse of +them, only to recall them, perhaps, at some quiet +moment like this. But I've always felt, Manson, +that your line had as much of the terrible in it as +any other." + +"More," groans the alienist. "A disease of the +body is bad enough, but this seems to be a disease of +the soul. Is it not a shocking thing--a thing to +drive a reasoning man into absolute Materialism--to +think that you may have a fine, noble fellow with +every divine instinct and that some little vascular +change, the dropping, we will say, of a minute +spicule of bone from the inner table of his skull on +to the surface of his brain may have the effect of +changing him to a filthy and pitiable creature with +every low and debasing tendency? What a satire an +asylum is upon the majesty of man, and no less upon +the ethereal nature of the soul." + +"Faith and hope," murmurs the general +practitioner. + +"I have no faith, not much hope, and all the +charity I can afford," says the surgeon. "When +theology squares itself with the facts of life I'll +read it up." + +"You were talking about cases," says the +outsider, jerking the ink down into his stylographic +pen. + +"Well, take a common complaint which kills many +thousands every year, like G. P. for instance." + +"What's G. P.?" + +"General practitioner," suggests the surgeon with +a grin. + +"The British public will have to know what G. P. +is," says the alienist gravely. "It's increasing by +leaps and bounds, and it has the distinction of being +absolutely incurable. General paralysis is its full +title, and I tell you it promises to be a perfect +scourge. Here's a fairly typical case now which I +saw last Monday week. A young farmer, a splendid +fellow, surprised his fellows by taking a very rosy +view of things at a time when the whole country-side +was grumbling. He was going to give up wheat, give +up arable land, too, if it didn't pay, plant two +thousand acres of rhododendrons and get a monopoly of +the supply for Covent Garden--there was no end to his +schemes, all sane enough but just a bit inflated. I +called at the farm, not to see him, but on an +altogether different matter. Something about the +man's way of talking struck me and I watched him +narrowly. His lip had a trick of quivering, his +words slurred themselves together, and so did his +handwriting when he had occasion to draw up a small +agreement. A closer inspection showed me that one of +his pupils was ever so little larger than the other. +As I left the house his wife came after me. `Isn't it +splendid to see Job looking so well, doctor,' said +she; `he's that full of energy he can hardly keep +himself quiet.' I did not say anything, for I +had not the heart, but I knew that the fellow was as +much condemned to death as though he were lying in +the cell at Newgate. It was a characteristic case of +incipient G. P." + +"Good heavens!" cries the outsider. "My own lips +tremble. I often slur my words. I believe I've got +it myself." + +Three little chuckles come from the front of the +fire. + +"There's the danger of a little medical knowledge +to the layman." + +"A great authority has said that every first +year's student is suffering in silent agony from four +diseases," remarks the surgeon. " One is heart +disease, of course; another is cancer of the parotid. +I forget the two other." + +"Where does the parotid come in?" + +"Oh, it's the last wisdom tooth coming through!" + +"And what would be the end of that young farmer?" +asks the outsider. + +"Paresis of all the muscles, ending in fits, +coma, and death. It may be a few months, it may be a +year or two. He was a very strong young man and +would take some killing." + +"By-the-way," says the alienist, "did I ever tell +you about the first certificate I signed? I came as +near ruin then as a man could go." + +"What was it, then?" + +"I was in practice at the time. One morning a +Mrs. Cooper called upon me and informed me that her +husband had shown signs of delusions lately. They +took the form of imagining that he had been in the +army and had distinguished himself very much. As a +matter of fact he was a lawyer and had never been out +of England. Mrs. Cooper was of opinion that if I +were to call it might alarm him, so it was agreed +between us that she should send him up in the evening +on some pretext to my consulting-room, which would +give me the opportunity of having a chat with him +and, if I were convinced of his insanity, of signing +his certificate. Another doctor had already signed, +so that it only needed my concurrence to have him +placed under treatment. Well, Mr. Cooper arrived in +the evening about half an hour before I had expected +him, and consulted me as to some malarious symptoms +from which he said that he suffered. According to +his account he had just returned from the Abyssinian +Campaign, and had been one of the first of the +British forces to enter Magdala. No delusion could +possibly be more marked, for he would talk of little +else, so I filled in the papers without the slightest +hesitation. When his wife arrived, after he had +left, I put some questions to her to complete the +form. `What is his age?' I asked. `Fifty,' said +she. `Fifty!' I cried. `Why, the man I +examined could not have been more than thirty! +And so it came out that the real Mr. Cooper had never +called upon me at all, but that by one of those +coincidences which take a man's breath away another +Cooper, who really was a very distinguished young +officer of artillery, had come in to consult me. My +pen was wet to sign the paper when I discovered it," +says Dr. Manson, mopping his forehead. + +"We were talking about nerve just now," observes +the surgeon. "Just after my qualifying I served in +the Navy for a time, as I think you know. I was on +the flag-ship on the West African Station, and I +remember a singular example of nerve which came to my +notice at that time. One of our small gunboats had +gone up the Calabar river, and while there the +surgeon died of coast fever. On the same day a man's +leg was broken by a spar falling upon it, and it +became quite obvious that it must be taken off above +the knee if his life was to be saved. The young +lieutenant who was in charge of the craft searched +among the dead doctor's effects and laid his hands +upon some chloroform, a hip-joint knife, and a volume +of Grey's Anatomy. He had the man laid by the +steward upon the cabin table, and with a picture of a +cross section of the thigh in front of him he began +to take off the limb. Every now and then, referring +to the diagram, he would say: `Stand by with +the lashings, steward. There's blood on the chart +about here.' Then he would jab with his knife until +he cut the artery, and he and his assistant would tie +it up before they went any further. In this way they +gradually whittled the leg off, and upon my word they +made a very excellent job of it. The man is hopping +about the Portsmouth Hard at this day. + +"It's no joke when the doctor of one of these +isolated gunboats himself falls ill," continues the +surgeon after a pause. "You might think it easy for +him to prescribe for himself, but this fever knocks +you down like a club, and you haven't strength left +to brush a mosquito off your face. I had a touch of +it at Lagos, and I know what I am telling you. But +there was a chum of mine who really had a curious +experience. The whole crew gave him up, and, as they +had never had a funeral aboard the ship, they began +rehearsing the forms so as to be ready. They thought +that he was unconscious, but he swears he could hear +every word that passed. `Corpse comin' up the +latchway!' cried the Cockney sergeant of Marines. +`Present harms!' He was so amused, and so indignant +too, that he just made up his mind that he wouldn't +be carried through that hatchway, and he wasn't, +either." + +"There's no need for fiction in medicine," +remarks Foster, "for the facts will always beat +anything you can fancy. But it has seemed to me +sometimes that a curious paper might be read at some +of these meetings about the uses of medicine in +popular fiction." + +"How?" + +"Well, of what the folk die of, and what diseases +are made most use of in novels. Some are worn to +pieces, and others, which are equally common in real +life, are never mentioned. Typhoid is fairly +frequent, but scarlet fever is unknown. Heart +disease is common, but then heart disease, as we know +it, is usually the sequel of some foregoing disease, +of which we never hear anything in the romance. Then +there is the mysterious malady called brain fever, +which always attacks the heroine after a crisis, but +which is unknown under that name to the text books. +People when they are over-excited in novels fall down +in a fit. In a fairly large experience I have never +known anyone do so in real life. The small +complaints simply don't exist. Nobody ever gets +shingles or quinsy, or mumps in a novel. All the +diseases, too, belong to the upper part of the body. +The novelist never strikes below the belt." + +"I'll tell you what, Foster," says the alienist, +there is a side of life which is too medical for the +general public and too romantic for the professional +journals, but which contains some of the richest +human materials that a man could study. It's +not a pleasant side, I am afraid, but if it is good +enough for Providence to create, it is good enough +for us to try and understand. It would deal with +strange outbursts of savagery and vice in the lives +of the best men, curious momentary weaknesses in the +record of the sweetest women, known but to one or +two, and inconceivable to the world around. It would +deal, too, with the singular phenomena of waxing and +of waning manhood, and would throw a light upon those +actions which have cut short many an honoured career +and sent a man to a prison when he should have been +hurried to a consulting-room. Of all evils that may +come upon the sons of men, God shield us principally +from that one!" + +"I had a case some little time ago which was out +of the ordinary," says the surgeon. "There's a +famous beauty in London society--I mention no names-- +who used to be remarkable a few seasons ago for the +very low dresses which she would wear. She had the +whitest of skins and most beautiful of shoulders, so +it was no wonder. Then gradually the frilling at her +neck lapped upwards and upwards, until last year she +astonished everyone by wearing quite a high collar at +a time when it was completely out of fashion. Well, +one day this very woman was shown into my consulting- +room. When the footman was gone she suddenly tore +off the upper part of her dress. `For Gods sake +do something for me!' she cried. Then I saw what the +trouble was. A rodent ulcer was eating its way +upwards, coiling on in its serpiginous fashion until +the end of it was flush with her collar. The red +streak of its trail was lost below the line of her +bust. Year by year it had ascended and she had +heightened her dress to hide it, until now it was +about to invade her face. She had been too proud to +confess her trouble, even to a medical man." + +"And did you stop it?" + +"Well, with zinc chloride I did what I could. +But it may break out again. She was one of those +beautiful white-and-pink creatures who are rotten +with struma. You may patch but you can't mend." + +"Dear! dear! dear!" cries the general +practitioner, with that kindly softening of the eyes +which had endeared him to so many thousands. "I +suppose we mustn't think ourselves wiser than +Providence, but there are times when one feels that +something is wrong in the scheme of things. I've +seen some sad things in my life. Did I ever tell you +that case where Nature divorced a most loving couple? +He was a fine young fellow, an athlete and a +gentleman, but he overdid athletics. You know how +the force that controls us gives us a little tweak to +remind us when we get off the beaten track. It may +be a pinch on the great toe if we drink too much +and work too little. Or it may be a tug on our +nerves if we dissipate energy too much. With the +athlete, of course, it's the heart or the lungs. He +had bad phthisis and was sent to Davos. Well, as +luck would have it, she developed rheumatic fever, +which left her heart very much affected. Now, do you +see the dreadful dilemma in which those poor people +found themselves? When he came below four thousand +feet or so, his symptoms became terrible. She could +come up about twenty-five hundred and then her heart +reached its limit. They had several interviews half +way down the valley, which left them nearly dead, and +at last, the doctors had to absolutely forbid it. +And so for four years they lived within three miles +of each other and never met. Every morning he would +go to a place which overlooked the chalet in which +she lived and would wave a great white cloth and she +answer from below. They could see each other quite +plainly with their field glasses, and they might have +been in different planets for all their chance of +meeting." + +"And one at last died," says the outsider. + +"No, sir. I'm sorry not to be able to clinch the +story, but the man recovered and is now a successful +stockbroker in Drapers Gardens. The woman, too, is +the mother of a considerable family. But what are +you doing there?" + +"Only taking a note or two of your talk." + +The three medical men laugh as they walk towards +their overcoats. + +"Why, we've done nothing but talk shop," says the +general practitioner. "What possible interest can +the public take in that?" + + + + +LOT NO. 249. + + +Of the dealings of Edward Bellingham with William +Monkhouse Lee, and of the cause of the great terror +of Abercrombie Smith, it may be that no absolute and +final judgment will ever be delivered. It is true +that we have the full and clear narrative of Smith +himself, and such corroboration as he could look for +from Thomas Styles the servant, from the Reverend +Plumptree Peterson, Fellow of Old's, and from such +other people as chanced to gain some passing glance +at this or that incident in a singular chain of +events. Yet, in the main, the story must rest upon +Smith alone, and the most will think that it is more +likely that one brain, however outwardly sane, has +some subtle warp in its texture, some strange flaw in +its workings, than that the path of Nature has been +overstepped in open day in so famed a centre of +learning and light as the University of Oxford. Yet +when we think how narrow and how devious this path of +Nature is, how dimly we can trace it, for all our +lamps of science, and how from the darkness +which girds it round great and terrible possibilities +loom ever shadowly upwards, it is a bold and +confident man who will put a limit to the strange by- +paths into which the human spirit may wander. + +In a certain wing of what we will call Old +College in Oxford there is a corner turret of an +exceeding great age. The heavy arch which spans the +open door has bent downwards in the centre under the +weight of its years, and the grey, lichen-blotched +blocks of stone are, bound and knitted together with +withes and strands of ivy, as though the old mother +had set herself to brace them up against wind and +weather. From the door a stone stair curves upward +spirally, passing two landings, and terminating in a +third one, its steps all shapeless and hollowed by +the tread of so many generations of the seekers after +knowledge. Life has flowed like water down this +winding stair, and, waterlike, has left these smooth- +worn grooves behind it. From the long-gowned, +pedantic scholars of Plantagenet days down to the +young bloods of a later age, how full and strong had +been that tide of young English life. And what was +left now of all those hopes, those strivings, those +fiery energies, save here and there in some old-world +churchyard a few scratches upon a stone, and +perchance a handful of dust in a mouldering coffin? +Yet here were the silent stair and the grey old +wall, with bend and saltire and many another heraldic +device still to be read upon its surface, like +grotesque shadows thrown back from the days that had +passed. + +In the month of May, in the year 1884, three +young men occupied the sets of rooms which opened on +to the separate landings of the old stair. Each set +consisted simply of a sitting-room and of a bedroom, +while the two corresponding rooms upon the ground- +floor were used, the one as a coal-cellar, and the +other as the living-room of the servant, or gyp, +Thomas Styles, whose duty it was to wait upon the +three men above him. To right and to left was a line +of lecture-rooms and of offices, so that the dwellers +in the old turret enjoyed a certain seclusion, which +made the chambers popular among the more studious +undergraduates. Such were the three who occupied +them now--Abercrombie Smith above, Edward Bellingham +beneath him, and William Monkhouse Lee upon the +lowest storey. + +It was ten o'clock on a bright spring night, and +Abercrombie Smith lay back in his arm-chair, his feet +upon the fender, and his briar-root pipe between his +lips. In a similar chair, and equally at his ease, +there lounged on the other side of the fireplace his +old school friend Jephro Hastie. Both men were in +flannels, for they had spent their evening upon the +river, but apart from their dress no one could +look at their hard-cut, alert faces without seeing +that they were open-air men--men whose minds and +tastes turned naturally to all that was manly and +robust. Hastie, indeed, was stroke of his college +boat, and Smith was an even better oar, but a coming +examination had already cast its shadow over him and +held him to his work, save for the few hours a week +which health demanded. A litter of medical books +upon the table, with scattered bones, models and +anatomical plates, pointed to the extent as well as +the nature of his studies, while a couple of single- +sticks and a set of boxing-gloves above the +mantelpiece hinted at the means by which, with +Hastie's help, he might take his exercise in its most +compressed and least distant form. They knew each +other very well--so well that they could sit now in +that soothing silence which is the very highest +development of companionship. + +"Have some whisky," said Abercrombie Smith at +last between two cloudbursts. "Scotch in the jug and +Irish in the bottle." + +"No, thanks. I'm in for the sculls. I don't +liquor when I'm training. How about you?" + +"I'm reading hard. I think it best to leave it +alone." + +Hastie nodded, and they relapsed into a contented +silence. + +"By-the-way, Smith," asked Hastie, presently, +have you made the acquaintance of either of the +fellows on your stair yet?" + +"Just a nod when we pass. Nothing more." + +"Hum! I should be inclined to let it stand at +that. I know something of them both. Not much, but +as much as I want. I don't think I should take them +to my bosom if I were you. Not that there's much +amiss with Monkhouse Lee." + +"Meaning the thin one?" + +"Precisely. He is a gentlemanly little fellow. +I don't think there is any vice in him. But then you +can't know him without knowing Bellingham." + +"Meaning the fat one?" + +"Yes, the fat one. And he's a man whom I, for +one, would rather not know." + +Abercrombie Smith raised his eyebrows and glanced +across at his companion. + +"What's up, then?" he asked. "Drink? Cards? +Cad? You used not to be censorious." + +"Ah! you evidently don't know the man, or you +wouldn't ask. There's something damnable about him-- +something reptilian. My gorge always rises at him. +I should put him down as a man with secret vices--an +evil liver. He's no fool, though. They say that he +is one of the best men in his line that they have +ever had in the college." + +"Medicine or classics?" + +"Eastern languages. He's a demon at them. +Chillingworth met him somewhere above the second +cataract last long, and he told me that he just +prattled to the Arabs as if he had been born and +nursed and weaned among them. He talked Coptic to +the Copts, and Hebrew to the Jews, and Arabic to the +Bedouins, and they were all ready to kiss the hem of +his frock-coat. There are some old hermit Johnnies +up in those parts who sit on rocks and scowl and spit +at the casual stranger. Well, when they saw this +chap Bellingham, before he had said five words they +just lay down on their bellies and wriggled. +Chillingworth said that he never saw anything like +it. Bellingham seemed to take it as his right, too, +and strutted about among them and talked down to them +like a Dutch uncle. Pretty good for an undergrad. of +Old's, wasn't it?" + +"Why do you say you can't know Lee without +knowing Bellingham? " + +"Because Bellingham is engaged to his sister +Eveline. Such a bright little girl, Smith! I know +the whole family well. It's disgusting to see that +brute with her. A toad and a dove, that's what they +always remind me of." + +Abercrombie Smith grinned and knocked his ashes +out against the side of the grate. + +"You show every card in your hand, old +chap," said he. "What a prejudiced, green-eyed, +evil-thinking old man it is! You have really nothing +against the fellow except that." + +"Well, I've known her ever since she was as long +as that cherry-wood pipe, and I don't like to see her +taking risks. And it is a risk. He looks beastly. +And he has a beastly temper, a venomous temper. You +remember his row with Long Norton?" + +"No; you always forget that I am a freshman." + +"Ah, it was last winter. Of course. Well, you +know the towpath along by the river. There were +several fellows going along it, Bellingham in front, +when they came on an old market-woman coming the +other way. It had been raining--you know what those +fields are like when it has rained--and the path ran +between the river and a great puddle that was nearly +as broad. Well, what does this swine do but keep the +path, and push the old girl into the mud, where she +and her marketings came to terrible grief. It was a +blackguard thing to do, and Long Norton, who is as +gentle a fellow as ever stepped, told him what he +thought of it. One word led to another, and it ended +in Norton laying his stick across the fellow's +shoulders. There was the deuce of a fuss about it, +and it's a treat to see the way in which Bellingham +looks at Norton when they meet now. By Jove, +Smith, it's nearly eleven o'clock!" + +"No hurry. Light your pipe again." + +"Not I. I'm supposed to be in training. Here +I've been sitting gossiping when I ought to have been +safely tucked up. I'll borrow your skull, if you can +share it. Williams has had mine for a month. I'll +take the little bones of your ear, too, if you are +sure you won't need them. Thanks very much. Never +mind a bag, I can carry them very well under my arm. +Good-night, my son, and take my tip as to your +neighbour." + +When Hastie, bearing his anatomical plunder, had +clattered off down the winding stair, Abercrombie +Smith hurled his pipe into the wastepaper basket, and +drawing his chair nearer to the lamp, plunged into a +formidable green-covered volume, adorned with great +colored maps of that strange internal kingdom of +which we are the hapless and helpless monarchs. +Though a freshman at Oxford, the student was not so +in medicine, for he had worked for four years at +Glasgow and at Berlin, and this coming examination +would place him finally as a member of his +profession. With his firm mouth, broad forehead, and +clear-cut, somewhat hard-featured face, he was a man +who, if he had no brilliant talent, was yet so +dogged, so patient, and so strong that he might in +the end overtop a more showy genius. A man who +can hold his own among Scotchmen and North Germans is +not a man to be easily set back. Smith had left a +name at Glasgow and at Berlin, and he was bent now +upon doing as much at Oxford, if hard work and +devotion could accomplish it. + +He had sat reading for about an hour, and the +hands of the noisy carriage clock upon the side table +were rapidly closing together upon the twelve, when a +sudden sound fell upon the student's ear--a sharp, +rather shrill sound, like the hissing intake of a +man's breath who gasps under some strong emotion. +Smith laid down his book and slanted his ear to +listen. There was no one on either side or above +him, so that the interruption came certainly from the +neighbour beneath--the same neighbour of whom Hastie +had given so unsavoury an account. Smith knew him +only as a flabby, pale-faced man of silent and +studious habits, a man, whose lamp threw a golden bar +from the old turret even after he had extinguished +his own. This community in lateness had formed a +certain silent bond between them. It was soothing to +Smith when the hours stole on towards dawning to feel +that there was another so close who set as small a +value upon his sleep as he did. Even now, as his +thoughts turned towards him, Smith's feelings were +kindly. Hastie was a good fellow, but he was +rough, strong-fibred, with no imagination or +sympathy. He could not tolerate departures from what +he looked upon as the model type of manliness. If a +man could not be measured by a public-school +standard, then he was beyond the pale with Hastie. +Like so many who are themselves robust, he was apt to +confuse the constitution with the character, to +ascribe to want of principle what was really a want +of circulation. Smith, with his stronger mind, knew +his friend's habit, and made allowance for it now as +his thoughts turned towards the man beneath him. + +There was no return of the singular sound, and +Smith was about to turn to his work once more, when +suddenly there broke out in the silence of the night +a hoarse cry, a positive scream--the call of a man +who is moved and shaken beyond all control. Smith +sprang out of his chair and dropped his book. He was +a man of fairly firm fibre, but there was something +in this sudden, uncontrollable shriek of horror which +chilled his blood and pringled in his skin. Coming +in such a place and at such an hour, it brought a +thousand fantastic possibilities into his head. +Should he rush down, or was it better to wait? He +had all the national hatred of making a scene, and he +knew so little of his neighbour that he would not +lightly intrude upon his affairs. For a moment +he stood in doubt and even as he balanced the +matter there was a quick rattle of footsteps upon the +stairs, and young Monkhouse Lee, half dressed and as +white as ashes, burst into his room. + +"Come down!" he gasped. "Bellingham's ill." + +Abercrombie Smith followed him closely down +stairs into the sitting-room which was beneath his +own, and intent as he was upon the matter in hand, he +could not but take an amazed glance around him as he +crossed the threshold. It was such a chamber as he +had never seen before--a museum rather than a study. +Walls and ceiling were thickly covered with a +thousand strange relics from Egypt and the East. +Tall, angular figures bearing burdens or weapons +stalked in an uncouth frieze round the apartments. +Above were bull-headed, stork-headed, cat-headed, +owl-headed statues, with viper-crowned, almond-eyed +monarchs, and strange, beetle-like deities cut out of +the blue Egyptian lapis lazuli. Horus and Isis and +Osiris peeped down from every niche and shelf, while +across the ceiling a true son of Old Nile, a great, +hanging-jawed crocodile, was slung in a double noose. + +In the centre of this singular chamber was a +large, square table, littered with papers, bottles, +and the dried leaves of some graceful, palm-like +plant. These varied objects had all been heaped +together in order to make room for a mummy case, +which had been conveyed from the wall, as was evident +from the gap there, and laid across the front of the +table. The mummy itself, a horrid, black, withered +thing, like a charred head on a gnarled bush, was +lying half out of the case, with its clawlike hand +and bony forearm resting upon the table. Propped up +against the sarcophagus was an old yellow scroll of +papyrus, and in front of it, in a wooden armchair, +sat the owner of the room, his head thrown back, his +widely-opened eyes directed in a horrified stare to +the crocodile above him, and his blue, thick lips +puffing loudly with every expiration. + +"My God! he's dying!" cried Monkhouse Lee +distractedly. + +He was a slim, handsome young fellow, olive- +skinned and dark-eyed, of a Spanish rather than of an +English type, with a Celtic intensity of manner which +contrasted with the Saxon phlegm of Abercombie Smith. + +"Only a faint, I think," said the medical +student. "Just give me a hand with him. You take +his feet. Now on to the sofa. Can you kick all +those little wooden devils off? What a litter it is! +Now he will be all right if we undo his collar and +give him some water. What has he been up to at all?" + +"I don't know. I heard him cry out. I ran up. +I know him pretty well, you know. It is very good of +you to come down." + +"His heart is going like a pair of castanets," +said Smith, laying his hand on the breast of the +unconscious man. "He seems to me to be frightened +all to pieces. Chuck the water over him! What a +face he has got on him!" + +It was indeed a strange and most repellent face, +for colour and outline were equally unnatural. It +was white, not with the ordinary pallor of fear but +with an absolutely bloodless white, like the under +side of a sole. He was very fat, but gave the +impression of having at some time been considerably +fatter, for his skin hung loosely in creases and +folds, and was shot with a meshwork of wrinkles. +Short, stubbly brown hair bristled up from his scalp, +with a pair of thick, wrinkled ears protruding on +either side. His light grey eyes were still open, +the pupils dilated and the balls projecting in a +fixed and horrid stare. It seemed to Smith as he +looked down upon him that he had never seen nature's +danger signals flying so plainly upon a man's +countenance, and his thoughts turned more seriously +to the warning which Hastie had given him an hour +before. + +"What the deuce can have frightened him so?" he +asked. + +"It's the mummy." + +"The mummy? How, then?" + +"I don't know. It's beastly and morbid. I wish +he would drop it. It's the second fright he has +given me. It was the same last winter. I found him +just like this, with that horrid thing in front of +him." + +"What does he want with the mummy, then?" + +"Oh, he's a crank, you know. It's his hobby. He +knows more about these things than any man in +England. But I wish he wouldn't! Ah, he's beginning +to come to." + +A faint tinge of colour had begun to steal back +into Bellingham's ghastly cheeks, and his eyelids +shivered like a sail after a calm. He clasped and +unclasped his hands, drew a long, thin breath between +his teeth, and suddenly jerking up his head, threw a +glance of recognition around him. As his eyes fell +upon the mummy, he sprang off the sofa, seized the +roll of papyrus, thrust it into a drawer, turned the +key, and then staggered back on to the sofa. + +"What's up?" he asked. "What do you chaps want?" + +"You've been shrieking out and making no end of a +fuss," said Monkhouse Lee. "If our neighbour here +from above hadn't come down, I'm sure I don't know +what I should have done with you." + +"Ah, it's Abercrombie Smith," said Bellingham, +glancing up at him. "How very good of you to come +in! What a fool I am! Oh, my God, what a fool I +am!" + +He sunk his head on to his hands, and burst into +peal after peal of hysterical laughter. + +"Look here! Drop it!" cried Smith, shaking him +roughly by the shoulder. + +"Your nerves are all in a jangle. You must drop +these little midnight games with mummies, or you'll +be going off your chump. You're all on wires now." + +"I wonder," said Bellingham, "whether you would +be as cool as I am if you had seen----" + +"What then?" + +"Oh, nothing. I meant that I wonder if you could +sit up at night with a mummy without trying your +nerves. I have no doubt that you are quite right. I +dare say that I have been taking it out of myself too +much lately. But I am all right now. Please don't +go, though. Just wait for a few minutes until I am +quite myself." + +"The room is very close," remarked Lee, throwing +open the window and letting in the cool night air. + +"It's balsamic resin," said Bellingham. He +lifted up one of the dried palmate leaves from the +table and frizzled it over the chimney of the lamp. +It broke away into heavy smoke wreaths, and a +pungent, biting odour filled the chamber. "It's +the sacred plant--the plant of the priests," he +remarked. "Do you know anything of Eastern +languages, Smith?" + +"Nothing at all. Not a word." + +The answer seemed to lift a weight from the +Egyptologist's mind. + +"By-the-way," he continued, "how long was it from +the time that you ran down, until I came to my +senses?" + +"Not long. Some four or five minutes." + +"I thought it could not be very long," said he, +drawing a long breath. "But what a strange thing +unconsciousness is! There is no measurement to it. +I could not tell from my own sensations if it were +seconds or weeks. Now that gentleman on the table +was packed up in the days of the eleventh dynasty, +some forty centuries ago, and yet if he could find +his tongue he would tell us that this lapse of time +has been but a closing of the eyes and a reopening of +them. He is a singularly fine mummy, Smith." + +Smith stepped over to the table and looked down +with a professional eye at the black and twisted form +in front of him. The features, though horribly +discoloured, were perfect, and two little nut-like +eyes still lurked in the depths of the black, hollow +sockets. The blotched skin was drawn tightly from +bone to bone, and a tangled wrap of black coarse +hair fell over the ears. Two thin teeth, like those +of a rat, overlay the shrivelled lower lip. In its +crouching position, with bent joints and craned head, +there was a suggestion of energy about the horrid +thing which made Smith's gorge rise. The gaunt ribs, +with their parchment-like covering, were exposed, and +the sunken, leaden-hued abdomen, with the long slit +where the embalmer had left his mark; but the lower +limbs were wrapt round with coarse yellow bandages. +A number of little clove-like pieces of myrrh and of +cassia were sprinkled over the body, and lay +scattered on the inside of the case. + +"I don't know his name," said Bellingham, passing +his hand over the shrivelled head. "You see the +outer sarcophagus with the inscriptions is missing. +Lot 249 is all the title he has now. You see it +printed on his case. That was his number in the +auction at which I picked him up." + +"He has been a very pretty sort of fellow in his +day," remarked Abercrombie Smith. + +"He has been a giant. His mummy is six feet +seven in length, and that would be a giant over +there, for they were never a very robust race. Feel +these great knotted bones, too. He would be a nasty +fellow to tackle." + +"Perhaps these very hands helped to build the +stones into the pyramids," suggested Monkhouse +Lee, looking down with disgust in his eyes at the +crooked, unclean talons. + +"No fear. This fellow has been pickled in +natron, and looked after in the most approved style. +They did not serve hodsmen in that fashion. Salt or +bitumen was enough for them. It has been calculated +that this sort of thing cost about seven hundred and +thirty pounds in our money. Our friend was a noble +at the least. What do you make of that small +inscription near his feet, Smith?" + +"I told you that I know no Eastern tongue." + +"Ah, so you did. It is the name of the embalmer, +I take it. A very conscientious worker he must have +been. I wonder how many modern works will survive +four thousand years?" + +He kept on speaking lightly and rapidly, but it +was evident to Abercrombie Smith that he was still +palpitating with fear. His hands shook, his lower +lip trembled, and look where he would, his eye always +came sliding round to his gruesome companion. +Through all his fear, however, there was a suspicion +of triumph in his tone and manner. His eye shone, +and his footstep, as he paced the room, was brisk and +jaunty. He gave the impression of a man who has gone +through an ordeal, the marks of which he still bears +upon him, but which has helped him to his end. + +"You're not going yet?" he cried, as Smith rose +from the sofa. + +At the prospect of solitude, his fears seemed to +crowd back upon him, and he stretched out a hand to +detain him. + +"Yes, I must go. I have my work to do. You are +all right now. I think that with your nervous system +you should take up some less morbid study." + +"Oh, I am not nervous as a rule; and I have +unwrapped mummies before." + +"You fainted last time," observed Monkhouse Lee. + +"Ah, yes, so I did. Well, I must have a nerve +tonic or a course of electricity. You are not going, +Lee?" + +"I'll do whatever you wish, Ned." + +"Then I'll come down with you and have a shake- +down on your sofa. Good-night, Smith. I am so sorry +to have disturbed you with my foolishness." + +They shook hands, and as the medical student +stumbled up the spiral and irregular stair he heard a +key turn in a door, and the steps of his two new +acquaintances as they descended to the lower floor. + + +In this strange way began the acquaintance +between Edward Bellingham and Abercrombie Smith, +an acquaintance which the latter, at least, had no +desire to push further. Bellingham, however, +appeared to have taken a fancy to his rough-spoken +neighbour, and made his advances in such a way that +he could hardly be repulsed without absolute +brutality. Twice he called to thank Smith for his +assistance, and many times afterwards he looked in +with books, papers, and such other civilities as two +bachelor neighbours can offer each other. He was, as +Smith soon found, a man of wide reading, with +catholic tastes and an extraordinary memory. His +manner, too, was so pleasing and suave that one came, +after a time, to overlook his repellent appearance. +For a jaded and wearied man he was no unpleasant +companion, and Smith found himself, after a time, +looking forward to his visits, and even returning +them. + +Clever as he undoubtedly was, however, the +medical student seemed to detect a dash of insanity +in the man. He broke out at times into a high, +inflated style of talk which was in contrast with the +simplicity of his life. + +"It is a wonderful thing," he cried, "to feel +that one can command powers of good and of evil--a +ministering angel or a demon of vengeance." And +again, of Monkhouse Lee, he said,--"Lee is a good +fellow, an honest fellow, but he is without strength +or ambition. He would not make a fit partner +for a man with a great enterprise. He would not make +a fit partner for me." + +At such hints and innuendoes stolid Smith, +puffing solemnly at his pipe, would simply raise his +eyebrows and shake his head, with little +interjections of medical wisdom as to earlier hours +and fresher air. + +One habit Bellingham had developed of late which +Smith knew to be a frequent herald of a weakening +mind. He appeared to be forever talking to himself. +At late hours of the night, when there could be no +visitor with him, Smith could still hear his voice +beneath him in a low, muffled monologue, sunk almost +to a whisper, and yet very audible in the silence. +This solitary babbling annoyed and distracted the +student, so that he spoke more than once to his +neighbour about it. Bellingham, however, flushed up +at the charge, and denied curtly that he had uttered +a sound; indeed, he showed more annoyance over the +matter than the occasion seemed to demand. + +Had Abercrombie Smith had any doubt as to his own +ears he had not to go far to find corroboration. Tom +Styles, the little wrinkled man-servant who had +attended to the wants of the lodgers in the turret +for a longer time than any man's memory could carry +him, was sorely put to it over the same matter. + +"If you please, sir," said he, as he tidied down +the top chamber one morning, "do you think Mr. +Bellingham is all right, sir?" + +"All right, Styles?" + +"Yes sir. Right in his head, sir." + +"Why should he not be, then?" + +"Well, I don't know, sir. His habits has changed +of late. He's not the same man he used to be, though +I make free to say that he was never quite one of my +gentlemen, like Mr. Hastie or yourself, sir. He's +took to talkin' to himself something awful. I wonder +it don't disturb you. I don't know what to make of +him, sir." + +"I don't know what business it is of yours, +Styles." + +"Well, I takes an interest, Mr. Smith. It may be +forward of me, but I can't help it. I feel sometimes +as if I was mother and father to my young gentlemen. +It all falls on me when things go wrong and the +relations come. But Mr. Bellingham, sir. I want to +know what it is that walks about his room sometimes +when he's out and when the door's locked on the +outside." + +"Eh! you're talking nonsense, Styles." + +"Maybe so, sir; but I heard it more'n once with +my own ears." + +"Rubbish, Styles." + +"Very good, sir. You'll ring the bell if you +want me." + +Abercrombie Smith gave little heed to the gossip +of the old man-servant, but a small incident occurred +a few days later which left an unpleasant effect upon +his mind, and brought the words of Styles forcibly to +his memory. + +Bellingham had come up to see him late one night, +and was entertaining him with an interesting account +of the rock tombs of Beni Hassan in Upper Egypt, when +Smith, whose hearing was remarkably acute, distinctly +heard the sound of a door opening on the landing +below. + +"There's some fellow gone in or out of your +room," he remarked. + +Bellingham sprang up and stood helpless for a +moment, with the expression of a man who is half +incredulous and half afraid. + +"I surely locked it. I am almost positive that I +locked it," he stammered. "No one could have opened +it." + +"Why, I hear someone coming up the steps now," +said Smith. + +Bellingham rushed out through the door, slammed +it loudly behind him, and hurried down the stairs. +About half-way down Smith heard him stop, and thought +he caught the sound of whispering. A moment later +the door beneath him shut, a key creaked in a lock, +and Bellingham, with beads of moisture upon his pale +face, ascended the stairs once more, and re-entered +the room. + +"It's all right," he said, throwing himself down +in a chair. "It was that fool of a dog. He had +pushed the door open. I don't know how I came to +forget to lock it." + +"I didn't know you kept a dog," said Smith, +looking very thoughtfully at the disturbed face of +his companion. + +"Yes, I haven't had him long. I must get rid of +him. He's a great nuisance." + +"He must be, if you find it so hard to shut him +up. I should have thought that shutting the door +would have been enough, without locking it." + +"I want to prevent old Styles from letting him +out. He's of some value, you know, and it would be +awkward to lose him." + +"I am a bit of a dog-fancier myself," said Smith, +still gazing hard at his companion from the corner of +his eyes. "Perhaps you'll let me have a look at it." + +"Certainly. But I am afraid it cannot be to- +night; I have an appointment. Is that clock right? +Then I am a quarter of an hour late already. You'll +excuse me, I am sure." + +He picked up his cap and hurried from the room. +In spite of his appointment, Smith heard him re-enter +his own chamber and lock his door upon the inside. + +This interview left a disagreeable impression +upon the medical student's mind. Bellingham had +lied to him, and lied so clumsily that it looked as +if he had desperate reasons for concealing the truth. +Smith knew that his neighbour had no dog. He knew, +also, that the step which he had heard upon the +stairs was not the step of an animal. But if it were +not, then what could it be? There was old Styles's +statement about the something which used to pace the +room at times when the owner was absent. Could it be +a woman? Smith rather inclined to the view. If so, +it would mean disgrace and expulsion to Bellingham if +it were discovered by the authorities, so that his +anxiety and falsehoods might be accounted for. And +yet it was inconceivable that an undergraduate could +keep a woman in his rooms without being instantly +detected. Be the explanation what it might, there +was something ugly about it, and Smith determined, as +he turned to his books, to discourage all further +attempts at intimacy on the part of his soft-spoken +and ill-favoured neighbour. + +But his work was destined to interruption that +night. He had hardly caught tip the broken threads +when a firm, heavy footfall came three steps at a +time from below, and Hastie, in blazer and flannels, +burst into the room. + +"Still at it!" said he, plumping down into his +wonted arm-chair. "What a chap you are to stew! +I believe an earthquake might come and knock Oxford +into a cocked hat, and you would sit perfectly placid +with your books among the rains. However, I won't +bore you long. Three whiffs of baccy, and I am off." + +"What's the news, then?" asked Smith, cramming a +plug of bird's-eye into his briar with his +forefinger. + +"Nothing very much. Wilson made 70 for the +freshmen against the eleven. They say that they will +play him instead of Buddicomb, for Buddicomb is clean +off colour. He used to be able to bowl a little, but +it's nothing but half-vollies and long hops now." + +"Medium right," suggested Smith, with the intense +gravity which comes upon a 'varsity man when he +speaks of athletics. + +"Inclining to fast, with a work from leg. Comes +with the arm about three inches or so. He used to be +nasty on a wet wicket. Oh, by-the-way, have you +heard about Long Norton?" + +"What's that?" + +"He's been attacked." + +"Attacked?" + +"Yes, just as he was turning out of the High +Street, and within a hundred yards of the gate of +Old's." + +"But who----" + +"Ah, that's the rub! If you said `what,' +you would be more grammatical. Norton swears +that it was not human, and, indeed, from the +scratches on his throat, I should be inclined to +agree with him." + +"What, then? Have we come down to spooks?" + +Abercrombie Smith puffed his scientific contempt. + +"Well, no; I don't think that is quite the idea, +either. I am inclined to think that if any showman +has lost a great ape lately, and the brute is in +these parts, a jury would find a true bill against +it. Norton passes that way every night, you know, +about the same hour. There's a tree that hangs low +over the path--the big elm from Rainy's garden. +Norton thinks the thing dropped on him out of the +tree. Anyhow, he was nearly strangled by two arms, +which, he says, were as strong and as thin as steel +bands. He saw nothing; only those beastly arms that +tightened and tightened on him. He yelled his head +nearly off, and a couple of chaps came running, and +the thing went over the wall like a cat. He never +got a fair sight of it the whole time. It gave +Norton a shake up, I can tell you. I tell him it has +been as good as a change at the sea-side for him." + +"A garrotter, most likely," said Smith. + +"Very possibly. Norton says not; but we +don't mind what he says. The garrotter had long +nails, and was pretty smart at swinging himself over +walls. By-the-way, your beautiful neighbour would be +pleased if he heard about it. He had a grudge +against Norton, and he's not a man, from what I know +of him, to forget his little debts. But hallo, old +chap, what have you got in your noddle?" + +"Nothing," Smith answered curtly. + +He had started in his chair, and the look had +flashed over his face which comes upon a man who is +struck suddenly by some unpleasant idea. + +"You looked as if something I had said had taken +you on the raw. By-the-way, you have made the +acquaintance of Master B. since I looked in last, +have you not? Young Monkhouse Lee told me something +to that effect." + +"Yes; I know him slightly. He has been up here +once or twice." + +"Well, you're big enough and ugly enough to take +care of yourself. He's not what I should call +exactly a healthy sort of Johnny, though, no doubt, +he's very clever, and all that. But you'll soon find +out for yourself. Lee is all right; he's a very +decent little fellow. Well, so long, old chap! I +row Mullins for the Vice-Chancellor's pot on +Wednesday week, so mind you come down, in case I +don't see you before." + +Bovine Smith laid down his pipe and turned +stolidly to his books once more. But with all +the will in the world, he found it very hard to keep +his mind upon his work. It would slip away to brood +upon the man beneath him, and upon the little mystery +which hung round his chambers. Then his thoughts +turned to this singular attack of which Hastie had +spoken, and to the grudge which Bellingham was said +to owe the object of it. The two ideas would persist +in rising together in his mind, as though there were +some close and intimate connection between them. And +yet the suspicion was so dim and vague that it could +not be put down in words. + +"Confound the chap!" cried Smith, as he shied his +book on pathology across the room. "He has spoiled +my night's reading, and that's reason enough, if +there were no other, why I should steer clear of him +in the future." + +For ten days the medical student confined himself +so closely to his studies that he neither saw nor +heard anything of either of the men beneath him. At +the hours when Bellingham had been accustomed to +visit him, he took care to sport his oak, and though +he more than once heard a knocking at his outer door, +he resolutely refused to answer it. One afternoon, +however, he was descending the stairs when, just as +he was passing it, Bellingham's door flew open, and +young Monkhouse Lee came out with his eyes sparkling +and a dark flush of anger upon his olive cheeks. +Close at his heels followed Bellingham, his fat, +unhealthy face all quivering with malignant passion. + +"You fool!" he hissed. "You'll be sorry." + +"Very likely," cried the other. "Mind what I +say. It's off! I won't hear of it!" + +"You've promised, anyhow." + +"Oh, I'll keep that! I won't speak. But I'd +rather little Eva was in her grave. Once for all, +it's off. She'll do what I say. We don't want to +see you again." + +So much Smith could not avoid hearing, but he +hurried on, for he had no wish to be involved in +their dispute. There had been a serious breach +between them, that was clear enough, and Lee was +going to cause the engagement with his sister to be +broken off. Smith thought of Hastie's comparison of +the toad and the dove, and was glad to think that the +matter was at an end. Bellingham's face when he was +in a passion was not pleasant to look upon. He was +not a man to whom an innocent girl could be trusted +for life. As he walked, Smith wondered languidly +what could have caused the quarrel, and what the +promise might be which Bellingham had been so anxious +that Monkhouse Lee should keep. + +It was the day of the sculling match between +Hastie and Mullins, and a stream of men were +making their way down to the banks of the Isis. +A May sun was shining brightly, and the yellow path +was barred with the black shadows of the tall elm- +trees. On either side the grey colleges lay back +from the road, the hoary old mothers of minds looking +out from their high, mullioned windows at the tide of +young life which swept so merrily past them. Black- +clad tutors, prim officials, pale reading men, brown- +faced, straw-hatted young athletes in white sweaters +or many-coloured blazers, all were hurrying towards +the blue winding river which curves through the +Oxford meadows. + +Abercrombie Smith, with the intuition of an old +oarsman, chose his position at the point where he +knew that the struggle, if there were a struggle, +would come. Far off he heard the hum which announced +the start, the gathering roar of the approach, the +thunder of running feet, and the shouts of the men in +the boats beneath him. A spray of half-clad, deep- +breathing runners shot past him, and craning over +their shoulders, he saw Hastie pulling a steady +thirty-six, while his opponent, with a jerky forty, +was a good boat's length behind him. Smith gave a +cheer for his friend, and pulling out his watch, was +starting off again for his chambers, when he felt a +touch upon his shoulder, and found that young +Monkhouse Lee was beside him. + +"I saw you there," he said, in a timid, +deprecating way. "I wanted to speak to you, if you +could spare me a half-hour. This cottage is mine. I +share it with Harrington of King's. Come in and have +a cup of tea." + +"I must be back presently," said Smith. "I am +hard on the grind at present. But I'll come in for a +few minutes with pleasure. I wouldn't have come out +only Hastie is a friend of mine." + +"So he is of mine. Hasn't he a beautiful style? +Mullins wasn't in it. But come into the cottage. +It's a little den of a place, but it is pleasant to +work in during the summer months." + +It was a small, square, white building, with +green doors and shutters, and a rustic trellis-work +porch, standing back some fifty yards from the +river's bank. Inside, the main room was roughly +fitted up as a study--deal table, unpainted shelves +with books, and a few cheap oleographs upon the wall. +A kettle sang upon a spirit-stove, and there were tea +things upon a tray on the table. + +"Try that chair and have a cigarette," said Lee. +"Let me pour you out a cup of tea. It's so good of +you to come in, for I know that your time is a good +deal taken up. I wanted to say to you that, if I +were you, I should change my rooms at once." + +"Eh?" + +Smith sat staring with a lighted match in one +hand and his unlit cigarette in the other. + +"Yes; it must seem very extraordinary, and the +worst of it is that I cannot give my reasons, for I +am under a solemn promise--a very solemn promise. +But I may go so far as to say that I don't think +Bellingham is a very safe man to live near. I intend +to camp out here as much as I can for a time." + +"Not safe! What do you mean?" + +"Ah, that's what I mustn't say. But do take my +advice, and move your rooms. We had a grand row to- +day. You must have heard us, for you came down the +stairs." + +"I saw that you had fallen out." + +"He's a horrible chap, Smith. That is the only +word for him. I have had doubts about him ever since +that night when he fainted--you remember, when you +came down. I taxed him to-day, and he told me things +that made my hair rise, and wanted me to stand in +with him. I'm not strait-laced, but I am a +clergyman's son, you know, and I think there are some +things which are quite beyond the pale. I only thank +God that I found him out before it was too late, for +he was to have married into my family." + +"This is all very fine, Lee," said Abercrombie +Smith curtly. "But either you are saying a great +deal too much or a great deal too little." + +"I give you a warning." + +"If there is real reason for warning, no promise +can bind you. If I see a rascal about to blow a +place up with dynamite no pledge will stand in my way +of preventing him." + +"Ah, but I cannot prevent him, and I can do +nothing but warn you." + +"Without saying what you warn me against." + +"Against Bellingham." + +"But that is childish. Why should I fear him, or +any man?" + +"I can't tell you. I can only entreat you to +change your rooms. You are in danger where you are. +I don't even say that Bellingham would wish to injure +you. But it might happen, for he is a dangerous +neighbour just now." + +"Perhaps I know more than you think," said Smith, +looking keenly at the young man's boyish, earnest +face. "Suppose I tell you that some one else shares +Bellingham's rooms." + +Monkhouse Lee sprang from his chair in +uncontrollable excitement. + +"You know, then?" he gasped. + +"A woman." + +Lee dropped back again with a groan. + +"My lips are sealed," he said. "I must not +speak." + +"Well, anyhow," said Smith, rising, "it is not +likely that I should allow myself to be frightened +out of rooms which suit me very nicely. It +would be a little too feeble for me to move out all +my goods and chattels because you say that Bellingham +might in some unexplained way do me an injury. I +think that I'll just take my chance, and stay where I +am, and as I see that it's nearly five o'clock, I +must ask you to excuse me." + +He bade the young student adieu in a few curt +words, and made his way homeward through the sweet +spring evening feeling half-ruffled, half-amused, as +any other strong, unimaginative man might who has +been menaced by a vague and shadowy danger. + +There was one little indulgence which Abercrombie +Smith always allowed himself, however closely his +work might press upon him. Twice a week, on the +Tuesday and the Friday, it was his invariable custom +to walk over to Farlingford, the residence of Dr. +Plumptree Peterson, situated about a mile and a half +out of Oxford. Peterson had been a close friend of +Smith's elder brother Francis, and as he was a +bachelor, fairly well-to-do, with a good cellar and a +better library, his house was a pleasant goal for a +man who was in need of a brisk walk. Twice a week, +then, the medical student would swing out there along +the dark country roads, and spend a pleasant hour in +Peterson's comfortable study, discussing, over a +glass of old port, the gossip of the 'varsity or +the latest developments of medicine or of surgery. + +On the day which followed his interview with +Monkhouse Lee, Smith shut up his books at a quarter +past eight, the hour when he usually started for his +friend's house. As he was leaving his room, however, +his eyes chanced to fall upon one of the books which +Bellingham had lent him, and his conscience pricked +him for not having returned it. However repellent +the man might be, he should not be treated with +discourtesy. Taking the book, he walked downstairs +and knocked at his neighbour's door. There was no +answer; but on turning the handle he found that it +was unlocked. Pleased at the thought of avoiding an +interview, he stepped inside, and placed the book +with his card upon the table. + +The lamp was turned half down, but Smith could +see the details of the room plainly enough. It was +all much as he had seen it before--the frieze, the +animal-headed gods, the banging crocodile, and the +table littered over with papers and dried leaves. +The mummy case stood upright against the wall, but +the mummy itself was missing. There was no sign of +any second occupant of the room, and he felt as he +withdrew that he had probably done Bellingham an +injustice. Had he a guilty secret to preserve, he +would hardly leave his door open so that all the +world might enter. + +The spiral stair was as black as pitch, and Smith +was slowly making his way down its irregular steps, +when he was suddenly conscious that something had +passed him in the darkness. There was a faint sound, +a whiff of air, a light brushing past his elbow, but +so slight that he could scarcely be certain of it. +He stopped and listened, but the wind was rustling +among the ivy outside, and he could hear nothing +else. + +"Is that you, Styles?" he shouted. + +There was no answer, and all was still behind +him. It must have been a sudden gust of air, for +there were crannies and cracks in the old turret. +And yet he could almost have sworn that be heard a +footfall by his very side. He had emerged into the +quadrangle, still turning the matter over in his +head, when a man came running swiftly across the +smooth-cropped lawn. + +"Is that you, Smith?" + +"Hullo, Hastie!" + +"For God's sake come at once! Young Lee is +drowned! Here's Harrington of King's with the news. +The doctor is out. You'll do, but come along at +once. There may be life in him." + +"Have you brandy?" + +"No. " + +"I'll bring some. There's a flask on my table." + +Smith bounded up the stairs, taking three at a +time, seized the flask, and was rushing down with it, +when, as he passed Bellingham's room, his eyes fell +upon something which left him gasping and staring +upon the landing. + +The door, which he had closed behind him, was now +open, and right in front of him, with the lamp-light +shining upon it, was the mummy case. Three minutes +ago it had been empty. He could swear to that. Now +it framed the lank body of its horrible occupant, who +stood, grim and stark, with his black shrivelled face +towards the door. The form was lifeless and inert, +but it seemed to Smith as he gazed that there still +lingered a lurid spark of vitality, some faint sign +of consciousness in the little eyes which lurked in +the depths of the hollow sockets. So astounded and +shaken was he that he had forgotten his errand, and +was still staring at the lean, sunken figure when the +voice of his friend below recalled him to himself. + +"Come on, Smith!" he shouted. "It's life and +death, you know. Hurry up! Now, then," he added, as +the medical student reappeared, "let us do a sprint. +It is well under a mile, and we should do it in five +minutes. A human life is better worth running for +than a pot." + +Neck and neck they dashed through the darkness, +and did not pull up until, panting and spent, +they had reached the little cottage by the river. +Young Lee, limp and dripping like a broken water- +plant, was stretched upon the sofa, the green scum of +the river upon his black hair, and a fringe of white +foam upon his leaden-hued lips. Beside him knelt his +fellow-student Harrington, endeavouring to chafe some +warmth back into his rigid limbs. + +"I think there's life in him," said Smith, with +his hand to the lad's side. "Put your watch glass to +his lips. Yes, there's dimming on it. You take one +arm, Hastie. Now work it as I do, and we'll soon +pull him round." + +For ten minutes they worked in silence, inflating +and depressing the chest of the unconscious man. At +the end of that time a shiver ran through his body, +his lips trembled, and he opened his eyes. The three +students burst out into an irrepressible cheer. + +"Wake up, old chap. You've frightened us quite +enough." + +"Have some brandy. Take a sip from the flask." + +"He's all right now," said his companion +Harrington. "Heavens, what a fright I got! I was +reading here, and he had gone for a stroll as far as +the river, when I heard a scream and a splash. Out I +ran, and by the time that I could find him and fish +him out, all life seemed to have gone. Then +Simpson couldn't get a doctor, for he has a game-leg, +and I had to run, and I don't know what I'd have done +without you fellows. That's right, old chap. Sit +up." + +Monkhouse Lee had raised himself on his hands, +and looked wildly about him. + +"What's up?" he asked. "I've been in the water. +Ah, yes; I remember." + +A look of fear came into his eyes, and he sank +his face into his hands. + +"How did you fall in?" + +"I didn't fall in." + +"How, then?" + +"I was thrown in. I was standing by the bank, +and something from behind picked me up like a feather +and hurled me in. I heard nothing, and I saw +nothing. But I know what it was, for all that." + +"And so do I, " whispered Smith. + +Lee looked up with a quick glance of surprise. +"You've learned, then!" he said. "You remember the +advice I gave you?" + +"Yes, and I begin to think that I shall take it." + +"I don't know what the deuce you fellows are +talking about," said Hastie, "but I think, if I were +you, Harrington, I should get Lee to bed at once. It +will be time enough to discuss the why and the +wherefore when he is a little stronger. I +think, Smith, you and I can leave him alone now. +I am walking back to college; if you are coming in +that direction, we can have a chat." + +But it was little chat that they had upon their +homeward path. Smith's mind was too full of the +incidents of the evening, the absence of the mummy +from his neighbour's rooms, the step that passed him +on the stair, the reappearance--the extraordinary, +inexplicable reappearance of the grisly thing--and +then this attack upon Lee, corresponding so closely +to the previous outrage upon another man against whom +Bellingham bore a grudge. All this settled in his +thoughts, together with the many little incidents +which had previously turned him against his +neighbour, and the singular circumstances under which +he was first called in to him. What had been a dim +suspicion, a vague, fantastic conjecture, had +suddenly taken form, and stood out in his mind as a +grim fact, a thing not to be denied. And yet, how +monstrous it was! how unheard of! how entirely beyond +all bounds of human experience. An impartial judge, +or even the friend who walked by his side, would +simply tell him that his eyes had deceived him, that +the mummy had been there all the time, that young Lee +had tumbled into the river as any other man tumbles +into a river, and that a blue pill was the best thing +for a disordered liver. He felt that he would have +said as much if the positions had been reversed. +And yet he could swear that Bellingham was a murderer +at heart, and that he wielded a weapon such as no man +had ever used in all the grim history of crime. + +Hastie had branched off to his rooms with a few +crisp and emphatic comments upon his friend's +unsociability, and Abercrombie Smith crossed the +quadrangle to his corner turret with a strong feeling +of repulsion for his chambers and their associations. +He would take Lee's advice, and move his quarters as +soon as possible, for how could a man study when his +ear was ever straining for every murmur or footstep +in the room below? He observed, as he crossed over +the lawn, that the light was still shining in +Bellingham's window, and as he passed up the +staircase the door opened, and the man himself looked +out at him. With his fat, evil face he was like some +bloated spider fresh from the weaving of his +poisonous web. + +"Good-evening," said he. "Won't you come in?" + +"No," cried Smith, fiercely. + +"No? You are busy as ever? I wanted to ask you +about Lee. I was sorry to hear that there was a +rumour that something was amiss with him." + +His features were grave, but there was the gleam +of a hidden laugh in his eyes as he spoke. +Smith saw it, and he could have knocked him down +for it. + +"You'll be sorrier still to hear that Monkhouse +Lee is doing very well, and is out of all danger," he +answered. "Your hellish tricks have not come off +this time. Oh, you needn't try to brazen it out. I +know all about it." + +Bellingham took a step back from the angry +student, and half-closed the door as if to protect +himself. + +"You are mad," he said. "What do you mean? Do +you assert that I had anything to do with Lee's +accident?" + +"Yes," thundered Smith. "You and that bag of +bones behind you; you worked it between you. I tell +you what it is, Master B., they have given up burning +folk like you, but we still keep a hangman, and, by +George! if any man in this college meets his death +while you are here, I'll have you up, and if you +don't swing for it, it won't be my fault. You'll +find that your filthy Egyptian tricks won't answer in +England." + +"You're a raving lunatic," said Bellingham. + +"All right. You just remember what I say, for +you'll find that I'll be better than my word." + +The door slammed, and Smith went fuming up to his +chamber, where he locked the door upon the inside, +and spent half the night in smoking his old +briar and brooding over the strange events of the +evening. + +Next morning Abercrombie Smith heard nothing of +his neighbour, but Harrington called upon him in the +afternoon to say that Lee was almost himself again. +All day Smith stuck fast to his work, but in the +evening he determined to pay the visit to his friend +Dr. Peterson upon which he had started upon the night +before. A good walk and a friendly chat would be +welcome to his jangled nerves. + +Bellingham's door was shut as he passed, but +glancing back when he was some distance from the +turret, he saw his neighbour's head at the window +outlined against the lamp-light, his face pressed +apparently against the glass as he gazed out into the +darkness. It was a blessing to be away from all +contact with him, but if for a few hours, and Smith +stepped out briskly, and breathed the soft spring air +into his lungs. The half-moon lay in the west +between two Gothic pinnacles, and threw upon the +silvered street a dark tracery from the stone-work +above. There was a brisk breeze, and light, fleecy +clouds drifted swiftly across the sky. Old's was on +the very border of the town, and in five minutes +Smith found himself beyond the houses and between the +hedges of a May-scented Oxfordshire lane. + +It was a lonely and little frequented road +which led to his friend's house. Early as it +was, Smith did not meet a single soul upon his way. +He walked briskly along until he came to the avenue +gate, which opened into the long gravel drive leading +up to Farlingford. In front of him he could see the +cosy red light of the windows glimmering through the +foliage. He stood with his hand upon the iron latch +of the swinging gate, and he glanced back at the road +along which he had come. Something was coming +swiftly down it. + +It moved in the shadow of the hedge, silently and +furtively, a dark, crouching figure, dimly visible +against the black background. Even as he gazed back +at it, it had lessened its distance by twenty paces, +and was fast closing upon him. Out of the darkness +he had a glimpse of a scraggy neck, and of two eyes +that will ever haunt him in his dreams. He turned, +and with a cry of terror he ran for his life up the +avenue. There were the red lights, the signals of +safety, almost within a stone's throw of him. He was +a famous runner, but never had he run as he ran that +night. + +The heavy gate had swung into place behind him, +but he heard it dash open again before his pursuer. +As he rushed madly and wildly through the night, he +could hear a swift, dry patter behind him, and could +see, as he threw back a glance, that this horror was +bounding like a tiger at his heels, with blazing eyes +and one stringy arm outthrown. Thank God, the +door was ajar. He could see the thin bar of light +which shot from the lamp in the hall. Nearer yet +sounded the clatter from behind. He heard a hoarse +gurgling at his very shoulder. With a shriek he +flung himself against the door, slammed and bolted it +behind him, and sank half-fainting on to the hall +chair. + +"My goodness, Smith, what's the matter?" asked +Peterson, appearing at the door of his study. + +"Give me some brandy!" + +Peterson disappeared, and came rushing out again +with a glass and a decanter. + +"You need it," he said, as his visitor drank off +what he poured out for him. "Why, man, you are as +white as a cheese." + +Smith laid down his glass, rose up, and took a +deep breath. + +"I am my own man again now," said he. "I was +never so unmanned before. But, with your leave, +Peterson, I will sleep here to-night, for I don't +think I could face that road again except by +daylight. It's weak, I know, but I can't help it." + +Peterson looked at his visitor with a very +questioning eye. + +"Of course you shall sleep here if you wish. +I'll tell Mrs. Burney to make up the spare bed. +Where are you off to now?" + +"Come up with me to the window that overlooks the +door. I want you to see what I have seen." + +They went up to the window of the upper hall +whence they could look down upon the approach to the +house. The drive and the fields on either side lay +quiet and still, bathed in the peaceful moonlight. + +"Well, really, Smith," remarked Peterson, "it is +well that I know you to be an abstemious man. What +in the world can have frightened you?" + +"I'll tell you presently. But where can it have +gone? Ah, now look, look! See the curve of the road +just beyond your gate." + +"Yes, I see; you needn't pinch my arm off. I saw +someone pass. I should say a man, rather thin, +apparently, and tall, very tall. But what of him? +And what of yourself? You are still shaking like an +aspen leaf." + +"I have been within hand-grip of the devil, +that's all. But come down to your study, and I shall +tell you the whole story." + +He did so. Under the cheery lamplight, with a +glass of wine on the table beside him, and the portly +form and florid face of his friend in front, he +narrated, in their order, all the events, great and +small, which had formed so singular a chain, from the +night on which he had found Bellingham fainting +in front of the mummy case until his horrid +experience of an hour ago. + +"There now," he said as he concluded, "that's the +whole black business. It is monstrous and +incredible, but it is true." + +Dr. Plumptree Peterson sat for some time in +silence with a very puzzled expression upon his face. + +"I never heard of such a thing in my life, +never!" he said at last. "You have told me the +facts. Now tell me your inferences." + +"You can draw your own." + +"But I should like to hear yours. You have +thought over the matter, and I have not." + +"Well, it must be a little vague in detail, but +the main points seem to me to be clear enough. This +fellow Bellingham, in his Eastern studies, has got +hold of some infernal secret by which a mummy--or +possibly only this particular mummy--can be +temporarily brought to life. He was trying this +disgusting business on the night when he fainted. No +doubt the sight of the creature moving had shaken his +nerve, even though he had expected it. You remember +that almost the first words he said were to call out +upon himself as a fool. Well, he got more hardened +afterwards, and carried the matter through without +fainting. The vitality which he could put into it +was evidently only a passing thing, for I have +seen it continually in its case as dead as this +table. He has some elaborate process, I fancy, by +which he brings the thing to pass. Having done it, +he naturally bethought him that he might use the +creature as an agent. It has intelligence and it has +strength. For some purpose he took Lee into his +confidence; but Lee, like a decent Christian, would +have nothing to do with such a business. Then they +had a row, and Lee vowed that he would tell his +sister of Bellingham's true character. Bellingham's +game was to prevent him, and he nearly managed it, by +setting this creature of his on his track. He had +already tried its powers upon another man--Norton-- +towards whom he had a grudge. It is the merest +chance that he has not two murders upon his soul. +Then, when I taxed him with the matter, he had the +strongest reasons for wishing to get me out of the +way before I could convey my knowledge to anyone +else. He got his chance when I went out, for he knew +my habits, and where I was bound for. I have had a +narrow shave, Peterson, and it is mere luck you +didn't find me on your doorstep in the morning. I'm +not a nervous man as a rule, and I never thought to +have the fear of death put upon me as it was to- +night." + +"My dear boy, you take the matter too seriously," +said his companion. "Your nerves are out of order +with your work, and you make too much of it. +How could such a thing as this stride about the +streets of Oxford, even at night, without being +seen?" + +"It has been seen. There is quite a scare in the +town about an escaped ape, as they imagine the +creature to be. It is the talk of the place." + +"Well, it's a striking chain of events. And yet, +my dear fellow, you must allow that each incident in +itself is capable of a more natural explanation." + +"What! even my adventure of to-night?" + +"Certainly. You come out with your nerves all +unstrung, and your head full of this theory of yours. +Some gaunt, half-famished tramp steals after you, and +seeing you run, is emboldened to pursue you. Your +fears and imagination do the rest." + +"It won't do, Peterson; it won't do." + +"And again, in the instance of your finding the +mummy case empty, and then a few moments later with +an occupant, you know that it was lamplight, that the +lamp was half turned down, and that you had no +special reason to look hard at the case. It is quite +possible that you may have overlooked the creature in +the first instance." + +"No, no; it is out of the question." + +"And then Lee may have fallen into the river, and +Norton been garrotted. It is certainly a formidable +indictment that you have against Bellingham; +but if you were to place it before a police +magistrate, he would simply laugh in your face." + +"I know he would. That is why I mean to take the +matter into my own hands." + +"Eh?" + +"Yes; I feel that a public duty rests upon me, +and, besides, I must do it for my own safety, unless +I choose to allow myself to be hunted by this beast +out of the college, and that would be a little too +feeble. I have quite made up my mind what I shall +do. And first of all, may I use your paper and pens +for an hour?" + +"Most certainly. You will find all that you want +upon that side table." + +Abercrombie Smith sat down before a sheet of +foolscap, and for an hour, and then for a second hour +his pen travelled swiftly over it. Page after page +was finished and tossed aside while his friend leaned +back in his arm-chair, looking across at him with +patient curiosity. At last, with an exclamation of +satisfaction, Smith sprang to his feet, gathered his +papers up into order, and laid the last one upon +Peterson's desk. + +"Kindly sign this as a witness," he said. + +"A witness? Of what?" + +"Of my signature, and of the date. The date is +the most important. Why, Peterson, my life might +hang upon it." + +"My dear Smith, you are talking wildly. Let me +beg you to go to bed." + +"On the contrary, I never spoke so deliberately +in my life. And I will promise to go to bed the +moment you have signed it." + +"But what is it?" + +"It is a statement of all that I have been +telling you to-night. I wish you to witness it." + +"Certainly," said Peterson, signing his name +under that of his companion. "There you are! But +what is the idea?" + +"You will kindly retain it, and produce it in +case I am arrested." + +"Arrested? For what?" + +"For murder. It is quite on the cards. I wish +to be ready for every event. There is only one +course open to me, and I am determined to take it." + +"For Heaven's sake, don't do anything rash!" + +"Believe me, it would be far more rash to adopt +any other course. I hope that we won't need to +bother you, but it will ease my mind to know that you +have this statement of my motives. And now I am +ready to take your advice and to go to roost, for I +want to be at my best in the morning." + + +Abercrombie Smith was not an entirely pleasant +man to have as an enemy. Slow and easytempered, +he was formidable when driven to action. He brought +to every purpose in life the same deliberate +resoluteness which had distinguished him as a +scientific student. He had laid his studies aside +for a day, but he intended that the day should not be +wasted. Not a word did he say to his host as to his +plans, but by nine o'clock he was well on his way to +Oxford. + +In the High Street he stopped at Clifford's, the +gun-maker's, and bought a heavy revolver, with a box +of central-fire cartridges. Six of them he slipped +into the chambers, and half-cocking the weapon, +placed it in the pocket of his coat. He then made +his way to Hastie's rooms, where the big oarsman was +lounging over his breakfast, with the Sporting +Times propped up against the coffeepot. + +"Hullo! What's up?" he asked. "Have some +coffee?" + +"No, thank you. I want you to come with me, +Hastie, and do what I ask you." + +"Certainly, my boy." + +"And bring a heavy stick with you." + +"Hullo!" Hastie stared. "Here's a hunting-crop +that would fell an ox." + +"One other thing. You have a box of amputating +knives. Give me the longest of them." + +"There you are. You seem to be fairly on the war +trail. Anything else?" + +"No; that will do." Smith placed the knife inside +his coat, and led the way to the quadrangle. "We are +neither of us chickens, Hastie," said he. "I think I +can do this job alone, but I take you as a +precaution. I am going to have a little talk with +Bellingham. If I have only him to deal with, I +won't, of course, need you. If I shout, however, up +you come, and lam out with your whip as hard as you +can lick. Do you understand?" + +"All right. I'll come if I hear you bellow." + +"Stay here, then. It may be a little time, but +don't budge until I come down." + +"I'm a fixture." + +Smith ascended the stairs, opened Bellingham's +door and stepped in. Bellingham was seated behind +his table, writing. Beside him, among his litter of +strange possessions, towered the mummy case, with its +sale number 249 still stuck upon its front, and its +hideous occupant stiff and stark within it. Smith +looked very deliberately round him, closed the door, +locked it, took the key from the inside, and then +stepping across to the fireplace, struck a match and +set the fire alight. Bellingham sat staring, with +amazement and rage upon his bloated face. + +"Well, really now, you make yourself at home," he +gasped. + +Smith sat himself deliberately down, placing +his watch upon the table, drew out his pistol, +cocked it, and laid it in his lap. Then he took the +long amputating knife from his bosom, and threw it +down in front of Bellingham. + +"Now, then," said he, "just get to work and cut +up that mummy." + +"Oh, is that it?" said Bellingham with a sneer. + +"Yes, that is it. They tell me that the law +can't touch you. But I have a law that will set +matters straight. If in five minutes you have not +set to work, I swear by the God who made me that I +will put a bullet through your brain!" + +"You would murder me?" + +Bellingham had half risen, and his face was the +colour of putty. + +"Yes." + +"And for what?" + +"To stop your mischief. One minute has gone." + +"But what have I done?" + +"I know and you know." + +"This is mere bullying." + +"Two minutes are gone." + +"But you must give reasons. You are a madman--a +dangerous madman. Why should I destroy my own +property? It is a valuable mummy." + +"You must cut it up, and you must burn it." + +"I will do no such thing." + +"Four minutes are gone." + +Smith took up the pistol and he looked towards +Bellingham with an inexorable face. As the second- +hand stole round, he raised his hand, and the finger +twitched upon the trigger. + +"There! there! I'll do it!" screamed Bellingham. + +In frantic haste he caught up the knife and +hacked at the figure of the mummy, ever glancing +round to see the eye and the weapon of his terrible +visitor bent upon him. The creature crackled and +snapped under every stab of the keen blade. A thick +yellow dust rose up from it. Spices and dried +essences rained down upon the floor. Suddenly, with +a rending crack, its backbone snapped asunder, and it +fell, a brown heap of sprawling limbs, upon the +floor. + +"Now into the fire!" said Smith. + +The flames leaped and roared as the dried and +tinderlike debris was piled upon it. The little room +was like the stoke-hole of a steamer and the sweat +ran down the faces of the two men; but still the one +stooped and worked, while the other sat watching him +with a set face. A thick, fat smoke oozed out from +the fire, and a heavy smell of burned rosin and +singed hair filled the air. In a quarter of an hour +a few charred and brittle sticks were all that was +left of Lot No. 249. + +"Perhaps that will satisfy you," snarled +Bellingham, with hate and fear in his little grey +eyes as he glanced back at his tormenter. + +"No; I must make a clean sweep of all your +materials. We must have no more devil's tricks. In +with all these leaves! They may have something to do +with it." + +"And what now?" asked Bellingham, when the leaves +also had been added to the blaze. + +"Now the roll of papyrus which you had on the +table that night. It is in that drawer, I think." + +"No, no," shouted Bellingham. "Don't burn that! +Why, man, you don't know what you do. It is unique; +it contains wisdom which is nowhere else to be +found." + +"Out with it!" + +"But look here, Smith, you can't really mean it. +I'll share the knowledge with you. I'll teach you +all that is in it. Or, stay, let me only copy it +before you burn it!" + +Smith stepped forward and turned the key in the +drawer. Taking out the yellow, curled roll of paper, +he threw it into the fire, and pressed it down with +his heel. Bellingham screamed, and grabbed at it; +but Smith pushed him back, and stood over it until it +was reduced to a formless grey ash. + +"Now, Master B.," said he, "I think I have +pretty well drawn your teeth. You'll hear from +me again, if you return to your old tricks. And now +good-morning, for I must go back to my studies." + +And such is the narrative of Abercrombie Smith as +to the singular events which occurred in Old College, +Oxford, in the spring of '84. As Bellingham left the +university immediately afterwards, and was last heard +of in the Soudan, there is no one who can contradict +his statement. But the wisdom of men is small, and +the ways of nature are strange, and who shall put a +bound to the dark things which may be found by those +who seek for them? + + + + +THE LOS AMIGOS FIASCO. + + +I used to be the leading practitioner of Los +Amigos. Of course, everyone has heard of the great +electrical generating gear there. The town is wide +spread, and there are dozens of little townlets and +villages all round, which receive their supply from +the same centre, so that the works are on a very +large scale. The Los Amigos folk say that they are +the largest upon earth, but then we claim that for +everything in Los Amigos except the gaol and the +death-rate. Those are said to be the smallest. + +Now, with so fine an electrical supply, it seemed +to be a sinful waste of hemp that the Los Amigos +criminals should perish in the old-fashioned manner. +And then came the news of the eleotrocutions in the +East, and how the results had not after all been so +instantaneous as had been hoped. The Western +Engineers raised their eyebrows when they read of the +puny shocks by which these men had perished, and they +vowed in Los Amigos that when an irreclaimable came +their way he should be dealt handsomely by, +and have the run of all the big dynamos. There +should be no reserve, said the engineers, but he +should have all that they had got. And what the +result of that would be none could predict, save that +it must be absolutely blasting and deadly. Never +before had a man been so charged with electricity as +they would charge him. He was to be smitten by the +essence of ten thunderbolts. Some prophesied +combustion, and some disintegration and +disappearance. They were waiting eagerly to settle +the question by actual demonstration, and it was just +at that moment that Duncan Warner came that way. + +Warner had been wanted by the law, and by nobody +else, for many years. Desperado, murderer, train +robber and road agent, he was a man beyond the pale +of human pity. He had deserved a dozen deaths, and +the Los Amigos folk grudged him so gaudy a one as +that. He seemed to feel himself to be unworthy of +it, for he made two frenzied attempts at escape. He +was a powerful, muscular man, with a lion head, +tangled black locks, and a sweeping beard which +covered his broad chest. When he was tried, there +was no finer head in all the crowded court. It's no +new thing to find the best face looking from the +dock. But his good looks could not balance his bad +deeds. His advocate did all he knew, but the +cards lay against him, and Duncan Warner was +handed over to the mercy of the big Los Amigos +dynamos. + +I was there at the committee meeting when the +matter was discussed. The town council had chosen +four experts to look after the arrangements. Three +of them were admirable. There was Joseph M`Conner, +the very man who had designed the dynamos, and there +was Joshua Westmacott, the chairman of the Los Amigos +Electrical Supply Company, Limited. Then there was +myself as the chief medical man, and lastly an old +German of the name of Peter Stulpnagel. The Germans +were a strong body at Los Amigos, and they all voted +for their man. That was how he got on the committee. +It was said that he had been a wonderful electrician +at home, and he was eternally working with wires and +insulators and Leyden jars; but, as he never seemed +to get any further, or to have any results worth +publishing he came at last to be regarded as a +harmless crank, who had made science his hobby. We +three practical men smiled when we heard that he had +been elected as our colleague, and at the meeting we +fixed it all up very nicely among ourselves without +much thought of the old fellow who sat with his ears +scooped forward in his hands, for he was a trifle +hard of hearing, taking no more part in the +proceedings than the gentlemen of the press who +scribbled their notes on the back benches. + +We did not take long to settle it all. In New +York a strength of some two thousand volts had been +used, and death had not been instantaneous. +Evidently their shock had been too weak. Los Amigos +should not fall into that error. The charge should +be six times greater, and therefore, of course, it +would be six times more effective. Nothing could +possibly be more logical. The whole concentrated +force of the great dynamos should be employed on +Duncan Warner. + +So we three settled it, and had already risen to +break up the meeting, when our silent companion +opened his month for the first time. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "you appear to me to show +an extraordinary ignorance upon the subject of +electricity. You have not mastered the first +principles of its actions upon a human being." + +The committee was about to break into an angry +reply to this brusque comment, but the chairman of +the Electrical Company tapped his forehead to claim +its indulgence for the crankiness of the speaker. + +"Pray tell us, sir," said he, with an ironical +smile, "what is there in our conclusions with which +you find fault?" + +"With your assumption that a large dose of +electricity will merely increase the effect of a +small dose. Do you not think it possible that it +might have an entirely different result? Do you know +anything, by actual experiment, of the effect of such +powerful shocks?" + +"We know it by analogy," said the chairman, +pompously. "All drugs increase their effect when +they increase their dose; for example--for +example----" + +"Whisky," said Joseph M`Connor. + +"Quite so. Whisky. You see it there." + +Peter Stulpnagel smiled and shook his head. + +"Your argument is not very good," said he. "When +I used to take whisky, I used to find that one glass +would excite me, but that six would send me to sleep, +which is just the opposite. Now, suppose that +electricity were to act in just the opposite way +also, what then?" + +We three practical men burst out laughing. We +had known that our colleague was queer, but we never +had thought that he would be as queer as this. + +"What then?" repeated Philip Stulpnagel. + +"We'll take our chances," said the chairman. + +"Pray consider," said Peter, "that workmen who +have touched the wires, and who have received shocks +of only a few hundred volts, have died instantly. +The fact is well known. And yet when a much greater +force was used upon a criminal at New York, the +man struggled for some little time. Do you not +clearly see that the smaller dose is the more +deadly?" + +"I think, gentlemen, that this discussion has +been carried on quite long enough," said the +chairman, rising again. "The point, I take it, has +already been decided by the majority of the +committee, and Duncan Warner shall be electrocuted on +Tuesday by the full strength of the Los Amigos +dynamos. Is it not so?" + +"I agree," said Joseph M`Connor. + +"I agree," said I. + +"And I protest," said Peter Stulpnagel. + +"Then the motion is carried, and your protest +will be duly entered in the minutes," said the +chairman, and so the sitting was dissolved. + +The attendance at the electrocution was a very +small one. We four members of the committee were, of +course, present with the executioner, who was to act +under their orders. The others were the United +States Marshal, the governor of the gaol, the +chaplain, and three members of the press. The room +was a small brick chamber, forming an outhouse to the +Central Electrical station. It had been used as a +laundry, and had an oven and copper at one side, but +no other furniture save a single chair for the +condemned man. A metal plate for his feet was placed +in front of it, to which ran a thick, insulated wire. +Above, another wire depended from the ceiling, +which could be connected with a small metallic rod +projecting from a cap which was to be placed upon his +head. When this connection was established Duncan +Warner's hour was come. + +There was a solemn hush as we waited for the +coming of the prisoner. The practical engineers +looked a little pale, and fidgeted nervously with the +wires. Even the hardened Marshal was ill at ease, +for a mere hanging was one thing, and this blasting +of flesh and blood a very different one. As to the +pressmen, their faces were whiter than the sheets +which lay before them. The only man who appeared to +feel none of the influence of these preparations was +the little German crank, who strolled from one to the +other with a smile on his lips and mischief in his +eyes. More than once he even went so far as to burst +into a shout of laughter, until the chaplain sternly +rebuked him for his ill-timed levity. + +"How can you so far forget yourself, Mr. +Stulpnagel," said he, "as to jest in the presence of +death?" + +But the German was quite unabashed. + +"If I were in the presence of death I should not +jest," said he, "but since I am not I may do what I +choose." + +This flippant reply was about to draw another and +a sterner reproof from the chaplain, when the +door was swung open and two warders entered +leading Duncan Warner between them. He glanced round +him with a set face, stepped resolutely forward, and +seated himself upon the chair. + +"Touch her off!" said he. + +It was barbarous to keep him in suspense. The +chaplain murmured a few words in his ear, the +attendant placed the cap upon his head, and then, +while we all held our breath, the wire and the metal +were brought in contact. + +"Great Scott!" shouted Duncan Warner. + +He had bounded in his chair as the frightful +shock crashed through his system. But he was not +dead. On the contrary, his eyes gleamed far more +brightly than they had done before. There was only +one change, but it was a singular one. The black had +passed from his hair and beard as the shadow passes +from a landscape. They were both as white as snow. +And yet there was no other sign of decay. His skin +was smooth and plump and lustrous as a child's. + +The Marshal looked at the committee with a +reproachful eye. + +"There seems to be some hitch here, gentle- +men," said he. + +We three practical men looked at each other. + +Peter Stulpnagel smiled pensively. + +"I think that another one should do it," said I. + +Again the connection was made, and again Duncan +Warner sprang in his chair and shouted, but, indeed, +were it not that he still remained in the chair none +of us would have recognised him. His hair and his +beard had shredded off in an instant, and the room +looked like a barber's shop on a Saturday night. +There he sat, his eyes still shining, his skin +radiant with the glow of perfect health, but with a +scalp as bald as a Dutch cheese, and a chin without +so much as a trace of down. He began to revolve one +of his arms, slowly and doubtfully at first, but with +more confidence as he went on. + +"That jint," said he, "has puzzled half the +doctors on the Pacific Slope. It's as good as new, +and as limber as a hickory twig." + +"You are feeling pretty well?" asked the old +German. + +"Never better in my life," said Duncan Warner +cheerily. + +The situation was a painful one. The Marshal +glared at the committee. Peter Stulpnagel grinned +and rubbed his hands. The engineers scratched their +heads. The bald-headed prisoner revolved his arm and +looked pleased. + +"I think that one more shock----" began the +chairman. + +"No, sir," said the Marshal "we've had foolery +enough for one morning. We are here for an +execution, and a execution we'll have." + +"What do you propose?" + +"There's a hook handy upon the ceiling. Fetch in +a rope, and we'll soon set this matter straight." + +There was another awkward delay while the warders +departed for the cord. Peter Stulpnagel bent over +Duncan Warner, and whispered something in his ear. +The desperado started in surprise. + +"You don't say?" he asked. + +The German nodded. + +"What! Noways?" + +Peter shook his head, and the two began to laugh +as though they shared some huge joke between them. + +The rope was brought, and the Marshal himself +slipped the noose over the criminal's neck. Then the +two warders, the assistant and he swung their victim +into the air. For half an hour he hung--a dreadful +sight--from the ceiling. Then in solemn silence they +lowered him down, and one of the warders went out to +order the shell to be brought round. But as he +touched ground again what was our amazement when +Duncan Warner put his hands up to his neck, loosened +the noose, and took a long, deep breath. + +"Paul Jefferson's sale is goin' well," he +remarked, "I could see the crowd from up +yonder," and he nodded at the hook in the ceiling. + +"Up with him again!" shouted the Marshal, "we'll +get the life out of him somehow." + +In an instant the victim was up at the hook once +more. + +They kept him there for an hour, but when he came +down he was perfectly garrulous. + +"Old man Plunket goes too much to the Arcady +Saloon," said he. "Three times he's been there in an +hour; and him with a family. Old man Plunket would +do well to swear off." + +It was monstrous and incredible, but there it +was. There was no getting round it. The man was +there talking when he ought to have been dead. We +all sat staring in amazement, but United States +Marshal Carpenter was not a man to be euchred so +easily. He motioned the others to one side, so that +the prisoner was left standing alone. + +"Duncan Warner," said he, slowly, "you are here +to play your part, and I am here to play mine. Your +game is to live if you can, and my game is to carry +out the sentence of the law. You've beat us on +electricity. I'll give you one there. And you've +beat us on hanging, for you seem to thrive on it. +But it's my turn to beat you now, for my duty has to +be done." + +He pulled a six-shooter from his coat as he +spoke, and fired all the shots through the body +of the prisoner. The room was so filled with smoke +that we could see nothing, but when it cleared the +prisoner was still standing there, looking down in +disgust at the front of his coat. + +"Coats must be cheap where you come from," said +he. "Thirty dollars it cost me, and look at it now. +The six holes in front are bad enough, but four of +the balls have passed out, and a pretty state the +back must be in." + +The Marshal's revolver fell from his hand, and he +dropped his arms to his sides, a beaten man. + +"Maybe some of you gentlemen can tell me what +this means," said he, looking helplessly at the +committee. + +Peter Stulpnagel took a step forward. + +"I'll tell you all about it," said he. + +"You seem to be the only person who knows +anything." + +"I AM the only person who knows anything. I +should have warned these gentlemen; but, as they +would not listen to me, I have allowed them to learn +by experience. What you have done with your +electricity is that you have increased this man's +vitality until he can defy death for centuries." + +"Centuries!" + +"Yes, it will take the wear of hundreds of years +to exhaust the enormous nervous energy with +which you have drenched him. Electricity is life, +and you have charged him with it to the utmost. +Perhaps in fifty years you might execute him, but I +am not sanguine about it." + +"Great Scott! What shall I do with him?" cried +the unhappy Marshal. + +Peter Stulpnagel shrugged his shoulders. + +"It seems to me that it does not much matter what +you do with him now," said he. + +"Maybe we could drain the electricity out of him +again. Suppose we hang him up by the heels?" + +"No, no, it's out of the question." + +"Well, well, he shall do no more mischief in Los +Amigos, anyhow," said the Marshal, with decision. +"He shall go into the new gaol. The prison will wear +him out." + +"On the contrary," said Peter Stulpnagel, "I +think that it is much more probable that he will wear +out the prison." + +It was rather a fiasco and for years we didn't +talk more about it than we could help, but it's no +secret now and I thought you might like to jot down +the facts in your case-book. + + + + +THE DOCTORS OF HOYLAND. + + +Dr. James Ripley was always looked upon as an +exceedingly lucky dog by all of the profession who +knew him. His father had preceded him in a practice +in the village of Hoyland, in the north of Hampshire, +and all was ready for him on the very first day that +the law allowed him to put his name at the foot of a +prescription. In a few years the old gentleman +retired, and settled on the South Coast, leaving his +son in undisputed possession of the whole country +side. Save for Dr. Horton, near Basingstoke, the +young surgeon had a clear run of six miles in every +direction, and took his fifteen hundred pounds a +year, though, as is usual in country practices, the +stable swallowed up most of what the consulting-room +earned. + +Dr. James Ripley was two-and-thirty years of age, +reserved, learned, unmarried, with set, rather stern +features, and a thinning of the dark hair upon the +top of his head, which was worth quite a hundred a +year to him. He was particularly happy in +his management of ladies. He had caught the tone of +bland sternness and decisive suavity which dominates +without offending. Ladies, however, were not equally +happy in their management of him. Professionally, he +was always at their service. Socially, he was a drop +of quicksilver. In vain the country mammas spread +out their simple lures in front of him. Dances and +picnics were not to his taste, and he preferred +during his scanty leisure to shut himself up in his +study, and to bury himself in Virchow's Archives and +the professional journals. + +Study was a passion with him, and he would have +none of the rust which often gathers round a country +practitioner. It was his ambition to keep his +knowledge as fresh and bright as at the moment when +he had stepped out of the examination hall. He +prided himself on being able at a moment's notice to +rattle off the seven ramifications of some obscure +artery, or to give the exact percentage of any +physiological compound. After a long day's work he +would sit up half the night performing iridectomies +and extractions upon the sheep's eyes sent in by the +village butcher, to the horror of his housekeeper, +who had to remove the debris next morning. His +love for his work was the one fanaticism which found +a place in his dry, precise nature. + +It was the more to his credit that he should +keep up to date in his knowledge, since he had +no competition to force him to exertion. In the +seven years during which he had practised in Hoyland +three rivals had pitted themselves against him, two +in the village itself and one in the neighbouring +hamlet of Lower Hoyland. Of these one had sickened +and wasted, being, as it was said, himself the only +patient whom he had treated during his eighteen +months of ruralising. A second had bought a fourth +share of a Basingstoke practice, and had departed +honourably, while a third had vanished one September +night, leaving a gutted house and an unpaid drug bill +behind him. Since then the district had become a +monopoly, and no one had dared to measure himself +against the established fame of the Hoyland doctor. + +It was, then, with a feeling of some surprise and +considerable curiosity that on driving through Lower +Hoyland one morning he perceived that the new house +at the end of the village was occupied, and that a +virgin brass plate glistened upon the swinging gate +which faced the high road. He pulled up his fifty +guinea chestnut mare and took a good look at it. +"Verrinder Smith, M. D.," was printed across it in +very neat, small lettering. The last man had had +letters half a foot long, with a lamp like a fire- +station. Dr. James Ripley noted the difference, and +deduced from it that the new-comer might +possibly prove a more formidable opponent. He was +convinced of it that evening when he came to consult +the current medical directory. By it he learned that +Dr. Verrinder Smith was the holder of superb degrees, +that he had studied with distinction at Edinburgh, +Paris, Berlin, and Vienna, and finally that he had +been awarded a gold medal and the Lee Hopkins +scholarship for original research, in recognition of +an exhaustive inquiry into the functions of the +anterior spinal nerve roots. Dr. Ripley passed his +fingers through his thin hair in bewilderment as he +read his rival's record. What on earth could so +brilliant a man mean by putting up his plate in a +little Hampshire hamlet. + +But Dr. Ripley furnished himself with an +explanation to the riddle. No doubt Dr. Verrinder +Smith had simply come down there in order to pursue +some scientific research in peace and quiet. The +plate was up as an address rather than as an +invitation to patients. Of course, that must be the +true explanation. In that case the presence of this +brilliant neighbour would be a splendid thing for his +own studies. He had often longed for some kindred +mind, some steel on which he might strike his flint. +Chance had brought it to him, and he rejoiced +exceedingly. + +And this joy it was which led him to take a step +which was quite at variance with his usual +habits. It is the custom for a new-comer among +medical men to call first upon the older, and the +etiquette upon the subject is strict. Dr. Ripley was +pedantically exact on such points, and yet he +deliberately drove over next day and called upon Dr. +Verrinder Smith. Such a waiving of ceremony was, he +felt, a gracious act upon his part, and a fit prelude +to the intimate relations which he hoped to establish +with his neighbour. + +The house was neat and well appointed, and Dr. +Ripley was shown by a smart maid into a dapper little +consulting room. As he passed in he noticed two or +three parasols and a lady's sun bonnet hanging in the +hall. It was a pity that his colleague should be a +married man. It would put them upon a different +footing, and interfere with those long evenings of +high scientific talk which he had pictured to +himself. On the other hand, there was much in the +consulting room to please him. Elaborate +instruments, seen more often in hospitals than in the +houses of private practitioners, were scattered +about. A sphygmograph stood upon the table and a +gasometer-like engine, which was new to Dr. Ripley, +in the corner. A book-case full of ponderous volumes +in French and German, paper-covered for the most +part, and varying in tint from the shell to the yoke +of a duck's egg, caught his wandering eyes, and he +was deeply absorbed in their titles when the +door opened suddenly behind him. Turning round, he +found himself facing a little woman, whose plain, +palish face was remarkable only for a pair of shrewd, +humorous eyes of a blue which had two shades too much +green in it. She held a pince-nez in her left +hand, and the doctor's card in her right. + +"How do you do, Dr. Ripley? " said she. + +"How do you do, madam?" returned the visitor. +"Your husband is perhaps out?" + +"I am not married," said she simply. + +"Oh, I beg your pardon! I meant the doctor--Dr. +Verrinder Smith." + +"I am Dr. Verrinder Smith." + +Dr. Ripley was so surprised that he dropped his +hat and forgot to pick it up again. + +"What!" he grasped, "the Lee Hopkins prizeman! +You!" + +He had never seen a woman doctor before, and his +whole conservative soul rose up in revolt at the +idea. He could not recall any Biblical injunction +that the man should remain ever the doctor and the +woman the nurse, and yet he felt as if a blasphemy +had been committed. His face betrayed his feelings +only too clearly. + +"I am sorry to disappoint you," said the lady +drily. + +"You certainly have surprised me," he answered, +picking up his hat. + +"You are not among our champions, then?" + +"I cannot say that the movement has my approval." + +"And why?" + +"I should much prefer not to discuss it." + +"But I am sure you will answer a lady's +question." + +"Ladies are in danger of losing their privileges +when they usurp the place of the other sex. They +cannot claim both." + +"Why should a woman not earn her bread by her +brains?" + +Dr. Ripley felt irritated by the quiet manner in +which the lady cross-questioned him. + +"I should much prefer not to be led into a +discussion, Miss Smith." + +"Dr. Smith," she interrupted. + +"Well, Dr. Smith! But if you insist upon an +answer, I must say that I do not think medicine a +suitable profession for women and that I have a +personal objection to masculine ladies." + +It was an exceedingly rude speech, and he was +ashamed of it the instant after he had made it. The +lady, however, simply raised her eyebrows and smiled. + +"It seems to me that you are begging the +question," said she. "Of course, if it makes women +masculine that WOULD be a considerable +deterioration." + +It was a neat little counter, and Dr. Ripley, +like a pinked fencer, bowed his acknowledgment. + +"I must go," said he. + +"I am sorry that we cannot come to some more +friendly conclusion since we are to be neighbours," +she remarked. + +He bowed again, and took a step towards the door. + +"It was a singular coincidence," she continued, +"that at the instant that you called I was reading +your paper on `Locomotor Ataxia,' in the Lancet." + +"Indeed," said he drily. + +"I thought it was a very able monograph." + +"You are very good." + +"But the views which you attribute to Professor +Pitres, of Bordeaux, have been repudiated by him." + +"I have his pamphlet of 1890," said Dr. Ripley +angrily. + +"Here is his pamphlet of 1891." She picked it +from among a litter of periodicals. "If you have +time to glance your eye down this passage----" + +Dr. Ripley took it from her and shot rapidly +through the paragraph which she indicated. There was +no denying that it completely knocked the bottom out +of his own article. He threw it down, and with +another frigid bow he made for the door. As he took +the reins from the groom he glanced round and +saw that the lady was standing at her window, and it +seemed to him that she was laughing heartily. + +All day the memory of this interview haunted him. +He felt that he had come very badly out of it. She +had showed herself to be his superior on his own pet +subject. She had been courteous while he had been +rude, self-possessed when he had been angry. And +then, above all, there was her presence, her +monstrous intrusion to rankle in his mind. A woman +doctor had been an abstract thing before, repugnant +but distant. Now she was there in actual practice, +with a brass plate up just like his own, competing +for the same patients. Not that he feared +competition, but he objected to this lowering of his +ideal of womanhood. She could not be more than +thirty, and had a bright, mobile face, too. He +thought of her humorous eyes, and of her strong, +well-turned chin. It revolted him the more to recall +the details of her education. A man, of course. +could come through such an ordeal with all his +purity, but it was nothing short of shameless in a +woman. + +But it was not long before he learned that even +her competition was a thing to be feared. The +novelty of her presence had brought a few curious +invalids into her consulting rooms, and, once there, +they had been so impressed by the firmness of her +manner and by the singular, new-fashioned +instruments with which she tapped, and peered, +and sounded, that it formed the core of their +conversation for weeks afterwards. And soon there +were tangible proofs of her powers upon the country +side. Farmer Eyton, whose callous ulcer had been +quietly spreading over his shin for years back under +a gentle regime of zinc ointment, was painted +round with blistering fluid, and found, after three +blasphemous nights, that his sore was stimulated into +healing. Mrs. Crowder, who had always regarded the +birthmark upon her second daughter Eliza as a sign of +the indignation of the Creator at a third helping of +raspberry tart which she had partaken of during a +critical period, learned that, with the help of two +galvanic needles, the mischief was not irreparable. +In a month Dr. Verrinder Smith was known, and in two +she was famous. + +Occasionally, Dr. Ripley met her as he drove upon +his rounds. She had started a high dogcart, taking +the reins herself, with a little tiger behind. When +they met he invariably raised his hat with +punctilious politeness, but the grim severity of his +face showed how formal was the courtesy. In fact, +his dislike was rapidly deepening into absolute +detestation. "The unsexed woman," was the +description of her which he permitted himself to give +to those of his patients who still remained staunch. +But, indeed, they were a rapidly-decreasing +body, and every day his pride was galled by the news +of some fresh defection. The lady had somehow +impressed the country folk with almost superstitious +belief in her power, and from far and near they +flocked to her consulting room. + +But what galled him most of all was, when she did +something which he had pronounced to be +impracticable. For all his knowledge he lacked nerve +as an operator, and usually sent his worst cases up +to London. The lady, however, had no weakness of the +sort, and took everything that came in her way. It +was agony to him to hear that she was about to +straighten little Alec Turner's club foot, and right +at the fringe of the rumour came a note from his +mother, the rector's wife, asking him if he would be +so good as to act as chloroformist. It would be +inhumanity to refuse, as there was no other who could +take the place, but it was gall and wormwood to his +sensitive nature. Yet, in spite of his vexation, he +could not but admire the dexterity with which the +thing was done. She handled the little wax-like foot +so gently, and held the tiny tenotomy knife as an +artist holds his pencil. One straight insertion, one +snick of a tendon, and it was all over without a +stain upon the white towel which lay beneath. He had +never seen anything more masterly, and he had the +honesty to say so, though her skill increased his +dislike of her. The operation spread her fame +still further at his expense, and self-preservation +was added to his other grounds for detesting her. +And this very detestation it was which brought +matters to a curious climax. + +One winter's night, just as he was rising from +his lonely dinner, a groom came riding down from +Squire Faircastle's, the richest man in the district, +to say that his daughter had scalded her hand, and +that medical help was needed on the instant. The +coachman had ridden for the lady doctor, for it +mattered nothing to the Squire who came as long as it +were speedily. Dr. Ripley rushed from his surgery +with the determination that she should not effect an +entrance into this stronghold of his if hard driving +on his part could prevent it. He did not even wait +to light his lamps, but sprang into his gig and flew +off as fast as hoof could rattle. He lived rather +nearer to the Squire's than she did, and was +convinced that he could get there well before her. + +And so he would but for that whimsical element of +chance, which will for ever muddle up the affairs of +this world and dumbfound the prophets. Whether it +came from the want of his lights, or from his mind +being full of the thoughts of his rival, he allowed +too little by half a foot in taking the sharp turn +upon the Basingstoke road. The empty trap and the +frightened horse clattered away into the +darkness, while the Squire's groom crawled out of the +ditch into which he had been shot. He struck a +match, looked down at his groaning companion, and +then, after the fashion of rough, strong men when +they see what they have not seen before, he was very +sick. + +The doctor raised himself a little on his elbow +in the glint of the match. He caught a glimpse of +something white and sharp bristling through his +trouser leg half way down the shin. + +"Compound!" he groaned. "A three months' job," +and fainted. + +When he came to himself the groom was gone, for +he had scudded off to the Squire's house for help, +but a small page was holding a gig-lamp in front of +his injured leg, and a woman, with an open case of +polished instruments gleaming in the yellow light, +was deftly slitting up his trouser with a crooked +pair of scissors. + +"It's all right, doctor," said she soothingly. +"I am so sorry about it. You can have Dr. Horton to- +morrow, but I am sure you will allow me to help you +to-night. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw +you by the roadside." + +"The groom has gone for help," groaned the +sufferer. + +"When it comes we can move you into the gig. A +little more light, John! So! Ah, dear, dear, we +shall have laceration unless we reduce this +before we move you. Allow me to give you a whiff of +chloroform, and I have no doubt that I can secure it +sufficiently to----" + +Dr. Ripley never heard the end of that sentence. +He tried to raise a hand and to murmur something in +protest, but a sweet smell was in his nostrils, and a +sense of rich peace and lethargy stole over his +jangled nerves. Down he sank, through clear, cool +water, ever down and down into the green shadows +beneath, gently, without effort, while the pleasant +chiming of a great belfry rose and fell in his ears. +Then he rose again, up and up, and ever up, with a +terrible tightness about his temples, until at last +he shot out of those green shadows and was in the +light once more. Two bright, shining, golden spots +gleamed before his dazed eyes. He blinked and +blinked before he could give a name to them. They +were only the two brass balls at the end posts of his +bed, and he was lying in his own little room, with a +head like a cannon ball, and a leg like an iron bar. +Turning his eyes, he saw the calm face of Dr. +Verrinder Smith looking down at him. + +"Ah, at last!" said she. "I kept you under all +the way home, for I knew how painful the jolting +would be. It is in good position now with a strong +side splint. I have ordered a morphia draught for +you. Shall I tell your groom to ride for Dr. Horton +in the morning?" + +"I should prefer that you should continue the +case," said Dr. Ripley feebly, and then, with a half +hysterical laugh,--"You have all the rest of the +parish as patients, you know, so you may as well make +the thing complete by having me also." + +It was not a very gracious speech, but it was a +look of pity and not of anger which shone in her eyes +as she turned away from his bedside. + +Dr. Ripley had a brother, William, who was +assistant surgeon at a London hospital, and who was +down in Hampshire within a few hours of his hearing +of the accident. He raised his brows when he heard +the details. + +"What! You are pestered with one of those!" he +cried. + +"I don't know what I should have done without +her." + +I've no doubt she's an excellent nurse." + +"She knows her work as well as you or I." + +"Speak for yourself, James," said the London man +with a sniff. "But apart from that, you know that +the principle of the thing is all wrong." + +"You think there is nothing to be said on the +other side?" + +"Good heavens! do you?" + +"Well, I don't know. It struck me during +the night that we may have been a little narrow +in our views." + +"Nonsense, James. It's all very fine for women +to win prizes in the lecture room, but you know as +well as I do that they are no use in an emergency. +Now I warrant that this woman was all nerves when she +was setting your leg. That reminds me that I had +better just take a look at it and see that it is all +right." + +"I would rather that you did not undo it," said +the patient. "I have her assurance that it is all +right." + +Brother William was deeply shocked. + +"Of course, if a woman's assurance is of more +value than the opinion of the assistant surgeon of a +London hospital, there is nothing more to be said," he remarked. + +"I should prefer that you did not touch it," said +the patient firmly, and Dr. William went back to +London that evening in a huff. + +The lady, who had heard of his coming, was much +surprised on learning his departure. + +"We had a difference upon a point of professional +etiquette," said Dr. James, and it was all the +explanation he would vouchsafe. + +For two long months Dr. Ripley was brought in +contact with his rival every day, and he learned many +things which he had not known before. She was a +charming companion, as well as a most assiduous +doctor. Her short presence during the long, weary +day was like a flower in a sand waste. What +interested him was precisely what interested her, and +she could meet him at every point upon equal terms. +And yet under all her learning and her firmness ran a +sweet, womanly nature, peeping out in her talk, +shining in her greenish eyes, showing itself in a +thousand subtle ways which the dullest of men could +read. And he, though a bit of a prig and a pedant, +was by no means dull, and had honesty enough to +confess when he was in the wrong. + +"I don't know how to apologise to you," he said +in his shame-faced fashion one day, when he had +progressed so far as to be able to sit in an arm- +chair with his leg upon another one; "I feel that I +have been quite in the wrong." + +"Why, then?" + +"Over this woman question. I used to think that +a woman must inevitably lose something of her charm +if she took up such studies." + +"Oh, you don't think they are necessarily +unsexed, then?" she cried, with a mischievous smile. + +"Please don't recall my idiotic expression." + +"I feel so pleased that I should have helped in +changing your views. I think that it is the most +sincere compliment that I have ever had paid me." + +"At any rate, it is the truth," said he, and was +happy all night at the remembrance of the flush of +pleasure which made her pale face look quite comely +for the instant. + +For, indeed, he was already far past the stage +when he would acknowledge her as the equal of any +other woman. Already he could not disguise from +himself that she had become the one woman. Her +dainty skill, her gentle touch, her sweet presence, +the community of their tastes, had all united to +hopelessly upset his previous opinions. It was a +dark day for him now when his convalescence allowed +her to miss a visit, and darker still that other one +which he saw approaching when all occasion for her +visits would be at an end. It came round at last, +however, and he felt that his whole life's fortune +would hang upon the issue of that final interview. +He was a direct man by nature, so he laid his hand +upon hers as it felt for his pulse, and he asked her +if she would be his wife. + +"What, and unite the practices?" said she. + +He started in pain and anger. + +"Surely you do not attribute any such base motive +to me!" he cried. "I love you as unselfishly as ever +a woman was loved." + +"No, I was wrong. It was a foolish speech," said +she, moving her chair a little back, and tapping her +stethoscope upon her knee. "Forget that I ever +said it. I am so sorry to cause you any +disappointment, and I appreciate most highly the +honour which you do me, but what you ask is quite +impossible." + +With another woman he might have urged the point, +but his instincts told him that it was quite useless +with this one. Her tone of voice was conclusive. He +said nothing, but leaned back in his chair a stricken +man. + +"I am so sorry," she said again. "If I had known +what was passing in your mind I should have told you +earlier that I intended to devote my life entirely to +science. There are many women with a capacity for +marriage, but few with a taste for biology. I will +remain true to my own line, then. I came down here +while waiting for an opening in the Paris +Physiological Laboratory. I have just heard that +there is a vacancy for me there, and so you will be +troubled no more by my intrusion upon your practice. +I have done you an injustice just as you did me one. +I thought you narrow and pedantic, with no good +quality. I have learned during your illness to +appreciate you better, and the recollection of our +friendship will always be a very pleasant one to me." + +And so it came about that in a very few weeks +there was only one doctor in Hoyland. But folks +noticed that the one had aged many years in a few +months, that a weary sadness lurked always in +the depths of his blue eyes, and that he was less +concerned than ever with the eligible young ladies +whom chance, or their careful country mammas, placed +in his way. + + + + +THE SURGEON TALKS. + + +"Men die of the diseases which they have studied +most," remarked the surgeon, snipping off the end of +a cigar with all his professional neatness and +finish. "It's as if the morbid condition was an evil +creature which, when it found itself closely hunted, +flew at the throat of its pursuer. If you worry the +microbes too much they may worry you. I've seen +cases of it, and not necessarily in microbic diseases +either. There was, of course, the well-known +instance of Liston and the aneurism; and a dozen +others that I could mention. You couldn't have a +clearer case than that of poor old Walker of St. +Christopher's. Not heard of it? Well, of course, it +was a little before your time, but I wonder that it +should have been forgotten. You youngsters are so +busy in keeping up to the day that you lose a good +deal that is interesting of yesterday. + +"Walker was one of the best men in Europe on +nervous disease. You must have read his little book +on sclerosis of the posterior columns. +It's as interesting as a novel, and epoch-making +in its way. He worked like a horse, did Walker--huge +consulting practice--hours a day in the clinical +wards--constant original investigations. And then he +enjoyed himself also. `De mortuis,' of course, +but still it's an open secret among all who knew him. +If he died at forty-five, he crammed eighty years +into it. The marvel was that he could have held on +so long at the pace at which he was going. But he +took it beautifully when it came. + +"I was his clinical assistant at the time. +Walker was lecturing on locomotor ataxia to a wardful +of youngsters. He was explaining that one of the +early signs of the complaint was that the patient +could not put his heels together with his eyes shut +without staggering. As he spoke, he suited the +action to the word. I don't suppose the boys noticed +anything. I did, and so did he, though he finished +his lecture without a sign. + +"When it was over he came into my room and lit a +cigarette. + +"`Just run over my reflexes, Smith,' said he. + +"There was hardly a trace of them left. I tapped +away at his knee-tendon and might as well have tried +to get a jerk out of that sofa-cushion. He stood +with his eyes shut again, and he swayed like a bush +in the wind. + +"`So,' said he, `it was not intercostal neuralgia +after all.' + +"Then I knew that he had had the lightning pains, +and that the case was complete. There was nothing to +say, so I sat looking at him while he puffed and +puffed at his cigarette. Here he was, a man in the +prime of life, one of the handsomest men in London, +with money, fame, social success, everything at his +feet, and now, without a moment's warning, he was +told that inevitable death lay before him, a death +accompanied by more refined and lingering tortures +than if he were bound upon a Red Indian stake. He +sat in the middle of the blue cigarette cloud with +his eyes cast down, and the slightest little +tightening of his lips. Then he rose with a motion +of his arms, as one who throws off old thoughts and +enters upon a new course. + +"`Better put this thing straight at once,' said +he. `I must make some fresh arrangements. May I use +your paper and envelopes?' + +"He settled himself at my desk and he wrote half +a dozen letters. It is not a breach of confidence to +say that they were not addressed to his professional +brothers. Walker was a single man, which means that +he was not restricted to a single woman. When he had +finished, he walked out of that little room of mine, +leaving every hope and ambition of his life behind +him. And he might have had another year of +ignorance and peace if it had not been for the chance +illustration in his lecture. + +"It took five years to kill him, and he stood it +well. If he had ever been a little irregular he +atoned for it in that long martyrdom. He kept an +admirable record of his own symptoms, and worked out +the eye changes more fully than has ever been done. +When the ptosis got very bad he would hold his eyelid +up with one hand while he wrote. Then, when he could +not co-ordinate his muscles to write, he dictated to +his nurse. So died, in the odour of science, James +Walker, aet. 45. + +"Poor old Walker was very fond of experimental +surgery, and he broke ground in several directions. +Between ourselves, there may have been some more +ground-breaking afterwards, but he did his best for +his cases. You know M`Namara, don't you? He always +wears his hair long. He lets it be understood that +it comes from his artistic strain, but it is really +to conceal the loss of one of his ears. Walker cut +the other one off, but you must not tell Mac I said +so. + +"It was like this. Walker had a fad about the +portio dura--the motor to the face, you know--and he +thought paralysis of it came from a disturbance of +the blood supply. Something else which +counterbalanced that disturbance might, he +thought, set it right again. We had a very obstinate +case of Bell's paralysis in the wards, and had tried +it with every conceivable thing, blistering, tonics, +nerve-stretching, galvanism, needles, but all without +result. Walker got it into his head that removal of +the ear would increase the blood supply to the part, +and he very soon gained the consent of the patient to +the operation. + +"Well, we did it at night. Walker, of course, +felt that it was something of an experiment, and did +not wish too much talk about it unless it proved +successful. There were half-a-dozen of us there, +M`Namara and I among the rest. The room was a small +one, and in the centre was in the narrow table, with +a macintosh over the pillow, and a blanket which +extended almost to the floor on either side. Two +candles, on a side-table near the pillow, supplied +all the light. In came the patient, with one side of +his face as smooth as a baby's, and the other all in +a quiver with fright. He lay down, and the +chloroform towel was placed over his face, while +Walker threaded his needles in the candle light. The +chloroformist stood at the head of the table, and +M`Namara was stationed at the side to control the +patient. The rest of us stood by to assist. + +"Well, the man was about half over when he fell +into one of those convulsive flurries which come +with the semi-unconscious stage. He kicked and +plunged and struck out with both hands. Over with a +crash went the little table which held the candles, +and in an instant we were left in total darkness. +You can think what a rush and a scurry there was, one +to pick up the table, one to find the matches, and +some to restrain the patient who was still dashing +himself about. He was held down by two dressers, the +chloroform was pushed, and by the time the candles +were relit, his incoherent, half-smothered shoutings +had changed to a stertorous snore. His head was +turned on the pillow and the towel was still kept +over his face while the operation was carried +through. Then the towel was withdrawn, and you can +conceive our amazement when we looked upon the face +of M`Namara. + +"How did it happen? Why, simply enough. As the +candles went over, the chloroformist had stopped for +an instant and had tried to catch them. The patient, +just as the light went out, had rolled off and under +the table. Poor M`Namara, clinging frantically to +him, had been dragged across it, and the +chloroformist, feeling him there, had naturally +claped the towel across his mouth and nose. The +others had secured him, and the more he roared and +kicked the more they drenched him with chloroform. +Walker was very nice about it, and made the most +handsome apologies. He offered to do a plastic +on the spot, and make as good an ear as he could, but +M`Namara had had enough of it. As to the patient, we +found him sleeping placidly under the table, with the +ends of the blanket screening him on both sides. +Walker sent M`Namara round his ear next day in a jar +of methylated spirit, but Mac's wife was very angry +about it, and it led to a good deal of ill-feeling. + +"Some people say that the more one has to do with +human nature, and the closer one is brought in +contact with it, the less one thinks of it. I don't +believe that those who know most would uphold that +view. My own experience is dead against it. I was +brought up in the miserable-mortal-clay school of +theology, and yet here I am, after thirty years of +intimate acquaintance with humanity, filled with +respect for it. The, evil lies commonly upon the +surface. The deeper strata are good. A hundred +times I have seen folk condemned to death as suddenly +as poor Walker was. Sometimes it was to blindness or +to mutilations which are worse than death. Men and +women, they almost all took it beautifully, and some +with such lovely unselfishness, and with such +complete absorption in the thought of how their fate +would affect others, that the man about town, or the +frivolously-dressed woman has seemed to change into +an angel before my eyes. I have seen death- +beds, too, of all ages and of all creeds and want of +creeds. I never saw any of them shrink, save only +one poor, imaginative young fellow, who had spent his +blameless life in the strictest of sects. Of course, +an exhausted frame is incapable of fear, as anyone +can vouch who is told, in the midst of his sea- +sickness, that the ship is going to the bottom. That +is why I rate courage in the face of mutilation to be +higher than courage when a wasting illness is fining +away into death. + +"Now, I'll take a case which I had in my own +practice last Wednesday. A lady came in to consult +me--the wife of a well-known sporting baronet. The +husband had come with her, but remained, at her +request, in the waiting-room. I need not go into +details, but it proved to be a peculiarly malignant +case of cancer. `I knew it,' said she. `How long +have I to live?' `I fear that it may exhaust your +strength in a few months,' I answered. `Poor old +Jack!' said she. `I'll tell him that it is not +dangerous.' `Why should you deceive him?' I asked. +`Well, he's very uneasy about it, and he is quaking +now in the waiting-room. He has two old friends to +dinner to-night, and I haven't the heart to spoil his +evening. To-morrow will be time enough for him to +learn the truth.' Out she walked, the brave little +woman, and a moment later her husband, with his +big, red face shining with joy came plunging into my +room to shake me by the hand. No, I respected her +wish and I did not undeceive him. I dare bet that +evening was one of the brightest, and the next +morning the darkest, of his life. + +"It's wonderful how bravely and cheerily a woman +can face a crushing blow. It is different with men. +A man can stand it without complaining, but it knocks +him dazed and silly all the same. But the woman does +not lose her wits any more than she does her courage. +Now, I had a case only a few weeks ago which would +show you what I mean. A gentleman consulted me about +his wife, a very beautiful woman. She had a small +tubercular nodule upon her upper arm, according to +him. He was sure that it was of no importance, but +he wanted to know whether Devonshire or the Riviera +would be the better for her. I examined her and found +a frightful sarcoma of the bone, hardly showing upon +the surface, but involving the shoulder-blade and +clavicle as well as the humerus. A more malignant +case I have never seen. I sent her out of the room +and I told him the truth. What did he do? Why, he +walked slowly round that room with his hands behind +his back, looking with the greatest interest at the +pictures. I can see him now, putting up his gold +pince-nez and staring at them with perfectly +vacant eyes, which told me that he saw neither them +nor the wall behind them. `Amputation of the arm?' +he asked at last. `And of the collar-bone and +shoulder-blade,' said I. `Quite so. The collar-bone +and shoulder-blade,' he repeated, still staring about +him with those lifeless eyes. It settled him. I +don't believe he'll ever be the same man again. But +the woman took it as bravely and brightly as could +be, and she has done very well since. The mischief +was so great that the arm snapped as we drew it from +the night-dress. No, I don't think that there will +be any return, and I have every hope of her recovery. + +"The first patient is a thing which one remembers +all one's life. Mine was commonplace, and the +details are of no interest. I had a curious visitor, +however, during the first few months after my plate +went up. It was an elderly woman, richly dressed, +with a wickerwork picnic basket in her hand. This +she opened with the tears streaming down her face, +and out there waddled the fattest, ugliest, and +mangiest little pug dog that I have ever seen. `I +wish you to put him painlessly out of the world, +doctor,' she cried. `Quick, quick, or my resolution +may give way.' She flung herself down, with +hysterical sobs, upon the sofa. The less experienced +a doctor is, the higher are his notions of +professional dignity, as I need not remind you, my +young friend, so I was about to refuse the +commission with indignation, when I bethought me +that, quite apart from medicine, we were gentleman +and lady, and that she had asked me to do something +for her which was evidently of the greatest possible +importance in her eyes. I led off the poor little +doggie, therefore, and with the help of a saucerful +of milk and a few drops of prussic acid his exit was +as speedy and painless as could be desired. `Is it +over?' she cried as I entered. It was really tragic +to see how all the love which should have gone to +husband and children had, in default of them, been +centred upon this uncouth little animal. She left, +quite broken down, in her carriage, and it was only +after her departure that I saw an envelope sealed +with a large red seal, and lying upon the blotting +pad of my desk. Outside, in pencil, was written: `I +have no doubt that you would willingly have done this +without a fee, but I insist upon your acceptance of +the enclosed.' I opened it with some vague notions +of an eccentric millionaire and a fifty-pound note, +but all I found was a postal order for four and +sixpence. The whole incident struck me as so +whimsical that I laughed until I was tired. You'll +find there's so much tragedy in a doctor's life, my +boy, that he would not be able to stand it if it were +not for the strain of comedy which comes every now +and then to leaven it. + +"And a doctor has very much to be thankful for +also. Don't you ever forget it. It is such a +pleasure to do a little good that a man should pay +for the privilege instead of being paid for it. +Still, of course, he has his home to keep up and his +wife and children to support. But his patients are +his friends--or they should be so. He goes from +house to house, and his step and his voice are loved +and welcomed in each. What could a man ask for more +than that? And besides, he is forced to be a good +man. It is impossible for him to be anything else. +How can a man spend his whole life in seeing +suffering bravely borne and yet remain a hard or a +vicious man? It is a noble, generous, kindly +profession, and you youngsters have got to see that +it remains so." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Round The Red Lamp +by Arthur Conan Doyle + |