RED PEPPER'S PATIENTS

With an Account of Anne Linton's Case in Particular

by

GRACE S. RICHMOND

Garden City New YorkDoubleday, Page & Company

1918

[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE]

[Illustration: "Red Pepper" Burns, M. D. ]

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

 I. AN INTELLIGENT PRESCRIPTION

 II. LITTLE HUNGARY

 III. ANNE LINTON'S TEMPERATURE

 IV. TWO RED HEADS

 V. SUSQUEHANNA

 VI. HEAVY LOCAL MAILS

 VII. WHITE LILACS

 VIII. EXPERT DIAGNOSIS

 IX. JORDAN IS A MAN

 X. THE SURGICAL FIRING LINE

 XI. THE ONLY SAFE PLACE

 XII. THE TRUTH ABOUT SUSQUEHANNA

 XIII. RED HEADED AGAIN

 XIV. A STRANGE DAY

 XV. CLEARED DECKS

 XVI. WHITE LILACS AGAIN

 XVII. RED'S DEAREST PATIENTS

CHAPTER I

AN INTELLIGENT PRESCRIPTION

The man in the silk-lined, London-made overcoat, holding his hat firmlyon his head lest the January wind send its expensive perfection into thegutter, paused to ask his way of the man with no overcoat, his handsshoved into his ragged pockets, his shapeless headgear crowded down overhis eyes, red and bleary with the piercing wind. 

"Burns?" repeated the second man to the question of the first. "DocBurns? Sure! Next house beyond the corner--the brick one. " He turned topoint. "Tell it by the rigs hitched. It's his office hours. You'll dosome waitin', tell ye that. "

The questioner smiled--a slightly superior smile. "Thank you, " he said, and passed on. He arrived at the corner and paused briefly, consideringthe row of vehicles in front of the old, low-lying brick house with itscomfortable, white-pillared porches. The row was indeed a formidableone and suggested many waiting people within the house. But after aninstant's hesitation he turned up the gravel path toward the wing of thehouse upon whose door could be seen the lettering of an inconspicuoussign. As he came near he made out that the sign read "R. P. Burns, M. D. , "and that the table of office hours below set forth that the present hourwas one of those designated. 

"I'll get a line on your practice, Red, " said the stranger to himself, and laid hand upon the doorbell. "Incidentally, perhaps, I'll get a lineon why you stick to a small suburban town like this when you might be inthe thick of things. A fellow whom I've twice met in Vienna, too. Ican't understand it. "

A fair-haired young woman in a white uniform and cap admitted thenewcomer and pointed him to the one chair left unoccupied in the largeand crowded waiting-room. It was a pleasant room, in a well-worn sort ofway, and the blazing wood fire in a sturdy fireplace, the rows ofdull-toned books cramming a solid phalanx of bookcases, and a number ofinteresting old prints on the walls gave it, as the stranger, liftingcritical eyes, was obliged to admit to himself, a curious air of dignityin spite of the mingled atmosphere of drugs and patients which assailedhis fastidious nostrils. As for the patients themselves, since theywere all about him, he could hardly do less than observe them, althoughhe helped himself to a late magazine from a well-filled table at hisside and mechanically turned its pages. 

The first to claim his attention was a little girl at his elbow. Shecould hardly fail to catch his eye, she was so conspicuous withbandages. One eye, one cheek, the whole of her neck, and both her handswere swathed in white, but the other cheek was rosy, and the uncoveredeye twinkled bravely as she smiled at the stranger. "I was burned, " shesaid proudly. 

"I see, " returned the stranger, speaking very low, for he was consciousthat the entire roomful of people was listening. "And you are gettingbetter?"

"Oh, yes!" exulted the child. "Doctor's making me have new skin. He getsme more new skin every day. I didn't have any at all. It was all burnedoff. "

"That's very good of him, " murmured the stranger. 

"He's awful good, " said the child, "when he isn't cross. He isn't evercross to me, Doctor isn't. "

There was a general murmur of amusement in the room, and another child, not far away, laughed aloud. The stranger furtively scrutinized theother patients one by one, lifting apparently casual glances frombehind his magazine. Several, presumably the owners of the vehiclesoutside, were of the typical village type, but there were others moresophisticated, and several who were palpably persons of wealth. One latecomer was admitted who left a luxuriously appointed motor across thestreet, and brought in with her an atmosphere of costly furs and violetsand fresh air. 

"Certainly a mixed crowd, " said the stranger to himself behind hismagazine; "but not so different, after all, from most doctors'waiting-room crowds. I might send in a card, but, if I remember Red, itwouldn't get me anything--and this is rather interesting anyhow. I'llwait. "

He waited, for he wished the waiting room to be clear when he shouldapproach that busy consulting room beyond. Meanwhile, people came andwent. The door into the inner room would swing open, a patient wouldemerge, a curt but pleasant "Good-bye" in a deep voice following him orher out, and the fair-haired nurse, who sat at a desk near the door orcame out of the consulting room with the patient, would summon the next. The lady of the furs and violets sent in her card, but, as the strangerhad anticipated in his own case, it procured her no more than anassurance from the nurse that Doctor Burns would see her in due course. Since he wanted the coast clear the stranger, when at last his turnarrived, politely waived his rights, sent the furs and violets in beforehim, and sat alone with the nurse in the cleared waiting room. 

A comparatively short period of time elapsed before the consulting-roomdoor opened once more. But it closed again--almost--and a few wordsreached the outer room. 

"Oh, but you're hard--hard, Doctor Burns! I simply can't do it, " said aplaintive voice. 

"Then don't expect me to accomplish anything. It's up toyou--absolutely, " replied a brusque voice, which then softened slightlyas it added: "Cheer up. You can, you know. Good-bye. "

The patient came out, her lips set, her eyes lowered, and left theoffice as if she wanted nothing so much as to get away. The nurse roseand began to say that Doctor Burns would now see his one remainingcaller, but at that moment Doctor Burns himself appeared in the doorway, glanced at the stranger, who had risen, smiling--and the need for anintermediary between physician and patient vanished before the onslaughtof the physician himself. 

"My word! Gardner Coolidge! Well, well--if this isn't the greatest thingon earth. My dear fellow!"

The stranger, no longer a stranger, with his hand being wrung likethat, with his eyes being looked into by a pair of glowing hazel eyesbeneath a heavy thatch of well-remembered coppery hair, returned thisdemonstration of affection with equal fervour. 

"I've been sitting in your stuffy waiting room, Red, till the entirepopulation of this town should tell you its aches, just for the pleasureof seeing you with the professional manner off. "

Burns threw back his head and laughed, with a gesture as of flingingsomething aside. "It's off then, Cooly--if I have one. I didn't know Ihad. How are you? Man, but it's good to see you! Come along out of thisinto a place that's not stuffy. Where's your bag? You didn't leave itanywhere?"

"I can't stay, Red--really I can't. Not this time. I must go to-night. And I came to consult you professionally--so let's get that over first. "

"Of course. Just let me speak a word to the authorities. You'll at leastbe here for dinner? Step into the next room, Cooly. On your way let mepresent you to my assistant, Miss Mathewson, whom I couldn't do without. Mr. Coolidge, Miss Mathewson. "

Gardner Coolidge bowed to the office nurse, whom he had alreadyclassified as a very attractively superior person and well worth a goodsalary; then went on into the consulting room, where an open window hadfreshened the small place beyond any possibility of its being calledstuffy. As he closed the window with a shiver and looked about him, glancing into the white-tiled surgery beyond; he recognized the factthat, though he might be in the workshop of a village practitioner, itwas a workshop which did not lack the tools of the workman thoroughlyabreast of the times. 

Burns came back, his face bright with pleasure in the unexpectedappearance of his friend. He stood looking across the small room atCoolidge, as if he could get a better view of the whole man at a littledistance. The two men were a decided contrast to each other. RedfieldPepper Burns, known to all his intimates, and to many more who would nothave ventured to call him by that title, as "Red Pepper Burns, " onaccount of the combination of red head, quick temper, and wit which werehis most distinguishing characteristics of body and mind, was a stalwartfellow whose weight was effectually kept down by his activity. His whitelinen office jacket was filled by powerful shoulders, and the perfectlykept hands of the surgeon gave evidence, as such hands do, of theirdelicacy of touch, in the very way in which Burns closed the door behindhim. 

Gardner Coolidge was of a different type altogether. As tall as Burns, he looked taller because of his slender figure and the distinctiveoutlines of his careful dress. His face was dark and rather thin, showing sensitive lines about the eyes and mouth, and a tendency tomelancholy in the eyes themselves, even when lighted by a smile, as now. He was manifestly the man of worldly experience, with fastidious tastes, and presumably one who did not accept the rest of mankind as comradesuntil proved and chosen. 

"So it's my services you want?" questioned Burns. "If that's the case, then it's here you sit. "

"Face to the light, of course, " objected Coolidge with a grimace. "Iwonder if you doctors know what a moral advantage as well as a physicalone that gives you. "

"Of course. The moral advantage is the one we need most. Anybody can seewhen a skin is jaundiced; but only by virtue of that moral standpointcan we detect the soul out of order. And that's the matter with you, Cooly. "

"What!" Coolidge looked startled. "I knew you were a man who jumped toconclusions in the old days--"

"And acted on them, too, " admitted Burns. "I should say I did. And gotmyself into many a scrape thereby, of course. Well, I jump toconclusions now, in just the same way, only perhaps with a bit moreunderstanding of the ground I jump on. However, tell me your symptomsin orthodox style, please, then we'll have them out of the way. "

Coolidge related them somewhat reluctantly because, as he went on, hewas conscious that they did not appear to be of as great importance asthis visit to a physician seemed to indicate he thought them. The mostimpressive was the fact that he was unable to get a thoroughly goodnight's sleep except when physically exhausted, which in his presentmanner of life he seldom was. When he had finished and looked around--hehad been gazing out of the window--he found himself, as he had known heshould, under the intent scrutiny of the eyes he was facing. 

"What did the last man give you for this insomnia?" was the abruptquestion. 

"How do you know I have been to a succession of men?" demanded Coolidgewith a touch of evident irritation. 

"Because you come to me. We don't look up old friends in the professionuntil the strangers fail us, " was the quick reply. 

"More hasty conclusions. Still, I'll have to admit that I let our familyphysician look me over, and that he suggested my seeing a nerveman--Allbright. He has rather a name, I believe?"

"Sure thing. What did he recommend?"

"A long sea voyage. I took it--having nothing else to do--and slept abit better while I was away. The minute I got back it was the oldstory. "

"Nothing on your mind, I suppose?" suggested Burns. 

"I supposed you'd ask me that stock question. Why shouldn't there besomething on my mind? Is there anybody whose mind is free from a weightof some sort?" demanded Gardner Coolidge. His thin face flushed alittle. 

"Nobody, " admitted Burns promptly. "The question is whether the weighton yours is one that's got to stay there or whether you may be rid ofit. Would you care to tell me anything about it? I'm a pretty oldfriend, you know. "

Coolidge was silent for a full minute, then he spoke with evidentreluctance: "It won't do a particle of good to tell, but I suppose, if Iconsult you, you have a right to know the facts. My wife--has gone backto her father. "

"On a visit?" Burns inquired. 

Coolidge stared at him. "That's like you, Red, " he said, irritation inhis voice again. "What's the use of being brutal?"

"Has she been gone long enough for people to think it's anything morethan a visit?"

"I suppose not. She's been gone two months. Her home is in California. "

"Then she can be gone three without anybody's thinking trouble. By theend of that third month you can bring her home, " said Burns comfortably. He leaned back in his swivel-chair, and stared hard at the ceiling. 

Coolidge made an exclamation of displeasure and got to his feet. "If youdon't care to take me seriously--" he began. 

"I don't take any man seriously who I know cared as much for his wifewhen he married her as you did for Miss Carrington--and whose wife wasas much in love with him as she was with you--when he comes to me andtalks about her having gone on a visit to her father. Visits are goodthings; they make people appreciate each other. "

"You don't--or won't--understand. " Coolidge evidently strove hard tokeep himself quiet. "We have come to a definite understanding that wecan't--get on together. She's not coming back. And I don't want her to. "

Burns lowered his gaze from the ceiling to his friend's face, and theglance he now gave him was piercing. "Say that last again, " he demanded. 

"I have some pride, " replied the other haughtily, but his eyes would notmeet Burns's. 

"So I see. Pride is a good thing. So is love. Tell me you don't love herand I'll--No, don't tell me that. I don't want to hear you perjureyourself. And I shouldn't believe you. You may as well own up"--hisvoice was gentle now--"that you're suffering--and not only with hurtpride. " There was silence for a little. Then Burns began again, in avery low and quiet tone: "Have you anything against her, Cooly?"

The man before him, who was still standing, turned upon him. "How canyou ask me such a question?" he said fiercely. 

"It's a question that has to be asked, just to get it out of the way. Has she anything against you?"

"For heaven's sake--no! You know us both. "

"I thought I did. Diagnosis, you know, is a series of eliminations. Andnow I can eliminate pretty nearly everything from this case except acertain phrase you used a few minutes ago. I'm inclined to think it'sthe cause of the trouble. " Coolidge looked his inquiry. "'_Havingnothing else to do. _'"

Coolidge shook his head. "You're mistaken there. I have plenty to do. "

"But nothing you couldn't be spared from--unless things have changedsince the days when we all envied you. You're still writing your name onthe backs of dividend drafts, I suppose?"

"Red, you are something of a brute, " said Coolidge, biting his lip. Buthe had taken the chair again. 

"I know, " admitted Red Pepper Burns. "I don't really mean to be, but theonly way I can find out the things I need to know is to ask straightquestions. I never could stand circumlocution. If you want that, Cooly;if you want what are called 'tactful' methods, you'll have to go to someother man. What I mean by asking you that one is to prove to you thatthough you may have something to do, you have no job to work at. As ithappens you haven't even what most other rich men have, the trouble oflooking after your income--and as long as your father lives you won'thave it. I understand that; he won't let you. But there's a man with ajob--your father. And he likes it so well he won't share it with you. Itisn't the money he values, it's the job. And collecting books or curiosor coins can never be made to take the place of good, downright hardwork. "

"That may be all true, " acknowledged Coolidge, "but it has nothing to dowith my present trouble. My leisure was not what--" He paused, as if hecould not bear to discuss the subject of his marital unhappiness. 

The telephone bell in the outer office rang sharply. An instant laterMiss Mathewson knocked, and gave a message to Burns. He read it, nodded, said "Right away, " and turned back to his friend. 

"I have to leave you for a bit, " he said. "Come in and meet my wife andone of the kiddies. The other's away just now. I'll be back in time fordinner. Meanwhile, we'll let the finish of this talk wait over for anhour or two. I want to think about it. "

He exchanged his white linen office-jacket for a street coat, splashingabout with soap and water just out of sight for a little while before hedid so, and reappeared looking as if he had washed away the fatigue ofhis afternoon's work with the physical process. He led Gardner Coolidgeout of the offices into a wide separating hall, and the moment the doorclosed behind him the visitor felt as if he had entered a differentworld. 

Could this part of the house, he thought, as Burns ushered him into theliving room on the other side of the hall and left him there while hewent to seek his wife, possibly be contained within the old brick wallsof the exterior? He had not dreamed of finding such refinement of beautyand charm in connection with the office of the village doctor. In half adozen glances to right and left Gardner Coolidge, experienced inappraising the belongings of the rich and travelled of superior tasteand breeding, admitted to himself that the genius of the place must besuch a woman as he would not have imagined Redfield Pepper Burns ableto marry. 

He had not long to wait for the confirmation of his insight. Burnsshortly returned, a two-year-old boy on his shoulder, his wifefollowing, drawn along by the child's hand. Coolidge looked, and likedthat which he saw. And he understood, with one glance into the dark eyeswhich met his, one look at the firm sweetness of the lovely mouth, thatthe heart of the husband must safely trust in this woman. 

Burns went away at once, leaving Coolidge in the company of Ellen, andthe guest, eager though he was for the professional advice he had cometo seek, could not regret the necessity which gave him this hour with awoman who seemed to him very unusual. Charm she possessed in fullmeasure, beauty in no less, but neither of these terms nor both togethercould wholly describe Ellen Burns. There was something about her whichseemed to glow, so that he soon felt that her presence in the quietlyrich and restful living room completed its furnishing, and that oncehaving seen her there the place could never be quite at its best withouther. 

Burns came back, and the three went out to dinner. The small boy, ahandsome, auburn-haired, brown-eyed composite of his parents, had beensent away, the embraces of both father and mother consoling him for hisbanishment to the arms of a coloured mammy. Coolidge thoroughly enjoyedthe simple but appetizing dinner, of the sort he had known he shouldhave as soon as he had met the mistress of the house. And after it hewas borne away by Burns to the office. 

"I have to go out again at once, " the physician announced. "I'm going totake you with me. I suppose you have a distaste for the sight ofillness, but that doesn't matter seriously. I want you to see thispatient of mine. "

"Thank you, but I don't believe that's necessary, " responded Coolidgewith a frown. "If Mrs. Burns is too busy to keep me company I'll sithere and read while you're out. "

"No, you won't. If you consult a man you're bound to take hisprescriptions. I'm telling you frankly, for you'd see through me if Ipretended to take you out for a walk and then pulled you into a house. Be a sport, Cooly. "

"Very well, " replied the other man, suppressing his irritation. He wasalmost, but not quite, wishing he had not yielded to the unexplainableimpulse which had brought him here to see a man who, as he should haveknown from past experience in college days, was as sure to be eccentricin his methods of practising his profession as he had been in theconduct of his life as a student. 

The two went out into the winter night together, Coolidge remarking thatthe call must be a brief one, for his train would leave in a little morethan an hour. 

"It'll be brief, " Burns promised. "It's practically a friendly callonly, for there's nothing more I can do for the patient--except to seehim on his way. "

Coolidge looked more than ever reluctant. "I hope he's not just leavingthe world?"

"What if he were--would that frighten you? Don't be worried; he'll notgo to-night. "

Something in Burns's tone closed his companion's lips. Coolidge resentedit, and at the same time he felt constrained to let the other have hisway. And after all there proved to be nothing in the sight he presentlyfound himself witnessing to shock the most delicate sensibilities. 

It was a little house to which Burns conducted his friend and latestpatient; it was a low-ceiled, homely room, warm with lamplight andcomfortable with the accumulations of a lifetime carefully preserved. Inthe worn, old, red-cushioned armchair by a glowing stove sat an agedfigure of a certain dignity and attractiveness in spite of the lines andhues plainly showing serious illness. The man was a man of educationand experience, as was evident from his first words in response toBurns's greeting. 

"It was kind of you to come again to-night, Doctor. I suspect you knowhow it shortens the nights to have this visit from you in the evening. "

"Of course I know, " Burns responded, his hand resting gently on thefrail shoulder, his voice as tender as that of a son's to a father whomhe knows he is not long to see. 

There was a woman in the room, an old woman with a pathetic face andeyes like a mourning dog's as they rested on her husband. But her voicewas cheerful and full of quiet courage as she answered Burns'squestions. The pair received Gardner Coolidge as simply as if they wereaccustomed to meet strangers every day, spoke with him a little, andshowed him the courtesy of genuine interest when he tried to entertainthem with a brief account of an incident which had happened on his trainthat day. Altogether, there was nothing about the visit which he couldhave characterized as painful from the point of view of the layman whoaccompanies the physician to a room where it is clear that the greattransition is soon to take place. And yet there was everything about itto make it painful--acutely painful--to any man whose discernment wasnaturally as keen as Coolidge's. 

That the parting so near at hand was to be one between lovers of longstanding could be read in every word and glance the two gave each other. That they were making the most of these last days was equally apparent, though not a word was said to suggest it. And that the man who wasconducting them through the fast-diminishing time was dear to them as ason could have been read by the very blind. 

"It's so good of you--so good of you, Doctor, " they said again as Burnsrose to go, and when he responded: "It's good to myself I am, my dears, when I come to look at you, " the smiles they gave him and each otherwere very eloquent. 

Outside there was silence between the two men for a little as theywalked briskly along, then Coolidge said reluctantly: "Of course Ishould have a heart of stone if I were not touched by that scene--as youknew I would be. "

"Yes, I knew, " said Burns simply; and Coolidge saw him lift his hand anddash away a tear. "It gets me, twice a day regularly, just as if Ihadn't seen it before. And when I go back and look at the woman I love Isay to myself that I'll never let anything but the last enemy comebetween us if I have to crawl on my knees before her. "

Suddenly Coolidge's throat contracted. His resentment against his friendwas gone. Surely it was a wise physician who had given him thatheartbreaking little scene to remember when he should be tempted toharden his heart against the woman he had chosen. 

"Red, " he said bye and bye, when the two were alone together for a fewminutes again in the consulting room before he should leave for histrain, "is that all the prescription you're going to give me--a trip toCalifornia? Suppose I'm not successful?"

Red Pepper Burns smiled, a curious little smile. "You've forgotten whatI told you about the way my old man and woman made a home together, ' andworked at their market gardening together, and read and studiedtogether--did everything from first to last _together_. That's the wholeforce of the illustration, to my mind, Cooly. It's the standing shoulderto shoulder to face life that does the thing. Whatever plan you make foryour after life, when you bring Alicia back with you--as you will; Iknow it--make it a plan which means partnership--if you have to build acottage down on the edge of your estate and live alone there together. Alone till the children come to keep you company, " he added with asudden flashing smile. 

Coolidge looked at him and shook his head. His face dropped back intomelancholy. He opened his lips and closed them again. Red Pepper Burnsopened his own lips--and closed them again. When he did speak it was tosay, more gently than he had yet spoken:

"Old fellow, life isn't in ruins before you. Make up your mind to that. You'll sleep again, and laugh again--and cry again, too, --because lifeis like that, and you wouldn't want it any other way. "

It was time for Coolidge to go, and the two men went in to permit theguest to take leave of Mrs. Burns. When they left the house Coolidgetold his friend briefly what he thought of his friend's wife, and Burnssmiled in the darkness as he heard. 

"She affects most people that way, " he answered with a proud little ringin his voice. But he did not go on to talk about her; that would havebeen brutal indeed in Coolidge's unhappy circumstances. 

At the train Coolidge turned suddenly to his physician. "You haven'tgiven me anything for my sleeplessness, " he said. 

"Think you must have a prescription?" Burns inquired, getting out hisblank and pen. 

"It will take some time for your advice to work out, if it ever does, "Coolidge said. "Meanwhile, the more good sleep I get the fitter I shallbe for the effort. "

"True enough. All right, you shall have the prescription. "

Burns wrote rapidly, resting the small leather-bound book on his knee, his foot on an iron rail of the fence which kept passengers fromcrowding. He read over what he had written, his face sober, his eyesintent. He scrawled a nearly indecipherable "_Burns_" at the bottom, folded the slip and handed it to his friend. "Put it away till you'reready to get it filled, " he advised. 

The two shook hands, gripping tightly and looking straight into eachother's eyes. 

"Thank you, Red, for it all, " said Gardner Coolidge. "There have beenminutes when I felt differently, but I understand you better now. And Isee why your waiting room is full of patients even on a stormy day. "

"No, you don't, " denied Red Pepper Burns stoutly. "If you saw me taketheir heads off you'd wonder that they ever came again. Plenty of themdon't--and I don't blame them--when I've cooled off. "

Coolidge smiled. "You never lie awake thinking over what you've said ordone, do you, Red? Bygones are bygones with a man like you. You couldn'tdo your work if they weren't!"

A peculiar look leaped into Burns's eyes. "That's what the outsidersalways think, " he answered briefly. 

"Isn't it true?"

"You may as well go on thinking it is--and so may the rest. What's theuse of explaining oneself, or trying to? Better to go on lookingunsympathetic--and suffering, sometimes, more than all one's patientsput together!"

Coolidge stared at the other man. His face showed suddenly certain grimlines which Coolidge had not noticed there before--lines written byendurance, nothing less. But even as the patient looked the physician'sexpression changed again. His sternly set lips relaxed into a smile, hepointed to a motioning porter. 

"Time to be off, Cooly, " he said. "Mind you let me know how--you are. Good luck--the best of it!"

 * * * * *

In the train Coolidge had no sooner settled himself than he read Burns'sprescription. He had a feeling that it would be different from otherprescriptions, and so it proved:

 Rx

 Walk five miles every evening. 

 Drink no sort of stimulant, except one cup of coffee at breakfast. 

 Begin to make plans for the cottage. Don't let it turn out a palace. 

 Ask the good Lord every night to keep you from being a proud fool. 

 BURNS. 

CHAPTER II

LITTLE HUNGARY

"Not hungry, Red? After all that cold drive to-day? Would you like tohave Cynthia make you something special, dear?"

R. P. Burns, M. D. , shook his head. "No, thanks. " He straightened in hischair, where he sat at the dinner table opposite his wife. He took uphis knife and fork again and ate valiantly a mouthful or two of thetempting food upon his plate, then he laid the implements downdecisively. He put his elbow on the table and leaned his head upon hishand. "I'm just too blamed tired to eat, that's all, " he said. 

"Then don't try. I'm quite through, too. Come in the living room and liedown a little. It's such a stormy night there may be nobody in. "

Ellen slipped her hand through his arm and led the way to the big bluecouch facing the fireplace. He dropped upon it with a sigh of fatigue. His wife sat down beside him and began to pass her fingers lightlythrough his heavy hair, with the touch which usually soothed him intoslumber if no interruptions came to summon him. But to-night herministrations seemed to have little effect, for he lay staring at acertain picture on the wall with eyes which evidently saw beyond it intosome trying memory. 

"Is the whole world lying heavy on your shoulders to-night, Red?" Ellenasked presently, knowing that sometimes speech proved a relief fromthought. 

He nodded. "The whole world--millions of tons of it. It's just becauseI'm tired. There's no real reason why I should take this day's workharder than usual--except that I lost the Anderson case this morning. Poor start for the day, eh?"

"But you knew you must lose it. Nobody could have saved that poorcreature. "

"I suppose not. But I wanted to save him just the same. You see, heparticularly wanted to live, and he had pinned his whole faith to me. Hewouldn't give it up that I could do the miracle. It hurts to disappointa faith like that. "

"Of course it does, " she said gently. "But you must try to forget now, Red, because of to-morrow. There will be people to-morrow who need youas much as he did. "

"That's just what I'd like to forget, " he murmured. "Everything's gonewrong to-day--it'll go worse to-morrow. "

She knew it was small use to try to combat this mood, so unlike hisusual optimism, but frequent enough of occurrence to make her understandthat there is no depression like that of the habitually buoyant, once ittakes firm hold. She left him presently and went to sit by the readinglamp, looking through current magazines in hope of finding some articlesufficiently attractive to capture his interest, and divert his heavythoughts. His eyes rested absently on her as she sat there, a charming, comradely figure in her simple home dinner attire, with the light on herdark hair and the exquisite curve of her cheek. 

It was a fireside scene of alluring comfort, the two central figures ofsuch opposite characteristics, yet so congenial. The night outside wasvery cold, the wind blowing stormily in great gusts which now and thenhowled down the chimney, making the warmth and cheer within all the moreappealing. 

Suddenly Ellen, hunting vainly for the page she sought, lifted her head, to see her husband lift his at the same instant. 

"Music?" she questioned. "Where can it come from? Not outside on such anight as this?"

"Did you hear it, too? I've been thinking it my imagination. "

"It must be the wind, but--no, it _is_ music!"

She rose and went to the window, pushing aside draperies and setting herface to the frosty pane. The next instant she called in a startled way:

"Oh, Red--come here!"

He came slowly, but the moment he caught sight of the figure in thestorm outside his langour vanished. 

"Good heavens! The poor beggar! We must have him in. "

He ran to the hall and the outer door, and Ellen heard his shout abovethe howling of the wind. 

"Come in--come in!"

She reached the door into the hall as the slender young figure stumbledup the steps, a violin clutched tight in fingers purple with cold. Shesaw the stiff lips break into a frozen smile as her husband laid hishand upon the thinly clad shoulder and drew the youth where he couldclose the door. 

"Why didn't you come to the door and ring, instead of fiddling out therein the cold!" demanded Burns. "Do you think we're heathen, to shutanybody out on a night like this?"

The boy shook his head. He was a boy in size, though the maturity of histhin face suggested that he was at least nineteen or twenty years old. His dark eyes gleamed out of hollow sockets, and his black hair, curling thickly, was rough with neglect. But he had snatched off hisragged soft hat even before he was inside the door, and for all thestiffness of his chilled limbs his attitude, as he stood before hishosts, had the unconscious grace of the foreigner. 

"Where do you come from?" Burns asked. 

Again the stranger shook his head. 

"He can't speak English, " said Ellen. 

"Probably not--though he may be bluffing. We must warm and feed him, anyhow. Will you have him in here, or shall I take him in the office?"

Ellen glanced again at the shivering youth, noted that the purple handswere clean, even to the nails, and led the way unhesitatingly into theliving room with all its beckoning warmth and beauty. 

"Good little sport--I knew you would, " murmured Burns, as he beckonedthe boy after him. 

Ellen left the two alone together by the fire, while she went to preparea tray with Cynthia in the kitchen, filling it with the hearty foodBurns himself had left untouched. Big slices of juicy roast beef, twohurriedly warmed sweet potatoes which had been browned in syrup in theSouthern style, crisp buttered rolls, and a pot of steaming coffee wereon the large tray which Cynthia insisted on carrying to the living-roomdoor for her mistress. Burns, jumping up at sight of her, took the tray, while Ellen cleared a small table, drew up a chair, and summoned theyoung stranger. 

The low bow he made her before he took the chair proclaimed hisbreeding, as well as the smile of joy which showed the flash of his evenwhite teeth in the firelight. He made a little gesture of gratitudetoward both Burns and Ellen, pressing his hands over his heart and thenextending them, the expression on his face touching in its starvedrestraint. Then he fell upon the food, and even though he was plainlyravenous he ate as manneredly as any gentleman. Only by the way hefinished each tiniest crumb could they know his extremity. 

"By Jove, that beats eating it myself, if I were hungry as a faster onthe third day!" Burns exclaimed, as he sat turned away from thebeneficiary, his eyes apparently upon the fire. Ellen, from behind theboy, smiled at her husband, noting how completely his air of fatigue hadfallen from him. Often before she had observed how any call upon R. P. Burns's sympathies rode down his own need of commiseration. 

"Hungarian, I think, don't you?" Burns remarked, as the meal wasfinished, and the youth rose to bow his thanks once more. This timethere was a response. He nodded violently, smiling and throwing out hishands. 

"_Ungahree_!" he said, and smiled and nodded again, and said again, "_Ungahree_!"

"He knows that word all right, " said Burns, smiling back. "It's a landof musicians. The fiddle's a good one, I'll wager. "

He glanced at it as he spoke, and the boy leaped for it, pressing it tohis breast. He began to tune it. 

"He thinks we want to be paid for his supper, " Ellen exclaimed. "Can'tyou make him understand we should like him to rest first?"

"I'd only convey to him the idea that we didn't want to hear him play, which would be a pity, for we do. If he's the musician he looks, bythose eyes and that mouth, we'll be more than paid. Go ahead, Hungary--it'll make you happier than anything we could do for you. "

Clearly it would. Burns carried out the tray, and when he returned hisguest was standing upon the hearth rug facing Ellen, his bow uplifted. He waited till Burns had thrown himself down on the couch again in asitting posture, both arms stretched along the back. Then he made hisgraceful obeisance again, and drew the bow very slowly and softly overthe first string. And, at the very first note, the two who were watchinghim knew what was to come. It was in every line of him, that promise. 

It might have been his gratitude that he was voicing, so touching werethe strains that followed that first note. The air was unfamiliar, butit sounded like a folk song of his own country, and he put into it allthe poignant, peculiar melody of such a song. His tones were exquisite, with the sure touch of the trained violinist inspired and supported bythe emotional understanding of the genuine musician. 

When he had finished he stood looking downward for a moment, then asBurns said "Bravo!" he smiled as if he understood the word, and liftedhis instrument again to his shoulder. This time his bow descended uponthe strings with a full note of triumph, and he burst into the brilliantperformance of a great masterpiece, playing with a spirit and dash whichseemed to transform him. Often his lips parted to show his white teeth, often he swung his whole body into the rhythm of his music, until heseemed a very part of the splendid harmonies he made. His thin cheeksflushed, his hollow eyes grew bright, he smiled, he frowned, he shookhis slender shoulders, he even took a stride to right or left as heplayed on, as if the passion of his performance would not let him rest. 

His listeners watched him with sympathetic and comprehending interest. Warmed and fed, his Latin nature leaping up from its deep depression tothe exaltation of the hour, the appeal he made to them was intenselypathetic. Burns, even more ardently than his wife, responded to theappeal. He no longer lounged among the pillows of the broad couch; hesat erect, his eyes intent, his lips relaxed, his cares forgot. He was alover of music, as are many men of his profession, and he was more thanordinarily susceptible to its influences. He drank in the tones of themaster, voiced by this devoted interpreter, like wine, and like winethey brought the colour to his face also, and the light to his eyes. 

"Jove!" he murmured, as the last note died away, "he's a wonder. He mustbe older than he looks. How he loves it! He's forgotten that he doesn'tknow where he's to sleep to-night--but, by all that's fair, _we_ know, eh?"

Ellen smiled, with a look of assent. Her own heart was warmly touched. There was a small bedroom upstairs, plainly but comfortably furnished, which was often used for impecunious patients who needed to remain underobservation for a day or two. It was at the service of any chance guest, and the chance guest was surely with them to-night. There was no placein the village to which such a vagrant as this might be sent, exceptthe jail, and the jail, for a musician of such quality, was unthinkable. And in the night and storm one would not turn a dog outdoors to hunt forshelter--at least not Red Pepper Burns nor Ellen Burns, his wife. 

As if he could not stop, now that he had found ears to listen, the youngHungarian played on. More and more profoundly did his music move him, until it seemed as if he had become the very spirit of the instrumentwhich sung and vibrated under his thin fingers. 

"My word, Len, this is too good to keep all to ourselves. Let's have theMacauleys and Chesters over. Then we'll have an excuse for paying thechap a good sum for his work--and somehow I feel that we need an excusefor such a gentleman as he is. "

"That's just the thing. I'll ask them. "

She was on her way to the telephone when her husband suddenly calledafter her, "Wait a minute, Len. " She turned back, to see the musician, his bow faltering, suddenly lower his violin and lean against hispatron, who had leaped to his support. A minute later Burns had himstretched upon the blue couch, and had laid his fingers on the bonywrist. 

"Hang me for a simpleton, to feed him like that he's probably not tastedsolid food for days. The reaction is too much, of course. He's beenplaying on his nerve for the last ten minutes, and I, like an idiot, thought it was his emotional temperament. "

He ran out of the room and returned with a wine glass filled withliquid, which he administered, his arm under the ragged shoulders. Thenhe patted the wasted cheek, gone suddenly white except where the excitedcolour still showed in faint patches. 

"You'll be all right, son, " he said, smiling down into the frightenedeyes, and his tone if not his words seemed to carry reassurance, for theeyes closed with a weary flutter and the gripping fingers relaxed. 

"He's completely done, " Burns said pityingly. He took one hand in hisown and held it in his warm grasp, at which the white lids unclosedagain, and the sensitive lips tried to smile. 

"I'd no business to let him play so long--I might have known. Poor boy, he's starved for other things than food. Do you suppose anybody's heldhis hand like this since he left the old country? He thought he'd findwealth and fame in the new one--and this is what he found!"

Ellen stood looking at the pair--her brawny husband, himself "completelydone" an hour before, now sitting on the edge of the couch with his newpatient's hand in his, his face wearing an expression of keen interest, not a sign of fatigue in his manner; the exhausted young foreigner inhis ragged clothing lying on the luxurious couch, his pale face standingout like a fine cameo against the blue velvet of the pillow under hisdark head. If a thought of possible contamination for her home'sbelongings entered her mind it found no lodgment there, so pitiful washer heart. 

"Is the room ready upstairs?" Burns asked presently, when he had againnoted the feeble action of the pulse under his fingers. "What he needsis rest and sleep, and plenty of both. Like the most of us he's kept upwhile he had to, and now he's gone to pieces absolutely. To-morrow wecan send him to the hospital, perhaps, but for to-night--"

"The room is ready. I sent Cynthia up at once. "

"Bless you, you never fail me, do you? Well--we may as well be on ourway. He's nearly asleep now. "

Burns stood up, throwing off his coat. But Ellen remonstrated. 

"Dear, you are so tired to-night. Let me call Jim over to help you carryhim up. "

A derisive laugh answered her. "Great Cæsar, Len! The chap's a mere bagof bones--and if he were twice as heavy he'd be no weight for me. JimMacauley would howl at the idea, and no wonder. Go ahead and open thedoors, please, and I'll have him up in a jiffy. "

He stooped over the couch, swung the slender figure up into his powerfularms, speaking reassuringly to the eyes which slowly opened inhalf-stupefied alarm. "It's all right, little Hungary. We're going toput you to bed, like the small lost boy you are. Bring his fiddle, Len--he won't want that out of his sight. "

He strode away with his burden, and marched up the stairs as if he werecarrying his own two-year-old son. Arrived in the small, comfortablelittle room at the back of the house he laid his charge on the bed, andstood looking down at him. 

"Len, I'll have to go the whole figure, " he said--and said it not as ifthe task he was about to impose upon himself were one that irked him. "Get me hot water and soap and towels, will you? And an old pair ofpajamas. I can't put him to bed in his rags. "

"Shall I send for Amy?" questioned his wife, quite as if she understoodthe uselessness of remonstrance. 

"Not much. Amy's making out bills for me to-night, we'll not interruptthe good work. Put some bath-ammonia in the water, please--and have ithot. "

Half an hour later he called her in to see the work of his hands. Shehad brought him one of his surgical aprons with the bath equipment. Withhis sleeves rolled up, his apron well splashed, his coppery hair more orless in disarray from the occasional thrustings of a soapy hand, and hisface flushed and eager like a healthy boy's, Red Pepper Burns stoodgrinning down at his patient. Little Hungary lay in the clean white bed, his pale face shining with soap and happiness, his arms upon thecoverlet encased in the blue and white sleeves of Burns's pajamas, thesleeves neatly turned back to accommodate the shortness of his arms. Theworkman turned to Ellen as she came in. 

"Comfy, eh?" he observed briefly. 

"Absolutely, I should say, poor dear. "

"Ah, you wouldn't have called him that before the bath. But he is rathera dear now, isn't he? And I think he's younger than I did downstairs. Not over eighteen, at the most, but fully forty in the experiences andhardships that have brought him here. Well, we'll go away and let himrest. Wish I knew the Hungarian for 'good-night, ' don't you? Anyway, ifhe knows any prayers he'll say 'em, I'll venture. "

The dark eyes were watching him intently as he spoke, as if their ownerlonged to know what this kind angel in the form of a big Americanstranger was saying to him. And when, in leaving him, Burns once morelaid an exploring touch upon his wrist, the two thin hands suddenlyclutched the strong one and bore it weakly to lips which kissed itfervently. 

"Well, that's rather an eloquent thank-you, eh?" murmured Burns, as hepatted the hands in reply. "No doubt but he's grateful. Put the fiddlewhere he can see it in the morning, will you, honey? Open the windowpretty well: I've covered him thoroughly, and he has a touch of fever tokeep him warm. Good-night, little Hungary. Luck's with you to-night, toget into this lady's house. "

Downstairs by the fireside once more, the signs of his late occupationremoved, Burns stretched out an arm for his wife. 

"Come sit beside me in the Retreat, " he invited, using the name he hadlong ago given to the luxurious blue couch where he was accustomed, since his marriage, to rest and often to catch a needed nap. He drew thewinsome figure close within his arm, resting his red head against thedark one below it. "I don't seem to feel particularly tired, now, " heobserved. "Curious, isn't it? Fatigue, as I've often noticed, is moremental than physical--with most of us. Your ditch-digger is tired in hisback and arms, but the ordinary person is merely tired because his mindtells him he is. "

"You are never too tired to rouse yourself for one patient more, " wasEllen's answer to this. "The last one seems to cure you of the onebefore. "

Burns's hearty laugh shook them both. "You can't make me out such anenthusiast in my profession as that. I turned away two country callsto-night--too lazy to make 'em. "

"But you would have gone if they couldn't have found anybody else. "

"That goes without saying--no merit in that. The ethics of theprofession have to be lived up to, curse 'em as we may, at times. Len, how are we to get to know something about little Hungary upstairs? Thoseeyes of his are going to follow me into my dreams to-night. "

"I suppose there are Hungarians in town?"

"Not a one that I ever heard of. Plenty in the city, though. The waiterat the Arcadia, where I get lunch when I'm at the hospital, is a Magyar. By Jove, there's an idea! I'll bring Louis out, if Hungary can't getinto the hospital to-morrow--and I warn you he probably can't. Ishouldn't want him to take a twelve-mile ambulance ride in this weather. That touch of fever may mean simple exhaustion, and it may mean look outfor pneumonia, after all the exposure he's had. I'd give something toknow how it came into his crazy head to stand and fiddle outside aprivate house in a January storm. Why didn't he try a cigar shop or someother warm spot where he could pass the hat? That's what Louis must findout for me, eh? Len, that was great music of his, wasn't it? The fellowought to have a job in a hotel orchestra. Louis and I between us mightget him one. "

Burns went to bed still working on this problem, and Ellen rejoiced thatit had superseded the anxieties of the past day. Next morning he wasearly at the little foreigner's bedside, to find him resting quietly, the fever gone, and only the intense fatigue remaining, the cure forwhich was simply rest and food. 

"Shall we let him stay till he's fit?" Burns asked his wife. 

"Of course. Both Cynthia and Amy are much interested, and between themhe will have all he needs. "

"And I'll bring Louis out, if I have to pay for a waiter to take hisplace, " promised Burns. 

He was as good as his word. When he returned that afternoon from thedaily visit to the city hospital, where he had always many patients, hebrought with him in the powerful roadster which he drove himself adark-faced, pointed moustached countryman of little Hungary, who spoketolerable English, and was much pleased and flattered to be of serviceto the big doctor whom he was accustomed to serve in his best manner. 

Taken to the bedside, Louis gazed down at its occupant withcondescending but comprehending eyes, and spoke a few words which causedthe thin face on the pillow to break into smiles of delight, as theeager lips answered in the same tongue. Question and answer followed inquick succession and Louis was soon able to put Burns in possession of afew significant facts. 

"He say he come to dis countree October. Try find work New York--nogood. He start to valk to countree, find vork farm. Bad time. Seeck, cold, hungree. Fear he spoil hands for veolinn--dat's vhy he not takevork on road, vat he could get. He museecian--good one. "

"Does he say that?" Burns asked, amused. 

Louis nodded. "Many museecians in Hungary. Franz come from Budapest. Nopoor museecians dere. Budapest great ceety--better Vienna, Berlin, Leipsic--oh, yes! See, I ask heem. "

He spoke to the boy again, evidently putting a meaning question, foragain the other responded with ardour, using his hands to emphasize hisassertion--for assertion it plainly was. 

Louis laughed. "He say ze countree of Franz Liszt know no poor museeck. He named for Franz Liszt. He play beeg museeck for you and ze ladeelast night. So?"

"He did--and took us off our feet. Tell him, will you?"

"He no un'erstand, " laughed Louis, "eef I tell him 'off de feet. '"

"That's so--no American idioms yet for him, eh? Well, say he made usvery happy with his wonderful music. I'll wager that will get over tohim. "

Plainly it did, to judge by the eloquence of Franz's eyes and his joyoussmile. With quick speech he responded. 

"He say, " reported Louis, "he vant to vork for you. No wagees till heplees you. He do anyting. You van' heem?"

"Well, I'll have to think about that, " Burns temporized. "But tell himnot to worry. We'll find a job before we let him go. He ought to play ina restaurant or theatre, oughtn't he, Louis?"

Louis shook his head. "More men nor places, " he said. "But ve see--vesee. "

"All right. Now ask him how he came to stand in front of my house in thestorm and fiddle. "

To this Louis obtained a long reply, at which he first shook his head, then nodded and laughed, with a rejoinder which brought a sudden rush oftears to the black eyes below. Louis turned to Burns. 

"He say man lead heem here, make heem stand by window, make sign toheem to play. I tell heem man knew soft heart eenside. "

To the edge of his coppery hair the blood rushed into the face of RedPepper Burns. Whether he would be angry or amused was for the moment aneven chance, as Ellen, watching him, understood. Then he shook his fistwith a laugh. 

"Just wait till I catch that fellow!" he threatened. "A nice way out ofhis own obligations to a starving fellow man. "

He sent Louis back to town on the electric car line, with a round fee inhis pocket, and the instruction to leave no stone unturned to find Franzwork for his violin, himself promising to aid him in any plan he mightformulate. 

In three days the young Hungarian was so far himself that Burns had himdownstairs to sit by the office fire, and a day more put him quite onhis feet. Careful search had discovered a temporary place for him in asmall hotel orchestra, whose second violin was ill, and Burns agreed totake him into the city. The evening before he was to go, Ellen invited anumber of her friends and neighbours in to hear Franz play. 

Dressed in a well-fitting suit of blue serge Franz looked a new being. The suit had been contributed by Arthur Chester, Burns's neighbour andgood friend next door upon the right, and various other accessories hadbeen supplied by James Macauley, also Burns's neighbour and good friendnext door upon the left and the husband of Martha Macauley, Ellen'ssister. Even so soon the rest and good food had filled out the deepesthollows in the emaciated cheeks, and happiness had lighted the sombreeyes. Those eyes followed Burns about with the adoring gaze of afaithful dog. 

"It's evident you've attached one more devoted follower to your train, Red, " whispered Winifred Chester, in an interval of the violin playing. 

"Well, he's a devotee worth having, " answered Burns, watching hisprotégé as Franz looked over a pile of music with Ellen, signifying hispleasure every time they came upon familiar sheets. The two had foundcommon ground in their love of the most emotional of all the arts, andEllen had discovered rare delight in accompanying that ardent violin insome of the scores both knew and loved. 

"He's as handsome as a picture to-night, isn't he?" Winifred pursued. "How Arthur's old blue suit transforms him. And wasn't it clever ofEllen to have him wear that soft white shirt with the rolling collar andflowing black tie? It gives him the real musician's look. "

"Trust you women to work for dramatic effects, " murmured Burns. "Here wego--and I'll wager it'll be something particularly telling, judging bythe way they both look keyed up to it. Ellen plays like a virtuosoherself to-night, doesn't she?"

"It's enough to inspire any one to have that fiddle at her shoulder, "remarked James Macauley, who, hanging over the couch, had been listeningto this bit of talk. 

The performance which followed captured them all, even practical andenergetic Martha Macauley, who had often avowed that she considered thestudy of music a waste of time in a busy world. 

"Though I think, after all, " she observed to Arthur Chester, who loungedby her side, revelling in the entertainment with the zest of the man whowould give his whole time to affairs like these if it were not necessaryfor him to make a living at the practice of some more prosaicprofession, "it's quite as much the interest of having such a stageycharacter performing for us as it is his music. Did you ever see anyhuman being throw his whole soul into anything like that? One couldn'thelp but watch him if he weren't making a sound. "

"It's certainly refreshing, in a world where we all try to cover up ourreal feelings, to see anybody give himself away so naïvely as that, "Chester replied. "But there's no doubt about the quality of his music. He was born, not made. And, by George, Len certainly plays up to him. Ididn't know she had it in her, for all I've been admiring heraccomplishments for four years. "

"Ellen's all temperament, anyway, " said Ellen's sister. 

Chester looked at her curiously. Martha was a fine-looking young woman, in a very wholesome and clean-cut fashion. There was no feminineartfulness in the way she bound her hair smoothly upon her head, none inthe plain cut of her simple evening attire, absolutely none in hermanner. Glancing from Martha to her sister, as he had often done beforein wonderment at the contrast between them, he noted as usual howexquisitely Ellen was dressed, though quite as simply, in a way, as herpractical sister. But in every line of her smoke-blue silken frock wasthe most subtle art, as Chester, who had a keen eye for such matters anda fastidious taste, could readily recognize. From the crown of her darkhead to the toe of the blue slipper with which she pressed the pedal ofthe great piano which she had brought from her old home in the South, she was a picture to feast one's eyes upon. 

"Give me temperament, then--and let some other fellow take the commonsense, " mused Arthur Chester to himself. "Ellen has both, and Red's inluck. It was a great day for him when the lovely young widow came hisway--and he knows it. What a home she makes him--what a home!"

His eyes roved about the beautiful living room, as they had often donebefore. His own home, next door, was comfortable and more thanordinarily attractive, but he knew of no spot in the town whichpossessed the subtle charm of this in which he sat. His wife, Winifred, was always trying to reproduce within their walls the indefinablequality which belonged to everything Ellen touched, and always saying indespair, "It's no use--Ellen is Ellen, and other people can't be likeher. "

"Better let it go at that, " her husband sometimes responded. "You'regood enough for me. " Which was quite true, for Winifred Chester was apeculiarly lovable young woman. He noted afresh to-night that besideMartha Macauley's somewhat heavy good looks Winifred seemed a creatureof infinite and delightful variety. 

Perhaps the music had made them all more or less analytic, for in aninterval James Macauley, comfortably ensconced in a great winged chairfor which he was accustomed to steer upon entering this room, where hewas nearly as much at home as within his own walls, remarked, "What isthere about music like that that sets you to thinking everybody in sightis about the best ever?"

"Does it have that effect on you?" queried Burns, lazily, from the bluecouch. "That's a good thing for a fellow of a naturally criticaldisposition. "

"Critical, am I? Why, within a week I paid you the greatest complimentin my power. "

"Really!"

"If it hadn't been for me this company would never have been gathered, to listen to these wondrous strains. "

"How's that?" Burns turned on him a suddenly interested eye. 

"Oh, I'm not telling. It's enough that the thing came about. " Macauleylooked around for general approbation. 

Red Pepper sat up. "It was you stood the poor beggar up under my window, on that howling night, was it, Jim? I've been looking for the man thatdid it. "

"Why, " said Macauley comfortably, "the chap asked me to point him to adoctor's office--said he had a bit of a cold. I said you were the oneand only great and original M. D. Upon earth, and as luck would have ithe was almost at your door. I said that if he didn't find you in heshould come over to my house and we would fix him up with cough drops. He thanked me and passed on. As luck would have it you were in. "

Red Pepper glared at him. A chuckle from Arthur Chester caused him toturn his eyes that way. He scrutinized his guests in turn, and detectedsigns of mirth. Winifred Chester's pretty shoulders were shaking. MarthaMacauley's lips were pressed close together. The others were allsmiling. 

Burns turned upon Winifred, who sat nearest. "Tell me the truth aboutthis thing, " he commanded. 

She shook her head, but she got no peace until at length she gave himthe tale. 

"Arthur and I were over at Jim's. He came in and said a wager was upamong some men outside as to whether if that poor boy came and fiddledunder your window you'd take him in and keep him over night. Somebody'dbeen saying things against you, down street somewhere--" she hesitated, glancing at her husband, who nodded, and said, "Go on--he'll have it outof us now, anyhow. "

"They said, " she continued, "that you were the most brutal surgeon inthe State, and that you hadn't any heart. Some of them made this wager, and they all sneaked up here behind the one that steered Franz to yourwindow. "

Burns's quick colour had leaped to his face at this recital, as theywere all accustomed to see it, but for an instant he made no reply. Winifred looked at him steadily, as one who was not afraid. 

"We were all in a dark window watching. If you hadn't taken him in wewould. But--O Red! We knew--we knew that heart of yours. "

"And who started that wager business?" Burns inquired, in a muffledvoice. 

"Why, Jim, of course. Who else would take such a chance?"

"Was it a serious wager?"

"Of course it was. "

"Even odds?"

"No, it was Jim against the crowd. And for a ridiculously high stake. "

Red Pepper glared at James Macauley once more. "You old pirate!" hegrowled. "How dared you take such a chance on me? And when you know I'mdeath on that gambling propensity of yours?"

"I know you are, " replied Macauley, with a satisfied grin. "And you knowperfectly well I haven't staked a red copper for a year. But that sortof talk I overheard was too much for me. Besides, I ran no possible riskfor my money. I was betting on a sure thing. "

Burns got up, amidst the affectionate laughter which followed thisexplanation, and walked over to where Franz stood, his eager eyes fixedupon his new and adored friend, who, he somehow divined, was the targetfor some sort of badinage. 

"Little Hungary, " he said, smiling into the uplifted, boyish face, withhis hand on the slender shoulder, "it came out all right that time, butdon't you ever play under my window again in a January blizzard. If youdo, I'll kick you out into the storm!"

CHAPTER III

ANNE LINTON'S TEMPERATURE

"Is Doctor Burns in?"

"He's not in. He will be here from two till five this afternoon. Couldyou come then?" Miss Mathewson regarded the young stranger at the doorwith more than ordinary interest. The face which was lifted to her wasone of quite unusual beauty, with astonishing eyes under resolute darkbrows, though the hair which showed from under the small andclose-fitting hat of black was of a wonderful and contradictory colour. It was almost the shade, it occurred to Amy Mathewson, of that whichthatched the head of Red Pepper Burns himself, but it was morepicturesque hair than his, finer of texture, with a hint of curl. Themass of it which showed at the back as the stranger turned her head awayfor a moment, evidently hesitating over her next course of action, hadin it tints of bronze which were more beautiful than Burns's copperyhues. 

"Would you care to wait?" inquired Miss Mathewson, entirely against herown principles. 

It was not quite one o'clock, and Burns always lunched in the city, after his morning at the hospital, and reached home barely in time forthose afternoon village office hours which began at two. His assistantdid not as a rule encourage the arrival of patients in the office asearly as this, knowing that they were apt to become impatient andaggrieved by their long wait. But something about the slightly droopingfigure of the girl before her, in her black clothes, with a smallhandbag on her arm, and a look of appeal on her face, suggested to theexperienced nurse that here was a patient who must not be turned away. 

The girl looked up eagerly. "If I might, " she said in a tone of relief. "I really have nowhere to go until I have seen the Doctor. "

Miss Mathewson led her in and gave her the most comfortable chair in theroom, a big, half shabby leather armchair, near the fireplace and closebeside a broad table whereon the latest current magazines were arrangedin orderly piles. The girl sank into the chair as if its wide arms werewelcome after a weary morning. She looked up at Miss Mathewson with afaint little smile. 

"I haven't been sitting much to-day, " she said. 

"This first spring weather makes every one feel rather tired, " repliedAmy, noting how heavy were the shadows under the brown eyes with theiralmost black lashes--an unusual combination with the undeniably russethair. 

From her seat at the desk, where she was posting Burns's day book, thenurse observed without seeming to do so that the slim figure in the oldarmchair sat absolutely without moving, except once when the headresting against the worn leather turned so that the cheek lay next it. And after a very short time Miss Mathewson realized that the waitingpatient had fallen asleep. She studied her then, for something about theyoung stranger had aroused her interest. 

The girl was obviously poor, for the black suit, though carefullypressed, was of cheap material, the velvet on the small black hat hadbeen caught in more than one shower, and the black gloves had been manytimes painstakingly mended. The small feet alone showed that their ownerhad allowed herself one luxury, that of good shoes--and the daintinessof those feet made a strong appeal to the observer. 

As for the face resting against the chair back, it was flushed after afashion which suggested illness rather than health, and Miss Mathewsonrealized presently that the respiration of the sleeper was not quitewhat it should be. Whether this were due to fatigue or coming illnessshe could not tell. 

Half-past one! The first early caller was slowing a small motor at thecurb outside when Amy Mathewson gently touched the girl's arm. "Comeinto the other room, please, " she said. 

The brown eyes opened languidly. The black-gloved hand clutched at thehandbag, and the girl rose. "I'm so sorry, " she murmured. "I don't knowhow I came to go to sleep. "

"You were tired out. If I had known I should have brought you in herebefore, " Amy said, leading her into the consulting room. "It is stillhalf an hour before Doctor Burns will be in, and you must lie here onhis couch while you wait. "

"Oh, thank you, but I ought not to go to sleep. I--have you just aminute to spare? I should like to show you a little book I am selling--"

Miss Mathewson suffered a sudden revulsion of feeling. So this girl wasonly a book agent. First on the list of what by two o'clock would be agood-sized assemblage of waiting patients, she must not be allowed totake Doctor Burns's time to exploit her wares. Yet, even as Amyregretted having brought a book agent into this inner sanctum, the girllooked up from searching in her handbag and seemed to recognize theprejudice she had excited. 

"Oh, but I'm a patient, too, " she said with a little smile. "I didn'texpect to take the Doctor's time telling him about the book. But you--Ithought you might be interested. It's a little book of bedtime storiesfor children. They are very jolly little tales. Would you care to seeit?"

Now Amy Mathewson was the fortunate or unfortunate--as you happen toregard such things--possessor of a particularly warm heart, and theresult of this appeal was that she took the book away with her into theouter office, promising to look it over if the seller of it would liedown upon the couch and rest quietly. She was convinced that the girlwas much more than weary--she was very far from well. The revealinglight of that consulting room had struck upon the upturned face and hadshown Miss Mathewson's trained eyes certain signs which alarmed her. 

So it came about that Red Pepper Burns, coming in ruddy from histwelve-mile dash home, and feeling particularly fit for the labours ofthe afternoon in consequence of having found every hospital patient ofhis own on the road to recovery--two of them having taken aright-about-face from a condition which the day before had pointedtoward trouble--discovered his first office patient lying fast asleepupon the consulting room couch. 

"She seemed so worn out I put her here, " explained Miss Mathewson, standing beside him. "She falls asleep the moment she is off her feet. "

"Hm--m, " was his reply as he thrust his arms into his whiteoffice-jacket. "Well, best wake her up, though it seems a pity. Looks asif she'd been on a hunger strike, eh?" he added under his breath. 

Miss Mathewson had the girl awake again in a minute, and she sat up, anexpression of contrition crossing her face as she caught sight of thebig doctor at the other side of the room, his back toward her. WhenBurns turned, at Amy's summons, he beheld the slim figure sittingstraight on the edge of the broad couch, the brown eyes fixed on him. 

"Tired out?" he asked pleasantly. "Take this chair, please, so I can seeall you have to tell me--and a few things you don't tell me. "

It did not take him long. His eyes on the face which was too flushed, his fingers on the pulse which beat too fast, his thermometerregistering a temperature too high, all told him that here was work forhim. The questions he asked brought replies which confirmed his fears. Nothing in his manner indicated, however, that he was doing considerablequick thinking. His examination over, he sat back in his chair and begana second series of questions, speaking in a more than ordinarily quietbut cheerful way. 

"Will you tell me just a bit about your personal affairs?" he asked. "Iunderstand that you come from some distance. Have you a home andfamily?"

"No family--for the last two years, since my father died. "

"And no home?"

"If I am ill, Doctor Burns, I will look after myself. "

He studied her. The brown eyes met the scrutinizing hazel ones withoutflinching. Whether or not the spirit flinched he could not be sure. Thehazel eyes were very kindly. 

"You have relatives somewhere whom we might let know of this?"

She shook her head determinedly. Her head lifted ever so little. 

"You are quite alone in the world?"

"For all present purposes--yes, Doctor Burns. "

"I can't just believe, " he said gently, "that it is not very importantto somebody to know if you are ill. "

"It is just my affair, " she answered with equal courtesy of manner butno less finally. "Believe me, please--and tell me what to do. Shall Inot be better to-morrow--or in a day or two?"

He was silent for a moment. Then, "It is not a time for you to bewithout friends, " said Red Pepper Burns. "I will prove to you that youhave them at hand. After that you will find there are others. I amgoing to take you to a pleasant place I know of, where you will havenothing to do but to lie still and rest and get well. The best of nurseswill look after you. You will obey orders for a little--my orders, ifyou want to trust me--"

"Where is this place?" The question was a little breathless. 

"Where do you guess?"

"In--a hospital?"

"In one of the best in the world. "

"I am--pretty ill then?"

"It's a bit of a wonder, " said Burns in his quietest tone, "how you havekept around these last four days. I wish you hadn't. "

"If I hadn't, " said the girl rather faintly, "I shouldn't have been inthis town and I shouldn't have come to Doctor Burns. So--I'm glad Idid. "

"Good!" said Burns, smiling. "It's fine to start with the confidence ofone's patient. I'm glad you're going to trust me. Now we'll take you toanother room where you can lie down again till my office hours are overand I can run into the city with you. "

He rose, beckoning. But his patient protested: "Please tell me how toget there. I can go perfectly well. My head is better, I think. "

"That's lucky. But the first of my orders Miss Linton, is that you comewith me now. "

He summoned Miss Mathewson, gave her directions, and dismissed the two. In ten minutes the heavy eyes were again closed, while their owner laymotionless again upon a bed in an inner room which was often used forsuch purposes. 

"I'm sorry I can't take her in now, " Burns said to Amy presently in aninterval between patients. "I don't want to call the ambulance out herefor a walking case, and there's no need of startling her with it, anyhow. I wish I had some way to send her. "

"Mr. Jordan King just came into the office. His car is outside. Couldn'the take her in?"

"Of course he could--and would, I've no doubt. He's only after hismother's prescription. Send him in here next, will you, please?"

To the tall, well-built, black-eyed young man who answered this summonsin some surprise at being admitted before his turn, Burns spoke crisply:

"Here's the prescription, Jord, and you'll have to take it to Wood's toget it filled. I hope it'll do your mother a lot of good, but I'm notpromising till I've tried it out pretty well. Now will you do me afavour?"

"Anything you like, Doctor. "

"Thanks. I'm sending a patient to the hospital--a stranger stranded hereill. She ought not to be out of bed another hour, though she walked tothe office and would walk away again if I'd let her--which I won't. Ican't get off for three hours yet. Will you take her in to the GoodSamaritan for me? I'll telephone ahead, and some one will meet her atthe door. All right?"

He looked up. Jordan King--young civil engineer of rising reputation inspite of the family wealth which would have made him independent of hisown exertions, if he could possibly have been induced by an adoring, widowed mother to remain under her wing--stood watching him with a smileon his character-betraying lips. 

"You ought to have an executive position of some sort, Doctor Burns, " heobserved, "you're so strong on orders. I've got mine. Where's the lady?Do I have to be silent or talkative? Is she to have pillows? Am I tohelp her out?"

"She'll walk out--but that and the walk in will be the last she'll takefor some time. Talk as much as you like; it'll help her to forget thatshe's alone in the world at present except for us. Go out to your car;I'll send her out with Miss Mathewson. "

Burns turned to his desk, and King obediently went out. Five minuteslater, as he stood waiting beside his car, a fine but hard-used roadsterof impressive lines and plenty of power, the office nurse and herpatient emerged. King noted in some surprise the slender young figure, the interest-compelling face with its too vivid colour in cheeks thatlooked as if ordinarily they were white, the apparel which indicatedlack of means, though the bearing of the wearer unmistakably suggestedsocial training. 

"I thought she'd be an elderly one somehow, " he said in congratulationof himself. "Jolly, what hair! Poor little girl; she does look sick--butplucky. Hope I can get her in all right. "

Outwardly he was the picture of respectful attention as Miss Mathewsonpresented him, calling the girl "Miss Linton, " and bidding him wrap herwarmly against the spring wind. 

"I'll take the best care of her I know, " he promised with a friendlysmile. He tucked a warm rug around her, taking special pains with hersmall feet, whose well-chosen covering he did not fail to note. "Allright?" he asked as he finished. 

"Very comfortable, thank you. It's ever so kind of you. "

"Glad to do anything for Doctor Burns, " King responded, taking his placebeside her. "Now shall we go fast or slow?"

"Just as you like, please. I don't feel very ill just now, and this airis so good on my face. "

CHAPTER IV

TWO RED HEADS

Jordan King set his own speed in the powerful roadster, reflecting thatMiss Linton, to judge from her worn black clothes, was probably notaccustomed to motoring and so making the pace a moderate one. Fast orslow, it would not take long to cover the twelve miles over themacadamized road to the hospital in the city, and if it was to be herlast bath in the good outdoors for some time, as the doctor hadsaid--King drew a long breath, filling his own sturdy lungs with thebalmy yet potent April air, feeling very sorry for the unknown littleperson by his side. 

"Would you rather I didn't talk?" he inquired when a mile or two hadbeen covered in silence. 

She lifted her eyes to his, and for the first time he got a good lookinto them. They were very wonderful eyes, and none the less wonderfulbecause of the fever which made them almost uncannily brilliant betweentheir dark lashes. 

"Oh, I wish you would talk, if you don't mind!" she answered--and henoted as he had at first how warmly pleasant were the tones of hervoice, which was a bit deeper than one would have expected. "I've heardnobody talk for days--except to say they didn't care to buy my book. "

"Your book? Have you written a book?"

"I'm selling one. " This astonished him, but he did not let it show. Itwas certainly enough to make any girl ill to have to go about sellingbooks. He wondered how it happened. She opened her handbag and took outthe small book. "I don't want to sell you one, " she said. "You wouldn'thave any use for it. It's a little set of stories for children. "

"But I do want to buy one, " he protested. "I've a lot of nieces andnephews always coming at me for stories. "

She shook her head. "You can't buy one. I'd like to give you one if youwould take it, to show you how I appreciate this beautiful drive. "

"Of course I'll take it, " he said quickly, "and delighted at thechance. " He slipped the book into his pocket. "As for the drive, it'smuch jollier not to be covering the ground alone. I wish, though--" andhe stopped, feeling that he was probably going to say the wrong thing. 

She seemed to know what it would have been. "You're sorry to be takingme to the hospital?" she suggested. "You needn't be. I didn't want togo, just at first, but then--I felt I could trust the Doctor. He was sokind, and his hair was so like mine, he seemed like a sort of big olderbrother. "

"Red Pepper Burns seems like that to a lot of people, including myself. I don't look like much of a candidate for illness, but I've had anaccident or two, and he's pulled me through in great shape. You're rightin trusting him and you can keep right on, to the last ditch--" Hestopped short again, with an inward thrust at himself for being soblundering in his suggestions to this girl, who, for all he knew, mightbe on her way to that "last ditch" from which not even Burns could saveher. 

But the girl herself seemed to have paused at his first phrase. "Whatdid you call the Doctor?" she asked, turning her eyes upon him again. 

"What did I--oh! 'Red Pepper. ' Yes--I've no business to call him that, of course, and I don't to his face, though his friends who are a bitolder than I usually do, and people speak of him that way. It's hishair, of course--and--well, he has rather a quick temper. People withthat coloured hair--But you're wrong in saying yours is like his, " headded quickly. 

For the first time he saw a smile touch her lips. "So he has a quicktemper, " she mused. "I'm glad of that--I have one myself. It goes withthe hair surely enough. "

"It goes with some other things, " ventured Jordan King, determined, ifhe made any more mistakes, to make them on the side of encouragement. "Pluck, and endurance, and keeping jolly when you don't feel so--if youdon't mind my saying it. "

"One has to have a few of those things to start out into the worldwith, " said Miss Linton slowly, looking straight ahead again. 

"One certainly does. Doctor Burns understands that as well as any man Iknow. And he likes to find those things in other people. " Then withtales of some of the Doctor's experiences which young King had heard hebeguiled the way; and by the time he had told Miss Linton a story or twoabout certain experiences of his own in the Rockies, the car wasapproaching the city. Presently they were drawing up before the group ofwide-porched, long buildings, not unattractive in aspect, which formedthe hospital known as the Good Samaritan. 

"It's a pretty good place, " announced King in a matter-of-fact way, though inwardly he was suffering a decided pang of sympathy for theyoung stranger he was to leave within its walls. "And the Doctor saidhe'd have some one meet us who knew all about you, so there'd be nofuss. "

He leaped out and came around to her side. She began to thank him oncemore, but he cut her short. "I'm going in with you, if I may, " he said. "Something might go wrong about their understanding, and I could saveyou a bit of bother. "

She made no objection, and he helped her out. He kept his hand under herarm as they went up the steps, and did not let her go until they were ina small reception room, where they were asked to wait for a minute. Herealized now more than he had done before her weakness and the sense ofloneliness that was upon her. He stood beside her, hat in hand, wishinghe had some right to let her know more definitely than he had venturedto do how sorry he was for her, and how she could count on his thinkingabout her as a brother might while she was within these walls. 

But Burns's message evidently had taken effect, as his messages usuallydid, for after a very brief wait two figures in uniform appeared, oneshowing the commanding presence of a person in authority, the otherwearing the pleasantly efficient aspect of the active nurse. Miss Lintonwas to be taken to her room at once, the necessary procedure foradmittance being attended to later. 

Miss Linton seemed to know something about hospitals, for she offeredinstant remonstrance. "It's a mistake, I think, " she said, lifting herhead as if it were very heavy, but speaking firmly. "I prefer not tohave a room. Please put me in your least expensive ward. "

The person in authority smiled. "Doctor Burns said room, " she returned. "Nobody here is accustomed to dispute Doctor Burns's orders. "

"But I must dispute them, " persisted the girl. "I am not--willing--totake a room. "

"Don't concern yourself about that now, " said the other. "You can settleit with the Doctor when he comes by and by. "

Jordan King inwardly chuckled. "I wonder if it's going to be a case oftwo red heads, " he said to himself. "I'll bet on R. P. "

The nurse put her arm through Miss Linton's. "Come, " she said gently. "You ought not to be standing. "

The girl turned to King, and put out her small hand in its mended glove. He grasped it and dared to give it a strong pressure, and to say in alow tone: "It'll be all right, you know. Keep a stiff upper lip. We'renot going to forget you. " He very nearly said "I. "

"Good-bye, " she said. "I shall not forget how kind you've been. "

Then she was gone through the big door, the tall nurse beside hersupporting steps which seemed suddenly to falter, and King was staringafter her, feeling his heart contract with sympathy. 

 * * * * *

Four hours later Anne Linton opened her eyes, after an interval ofunconsciousness which had seemed to the nurse who looked in now and thenless like a sleep than a stupor, to find a pair of broad shoulderswithin her immediate horizon, and to feel the same lightly firm pressureon her wrist that she had felt before that afternoon. She looked upslowly into Burns's eyes. 

"Not so bad, is it?" said his low and reassuring voice. "Bed morecomfortable than doctor's office chairs? Won't mind if you don't ringany door bells to-morrow? Just let everything go and don't worry--andyou'll be all right. "

"This room--" began the weary young voice--she was really much moreweary now that she had stopped trying to keep up than seemed at allreasonable--"I can't possibly--"

"It's just the place for you. Don't do any thinking on that point. Youknow you agreed to take my orders, and this is one of them. "

"But I can't possibly--"

"I said they were my orders, " repeated Burns. "But that was amisstatement. They're the orders of some one else, more powerful than Iam under this roof--and that's saying something, I assure you. I thinkyou'll have to meet my wife. She's come on purpose to see you. She wasaway when you were at the office. "

He beckoned, and another figure moved quietly into range of the browneyes which were smoldering with the first advances of the fever. Thisfigure came around to the other side of the narrow high bed and sat downbeside it. Miss Linton looked into the face, as it seemed to her, of oneof the most attractive women she had ever seen. It was a face whichlooked down at her with the sweetest sympathy in its expression, and yetwith that same high cheer which was in the face of the man on the otherside of the bed. 

"My dear little girl, " said a low, rich voice, "this is my room, and Ioften have the pleasure of seeing my special friends use it. And I cometo see them here. When you are getting well, as you will be by and by, Ican have much nicer talks with you than if you were in a ward. Now thatyou understand, you will let me have my way?". 

The burning brown eyes looked into the soft black ones for a fullminute, then, with a long-drawn breath, the tense expression in thestranger's relaxed. "I see, " said the weary voice. "You are used tohaving your way--just as he is. I'll have to let you because I haven'tany strength left to fight with. You are wonderfully kind. But--I'm nota little girl. "

Ellen Burns smiled. "We'll play you are, for a while, " she said. "And--Iwant you to know that, little or big, you are my friend. So now you haveboth Doctor Burns and me, and you are not alone any more. "

The heavy lashes closed over the brown eyes, and the lids were heldtightly shut as if to keep tears back. Seeing this, Ellen rose. 

"Red, " she said, "are you going to let us have Miss Arden?"

"Won't anybody else do?"

"Do you need her badly somewhere else?"

"If there were ten of her I could use them all!" declared her husbandemphatically. 

"Nevertheless--"

Red Pepper Burns got up. He summoned a nurse waiting just outside thedoor. "Please send Miss Arden here for a minute, " he requested. Then heturned back. "Are you satisfied with your power?" he asked his wife. 

She nodded. "Quite. But I think you feel, as I do, that this is one ofthe ten places where she will be better than another. "

"She's a wonder, all right. "

The patient in the bed presently was bidden to look at her new nurse, one who was to take care of her much of the time. She lifted her heavyeyes unwillingly, then she drew another deep breath of relief. "I wouldrather have you, " she murmured to the serene brow, the kind eyes, thegently smiling lips of the girl who stood beside her. 

"There's a tribute, " laughed Burns softly. "They all feel like that whenthey look at you, Selina. And what Mrs. Burns wants she usually gets. You may special this case to-night, if you are ready to begin night dutyagain. "

"I am quite ready, " said Miss Arden. 

Burns turned to the bed again. "You are in the best hands we have togive you, " he said. "You are to trust everything to those hands. Good-night. I'll see you in the morning. "

"Good-night, dear, " whispered Mrs. Burns, bending for an instant overthe bed. 

"Oh you angels!" murmured the girl as they left her, her eyes followingthem. 

 * * * * *

It was ten days later, in the middle of a wonderful night in early May, that Miss Arden, beginning to be sure that the case which had interestedher so much was going to give her a hard time before it should bethrough, listened to words which roused in her deeper wonder than shehad yet felt for the most unusual patient she had had in a long time. Although there was as yet nothing that could be called real delirium, atendency to talk in a light-headed sort of way was becoming noticeable. Sitting by the window, the one light in the room deeply shaded, sheheard the voice suddenly say:

 "This evens things up a little, doesn't it? I know a little more about it now--you must realize that, if you are keeping track of me--and I know you are--you would--even from another world. Things aren't fair--they aren't. That you should have to suffer all you did, to bring you to that pass--while I--But I know a good deal about it now--really I do. And I'm going to know more. I didn't sell a single book to-day. You had lots of such days, didn't you? Poor--pale--tired--heartsick--heartbroken girl!"

A little mirthless laugh sounded from the bed. "I wonder how many peopleever let a person who is selling something at the door get into thehouse. And if they let her in, do they ever, _ever_ ask her to sit down?The places where I've stood, telling them about the book, while theywere telling me they didn't want it--stood and stood--and stood--withgreat easy chairs in sight! Oh, that chair in my doctor's office--it wasthe first chair I'd sat in that whole morning. I went to sleep in it, Ithink. "

There followed a long silence, as if the thought of sleep had broughtit on. But then the rambling talk began again. 

 "His hair is red--red, like mine. I think that's why his heart is so warm. Yet her heart is warm, too, and her hair is almost black. The other man's hair was pretty dark, too, and his heart seemed--well, not exactly cold. Did he send me some daffodils the other day? I can't seem to remember. It seems as if I had seen some--pretty things--lovely, springy things. Perhaps Mrs. --the red-headed doctor's wife--queer I can't think of their names--perhaps she sent them. It would be like her. "

The nurse's glance wandered, in the faint light, to where a great jar ofdaffodils stood upon the farther window sill, their heads noddingfaintly in the night breeze. Jordan King's card, which had come withthem, was tucked away in a drawer near by with two other cards, bearingthe same name, which had accompanied other flowers. Miss Arden doubtedif her patient realized who had sent any of them. Afterward--if therewas to be an afterward--she would show the cards to her. Miss Arden, like many other people, knew Jordan King by reputation, for the familywas an old and established one in the city, and the early success of theyoungest son in a line not often taken up by the sons of such familieswas noteworthy. Also he was good to look at, and Miss Arden, experienced nurse though she was and devoted to her profession, had notlost her appreciation of youth and health and good looks in those whowere not her patients. 

Unexpectedly, at this hour of the night--it was well toward oneo'clock--the door suddenly opened very quietly and a familiar big figureentered. Springing up to meet Doctor Burns, Miss Arden showed nosurprise. It was a common thing for this man, summoned to the hospitalat unholy hours for some critical case, to take time to look in onanother patient not technically in need of him. 

The head on the pillow turned at the slight sound beside it. Two wideeyes stared up at Burns. "You've made a mistake, I think, " said thepatient's voice, politely yet firmly. "My doctor has red hair. I knowhim by that. Your hair is black. "

"I presume it is, in this light, " responded Burns, sitting down by thebed. "It's pretty red, though, by daylight. In that case will you let mestay a minute?" His fingers pressed the pulse. Then his hand closed overhers with a quieting touch. "Since you're awake, " he said, "you may aswell have one extra bath to send you back to sleep. "

The head on the pillow signified unwillingness. "I'd take one to pleasemy red-headed doctor, but not you. "

"You'd do anything for him, eh?" questioned Burns, his eyes on the chartwhich the nurse had brought him and upon which she was throwing thelight of a small flash. "Well, you see he wants you to have this bath;he told me so. "

"Very well, then, " she said with a sigh. "But I don't like them. Theymake me shiver. "

"I know it. But they're good for you. They keep your red-headed doctormaster of the situation. You want him to be that, don't you?"

"He'd be that anyway, " said she confidently. 

Burns smiled, but the smile faded quickly. He gave a few briefdirections, then slipped away as quietly as he had come. 

 * * * * *

It was well into the next week when one morning he encountered JordanKing, who had been out of town for several days. King came up to himeagerly. Since this meeting occurred just outside the hospital, whereBurns's car had been standing in its accustomed place for the last hour, it might not have been a wholly accidental encounter. 

King made no attempt to maneuver for information. Maneuvering with RedPepper Burns, as the young man was well aware, seldom served anypurpose but to subject the artful one to a straight exposure. He askedhis question abruptly. 

"I want to hear how Miss Linton is doing. I'm just back fromWashington--haven't heard for a week. "

Burns frowned. No physician likes to be questioned about his cases, particularly if they are not progressing to suit him. But he answered, in a sort of growl: "She's not doing. "

King looked startled. "You mean--not doing well?"

"She's fighting for existence--and--slipping. "

"But--you haven't given her up?"

Burns exploded with instant wrath. King might have known that questionwould make him explode. "Given her up! Don't you know a red-headed fiendlike me better than that?"

"I know you're a bulldog when you get your teeth in, " admitted JordanKing, looking decidedly unhappy and anxious. "If I'm just sure you'vegot 'em in, that's enough. "

Burns grunted. The sound was significant. 

King ventured one more question, though Red Pepper's foot was on hisstarter, and the engine had caught the spark and turned over. "Ifthere's anything I could do, " he offered hurriedly and earnestly. "Supply a special nurse, or anything--"

Burns shook his head. "Two specials now, and half the staff interested. It's up to Anne Linton and nobody else. If she can do the trick--she andNature--all right. If not--well--Thanks for letting go the car, Jord. This happens to be my busy day. "

Jordan King looked after him, his heart uncomfortably heavy. Then hestepped into his own car and drove away, taking his course down a sidestreet from which he could get a view of certain windows. They were wideopen to the May breeze and the sunshine, but no pots of daffodils orother flowers stood on their empty sills. He knew it was useless to sendthem now. 

"But if she does pull through, " he said to himself between his teeth, "I'll bring her such an armful of roses she can't see over the top of'em. God send I get the chance!"

CHAPTER V

SUSQUEHANNA

Red Pepper Burns drove into the vine-covered old red barn behind hishouse which served as his garage, and stopped his engine with an air offinality. 

"Johnny, " said he, addressing the young man who was accustomed to drivewith him--and for him when for any reason he preferred not to drivehimself, which was seldom--and who kept the car in the most carefultrim, "not for man or beast, angel or devil will I go out againto-night. "

Johnny Carruthers grinned. "No, sir, " he replied. "Not unless theyhappen to want you, " he added. 

"Not if they offer me a thousand dollars for the trip, " growled hismaster. 

"You would for a dead beat, though, " suggested the devoted servant, whoby virtue of five years of service knew whereof he spoke, "if he'dsmashed his good-for-nothin' head. "

"Not if he'd smashed his whole blamed body--so long as there wasanother surgeon in the county who could do the job. "

"That's just the trouble, " argued Johnny. "You'd think there wasn't. "

Red Pepper looked at him. "Johnny, you're an idiot!" he informed him. Then he strode away toward the house. 

As he went into his office the telephone rang. The office was empty, forit was dinner-time, and Miss Mathewson was having a day off duty onaccount of her mother's illness. So, unhappily for the person at theother end of the wire, the Doctor himself answered the ring. It had beena hard day, following other hard days, and he was feeling intensefatigue, devastating depression, and that unreasoning irritability whichis born of physical weariness and mental unrest. 

"Hello, " shouted the victim of these disorders into the transmitter. "What?. .. No, I can't. .. . What?. .. No. Get somebody else. .. . What?. .. Ican't, I say. .. . Yes, you can. Plenty of 'em. .. . What?. .. Absolutely_no_! Good-bye!"

"I ought to feel better after that, " muttered Burns, slamming thereceiver on the hook. "But somehow I don't. "

In two minutes he was splashing in a hot bath, as always at the end of abusy day. From the tub he was summoned to the telephone, the upstairsextension, in his own dressing room. With every red hair erect upon hishead after violent towelling, he answered the message which reached hisunwilling ears. 

"What's that? Worse? She isn't--it's all in her mind. Tell her she's allright. I saw her an hour ago. What?. .. Well, that's all imagination, asI've told her ten thousand times. There's absolutely nothing the matterwith her heart. .. . No, I'm not coming--she's not to be babied likethat. .. . No, I won't. Good-bye!"

The door of the room softly opened. A knock had preceded the entrance ofEllen, but Burns hadn't heard it. He eyed her defiantly. 

"Do you feel much, much happier now?" she asked with a merry look. 

"If I don't it's not the fault of the escape valve. I pulled it wideopen. "

"I heard the noise of the escaping steam. " She came close and stoodbeside him, where he sat, half dressed and ruddy in his bathrobe. He putup both arms and held her, lifting his head for her kiss, which hereturned with interest. 

"That's the first nice thing that's happened to me to-day--since the oneI had when I left you this morning, " he remarked. "I'm all in to-night, and ugly as a bear, as usual. I feel better, just this minute, with youin my arms and a bath to the good, but I'm a beast just the same, andyou'd best take warning. .. . Oh, the--"

For the telephone bell was ringing again. From the way he strode acrossthe floor in his bathrobe and slippers it was small wonder that thewalls trembled. His wife, watching him, felt a thrill of sympathy forthe unfortunate who was to get the full force of that concussion. With ascowl on his brow he lifted the receiver, and his preliminary "Hello!"was his deepest-throated growl. But then the scene changed. Red Pepperlistened, the scowl giving place to an expression of a very differentcharacter. He asked a quick question or two, with something like a mostunaccustomed breathlessness in his voice, and then he said, in thebusinesslike but kind way which characterized him when his sympathieswere roused:

"I'll be there as quick as I can get there. Call Doctor Buller for me, and let Doctor Grayson know I may want him. "

Rushing at the completion of his dressing he gave a hurried explanation, in answer to his wife's anxious inquiry, "It isn't Anne Linton?"

"It's worse, it's Jord King. He's had a bad accident--confound hisrecklessness! I'm afraid he's made a mess of it this time for fair, though I can't be sure till I get there. "

"Where is he?" Ellen's face had turned pale. 

"At the hospital. His man Aleck is hurt, too. Call Johnny, please, andhave him bring the car around and go with me. "

Ellen flew, and five minutes later watched her husband gulp down a cupof the strong coffee Cynthia always made him at such crises when, inspite of fatigue, he must lose no time nor adequately reënforce hisphysical energy with food. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry you couldn't rest to-night, " she said as he set downthe cup and, pulling his hat over his eyes, picked up the heavy surgicalbags. 

"Couldn't, anyway, with the universe on my mind, so I might as well keepgoing, " was Burns's gruff reply, though the kiss he left on her lips wasa long one and spoke his appreciation of her tender comradeship. 

She did not see him again till morning, though she lay awake many hours. He came in at daylight; she heard the car go in at the driveway, and, rising hurriedly, was ready to meet him when he came into the livingroom downstairs. 

"Up so early?" questioned Burns as he saw her. The next minute he hadfolded her in one of those strong-armed embraces which speak of a gladreturn to one whose life is a part of one's own. "I wonder, " hemurmured, with his cheek pressed to hers, "if a man ever came back tosweeter arms than these!"

But she knew, in spite of this greeting, that his heart was heavy. Herown heart sank. But she waited, asking no questions. He would tell herwhen he was ready. 

He drew her down upon the couch beside him and sat with his arm aroundher. "No, I don't want to lie down just yet, " he said. "I just want you. I'm keeping you in suspense, I know; I oughtn't to do that. Jord's lifeis all right, and he'll be himself again in time, but--well, I've lostmy nerve for a bit--I can't talk about it. "

His voice broke. By and by it steadied again; and, his wearinesspartially lifted by the heartening little breakfast Ellen brought him ona tray, he told her the story of the night:

"Jord was coming in from the Coldtown Waterworks, forty miles out, latefor dinner and hustling to make up time. Aleck, the Kings' chauffeur, was with him. They were coming in at a good clip, even for a backstreet, probably twenty-five or thirty. There wasn't much on the streetexcept ahead, by the curb, a wagon, and coming toward him a big motortruck. When he was fifty feet from the wagon a fellow stepped out frombehind it to cross the street. It was right under the arc light, andJord recognized Franz--'Little Hungary' you know--with his fiddle underhis arm, crossing to go in at the stage door of the Victoria Theatre, where he plays. The boy didn't see them at all. 

"Neither Jord nor Aleck can tell much about it yet, of course, but fromthe little I got I know as well as if I had been there what happened. Heslammed on the brakes--it was the only thing he could do, with the motortruck taking up half the narrow street. The pavement was wet--a showerwas just over. Of course she skidded completely around to the left, justmissing the truck, and when she hit the curb over she went. She jammedJord between the car and the ground, injuring his back pretty badly butnot permanently, as nearly as I can make out. But she crushed Aleck'sright arm so that--"

He drew a long breath, a difficult breath, and Ellen, listening, criedout against the thing she instantly felt it meant. 

"O Red! You don't mean--"

He nodded. "I took it off, an hour afterward--at the shoulder. "

Ellen turned white, and in a moment more she was crying softly withinthe shelter of her husband's arm. He sat with set lips, and eyes staringat the empty fireplace before him. Presently he spoke again, and hisvoice was very low, as if he could not trust it:

"Aleck was game. He was the gamest chap I ever saw. All he said when Itold him was, 'Go ahead, Doctor. ' I never did a harder thing in all mylife. I suppose army surgeons get more or less used to it, butsomehow--when I knew what that arm meant to Aleck, and how an hourbefore it had been a perfect thing, and now--"

He did not try to tell her more just then, but later, when both weresteadied, he added a few more important details to the story:

"Franz went to the hospital with them--wouldn't leave them--ran the riskof losing his position. Do you know, Jord has been teaching that boyEnglish, evenings, and naturally Franz adores him. I suppose Jord wouldhave taken that skid for any blamed beggar who got in his way, but ofcourse it didn't take any force off the way he jammed on those brakeswhen he saw it was a friend he was going to hit. And a friend he wasgoing to maim--pretty hard choice to make, wasn't it? But of course itwas sure death to Franz if he hit him, at that pace, so there wasnothing else to do but take the chance for himself and Aleck. Maybe youcan guess, though, how he feels about Aleck. One wouldn't think he knewhe'd been cruelly hurt himself. "

"Oh! I thought--"

"Jord's back will give him a lot of trouble for a while, but his spineisn't seriously injured, if I know my trade. Altogether--well--thenurses have got a couple of interesting cases on their hands for awhile. No doubt Aleck will be well looked after. As for Jord--he'll beso much the more helpless of the two for a while, I'm afraid he'll provea distraction that will demoralize the force. "

He smiled faintly for the first time, but his face sobered againinstantly. 

"Anne Linton's pretty weak, but she took a little nourishment sanelythis morning just before I came away. Miss Arden feels a trifleencouraged. I confess this thing of Jord's has knocked the girl out ofmy mind for the time being, though I shall get her back again fastenough, if I don't find things going right when I see her. Well"--heturned his wife's face toward him, with a hand against her cheek--"it'sall out now, and I'm eased a bit by the telling. I wish I could getforty winks, just to make a break between last night and this morning. "

"You shall. Lie down and I'll put you to sleep. "

He did not think it possible, in spite of his exhaustion, but presentlyunder her quieting touch he was over the brink, greatly to Ellen'srelief. Her heart contracted with love and sympathy as she watched hisface. It was a weary face, now in its relaxation, and there were heavyshadows under the closed eyes. Every now and then a frown crossed thebroad brow, as if the sleeper were not wholly at ease, could not forget, even in his dreams, what he had had to do a few hours ago. She thoughtof young Aleck with his manly, smiling face, his pride in keeping JordanKing's car as fine and efficient beneath its hood--mud-splashed thoughit often was without--as he did the shining limousine he drove for Mrs. Alexander King, Jordan's mother. She thought of what it must be to himnow to know that he was maimed for life. As for King himself, she knewhim well enough to understand how his own injuries would count forlittle beside his distress in having had to deal the blow which hadcrushed that strong young arm of Aleck's. Her heart ached for themboth--and even for poor Franz, weeping at having been the innocent causeof all this havoc. 

Two hours' sleep did his wife secure for Burns before he woke, stoutlyavowing himself fit for anything again, and setting off, immediatelybreakfast was over, for the place to which his thoughts had leaped withhis first return to consciousness. 

"Can't rest till I see old Jord. Did I tell you that he insisted onAleck's having the room next his, precisely as big and airy as his own?There's a door between, and when it's open they can see each other. WhenI left Jord the door was open, and he was staring in at Aleck, who wasstill sleeping off the anesthetic, and a big tear was running downJord's cheek. He can't stir himself, but that doesn't seem to bother himany. He's going to suffer a lot of pain with his back, but he'll sufferten times more looking at that bandaged shoulder of Aleck's. "

 * * * * *

It was four days later that Ellen saw King. She was prepared to findhim, as Burns had called him, "game, " but she had not known just allthat term means among men when it is applied to such a one as he. If hehad been receiving her after having suffered a bad wrench of the anklehe could not have treated the occasion more simply. 

"This is mighty good of you, " he said, reaching up a well-developedright arm from his bed, where he lay flat on his back without so much asa pillow beneath his head. His hair was carefully brushed, his bandageswere concealed, his lips were smiling, and altogether he was, except forhis prostrate position, no picture of an invalid. 

"I've just been waiting to come, " she said, returning the firm pressureof his hand with that of both her own. 

"And meanwhile you've kept me reminded of you by these wonderfulflowers, " he said with a nod toward the ranks on ranks of roses whichcrowded table and window sills. 

"Oh, but not all those!" she denied. "I might have known you would bedeluged with them. Daisies and buttercups out of the fields would havebeen better. "

"No, because those you sent look like you. Doctor Burns won't grudge methe pleasure of saying now what I like to his wife--and it's the firsttime I've really dared tell you what I thought. "

"What a charming compliment! But I'm going to send you something muchmore substantial now--good things to eat, and books to read, if I canjust find out what you like--and even games to play, if you care forthem. "

"I'll be delighted, if they're something Aleck and I can play together. You see when that door is open we aren't far apart, and it won't belong, Doctor Burns says, before he'll be walking in here to keep mecompany--till he gets out. "

"He is doing well, I hear. I'm so glad. "

"Yes, that husky young constitution of his is telling finely--plus yourhusband's surgery. My poor boy!" He shut his lips upon the words, andkept them closely pressed together for an instant. "My word, Mrs. Burns--he's the stuff that heroes are made of! His living to earn forthe rest of his life--with one arm--and you'd think he'd lost the tip ofone finger. If ever I let that boy go out of my employ--why, he's worthmore as a shining example of pluck than other men are worth with twogood arms!"

"I must go and see him--if he'd care to have me. "

"He'd take it as the honour of his life. He's crazy over the flowers yousent him. "

"Would he care for books? And what sort? I'm going to bring both of youbooks. "

"Stories of adventure will suit Aleck--the wilder the better. Oddchoice--for such a peaceable-looking fellow, isn't it? As forme--something I'll have to work hard to listen to, something to keep anedge on my mind. I've counted the cracks in the ceiling till I have amap of them by heart. I've worked out a system by which I can drain thatceiling country and raise crops there. There isn't much else in thisroom that I can count or lay out--worse luck! So I've named all theroses, and have wagers with myself as to which will fade first. I'mbetting on Susquehanna, that big red one, to outlast all the rest. "

 * * * * *

When Red Pepper looked in half an hour later, it was to find the dooropen between the two rooms, and his wife listening, smiling, to anincident of the night just past, as told by first one patient and thenthe other. The two young men might have been two comrades lying beside acampfire, so gay was their jesting with each other, so light theirtreatment of the wakeful hours both had spent. 

"No, there's nothing the matter with either of them, " observed Burns, looking from one bedside to the other. "Franz is the chap with the heavyheart; these two are just enjoying a summer holiday. But I'm not goingto keep the communication open long at a time, as yet. "

He went in to see Aleck, closing the door again. When he returned hetook up a position at the foot of King's bed, regarding him in silence. Ellen looked up at her husband. There was something in his face whichhad not been there of late--a curiously bright look, as if a cloud werelifted. She studied him intently, and when he returned the scrutiny sheraised her eyebrows in an interrogation. He nodded, smiling quizzically. 

"Jord, " he said, "if you want to keep your secrets to yourself, bewareof letting any woman come within range. My wife has just read me as if Iwere an open book in large black type. "

"Bound in scarlet and gold, " added Ellen. "Tell us, Red. You really havegood news?"

"The best. I am pretty confident Anne Linton has turned the corner. Ihoped it yesterday, but wasn't sure enough to say so. Did you know that, too?"

"Of course. But you were in small type yesterday. To-day he who runs mayread. You would know it yourself, wouldn't you, Jordan?"

The man in the bed studied the man who stood at its foot. The tworegarded each other as under peculiar circumstances men do who have astrong bond of affection and confidence between them. 

"He's such a bluffer, " said King. "I hadn't supposed anybody could tellmuch about what he was thinking. But I do see he looks pretty jolly thismorning, and I don't imagine it's all bluff. I'm certainly glad to hearMiss Linton is doing well. "

"Doing well isn't exactly the phrase even now, " admitted Red Pepper. "There are lots of things that can happen yet. But the wind and waveshave floated her little craft off the rocks, and the leaks in the boatare stopped. If she doesn't spring any more, and the winds continuefavourable, we'll make port. "

Jordan King looked as happy as if he had been the brother of thispatient of Burns's, whom neither of them had known a month ago, and whomone of them had seen but once. 

"That's great, " he said. "I haven't dared to ask since I came heremyself, knowing how poor the prospects were the last time I did ask. Iwas afraid I should surely hear bad news. When can we begin to send herflowers again? Couldn't I send some of mine? I'd like her to haveSusquehanna there, and Rappahannock--and I think Arapahoe and Apachewill run them pretty close on lasting. Would you mind taking them to herwhen you go?" His eyes turned to Mrs. Burns. 

"I'd love to, but I shall not dare to tell her you are here, just yet. She is very weak, isn't she, Red?"

"As a starved pussy cat. The flowers won't hurt her, but we don't wantto rouse her sympathies as yet. "

"I should say not. Don't mention me; just take her the posies, "instructed King, his cheek showing a slight access of colour. 

"You won't know whether Susquehanna wins your wager or not, " Ellenreminded him as she obediently separated the indicated blooms, magnificent great hothouse specimens with stems like pillars. That thefinest of all these roses, not excepting those she had sent herself, hadcome from private greenhouses, she well knew. The Kings lived in thecentre of the wealthiest quarter of the city, though not themselvespossessed of more than moderate riches. Their name, however, was an oldand honoured one, Jordan himself was a favourite, and none in the citywas too important to be glad to be admitted at his home. 

"Anything more I can do for you before I go?" inquired Burns of hispatient when Ellen had gone, smiling back at King from over the bigroses and promising to keep track of Susquehanna for him in her dailyvisits. 

"Nothing, thank you. You did it all an hour ago, and left me morecomfortable than I expected to be just yet. I'm not sure whether it wasthe dressing or the visit that did me the most good. "

"You're a mighty satisfactory sort of patient. That good clean blood ofyours is telling already in your recovery from shock. It tells inanother way, too. "

"What's that?"

"Sheer pluck. "

King's eyelids fell. It meant much to him to stand well in theestimation of this man, himself distinguished for the cool daring of hiswork, his endurance of the hard drudgery of his profession as well asthe brilliant performance on occasion. "I'm glad you think so--RedPepper Burns, " King answered daringly. Then, as the other laughed, headded: "Do you know what would make me the most docile patient you couldask?"

"Docile doesn't seem just the word for you--but I'd be glad to know, incase of emergency. "

"Let me call you that--the name your best friends have for you. It's abully name. I know I'm ten years younger--but--"

"Good lack! Jordan King, call me anything you like! I'll appreciate it. "

"You've no idea how long I've wanted to do it--Red, " vowed the youngerman, with the flush again creeping into his cheek. 

"Why didn't you long ago?" Burns demanded. "Surely dignity's nocharacteristic of mine. If Anne Linton can call me 'Red Head' on noacquaintance at all--"

"She didn't do that!" King looked a little as if he had received a blow. 

"Only when she was off her head, of course. She took me for a wildcatonce, poor child. No, no--when she was sane she addressed me veryproperly. She's back on the old decorous ground now. Made me a beautifullittle speech this morning, informing me that I had to stop calling her'little girl, ' for she was twenty-four years old. As she looks aboutfifteen at the present, and a starved little beggar at that, I found ita bit difficult to begin on 'Miss Linton, ' particularly as I have beenaddressing her as 'Little Anne' all the time. "

"Starved?" King seemed to have paused at this significant word. 

"Oh, we'll soon fill her out again. She's really not half so thin asshe might be under the old-style treatment. It strikes me you have agood deal of interest in my patients, Jord. Shall I describe the rest ofthem for you?"

Burns looked mischievous, but King did not seem at all disturbed. 

"Naturally I am interested in a girl you made me bring to the hospitalmyself. And at present--well--a fellow feeling, you know. I see how itis myself now. I didn't then. "

"True enough. Well, I'll bring you daily bulletins from Miss Anne. Andwhen she's strong enough I'll break the news to her of your proximity. Doubtless your respective nurses will spend their time carrying flowersback and forth from one of you to the other. "

"More than likely, " King admitted. "Anything to fill in the time. I'msorry I can't take her out in my car when she's ready. I've beenthinking, Doctor--Red, " he went on hastily, "that there's got to be someway for Aleck to drive that car in the future. I'm going to work out ascheme while I lie here. "

"Work out anything. I'll prophesy right now that as soon as you getfairly comfortable you'll think out more stuff while you're lying onyour back than you ever did in a given period of time before. It won'tbe lost time at all; it'll be time gained. And when you do get back onyour legs--no, don't ask me when that'll be, I can't tell nor any otherfellow--but when you do get back you'll make things fly as they neverdid before--and that's going some. "

"You _are_ a great bluffer, but I admit that I like the sound of it, "was King's parting speech as he watched Burns depart. 

On account of this latest interview he was able to bear up the betterunder the immediately following visit of his mother, anaristocratic-looking, sweet-faced but sad-eyed lady, who could not yetbe reconciled to that which had happened to her son, and who visited himtwice daily to bring hampers of fruit, food, and flowers, in quantitysufficient to sustain half the patients in a near-by ward. Sheinvariably shed a few quiet tears over him which she tried vainly toconceal, addressed him in a mournful tone, and in spite of his effortsto cheer her managed to leave behind her after each visit an atmosphereof depression which it took him some time and strength to overcome. 

"Poor mother, she can't help it, " philosophized her son. "What stumpsme, though, is why one who takes life so hard should outlive a man likemy father, who was all that is brave and cheerful. Perhaps it took itout of him to be always playing the game boldly against her fears. Buteven so--give me the bluffers, like Red Pepper--and like Mrs. Red. Jove! but she's a lovely woman. No wonder he adores her. So do I--withhis leave. And so does Anne Linton, I should imagine. Poor littlegirl--what does she look like, I wonder?"

If he could have seen her at that moment, holding Susquehanna againsther hollow young cheek, the glowing flower making the white face apitiful contrast, he would have been even more touched than he couldhave imagined. Also--he would have felt that his wager concerningSusquehanna was likely to be lost. It is not conducive to the life of arose to be loved and caressed as this one was being. But since it wasthe first of her flowers that Anne Linton had been able to take note ofand enjoy, it might have been considered a life--and a wager--well lost. 

CHAPTER VI

HEAVY LOCAL MAILS

Anne Linton lifted her head ever so little from the allowed incline ofher pillow in the Good Samaritan Hospital. She peered anxiously at thetray being borne toward her by Selina Arden, most scrupulouslyconscientious of all trained nurses, and never more rigidly exact thanwhen the early diet of patients in convalescence was concerned. 

"Is that all?" murmured Anne in a tone of anguish. 

"All!" replied Miss Arden firmly. But she smiled, showing her perfectwhite teeth--and showing also her sympathy by the tone in which sheadded: "Poor child!"

"Shall I never, never, never, " asked the patient, hungrily surveying thetray at close range, "have enough just to dull these pangs a little? Notenough to satisfy me, of course, but just enough to take the edge off?"

"Very soon now, " replied Miss Arden cheerily, "you shall have a prettygood-sized portion of beefsteak, juicy and tender, and you shall eat itall up--"

"And leave not a wrack behind, " moaned Anne Linton, closing her eyes. "But you are wrong, Miss Arden--I shall not eat it, I shall _gulp_it--the way a dog does. I always wondered why a dog has no manners abouteating. I know now. He is so hungry his eyes eat it first, so his mouthhas no chance. Well, I'm certainly thankful for the food on this tray. It's awfully good--what there is of it. "

She consumed it, making the process as lingering as was consistent withthe ravaging appetite which was a real torture. When the last mouthfulhad vanished she set her eyes upon the clock--the little travellingclock which was Miss Arden's and which had ticked busily and cheerfullythrough all those days of illness when Anne's eyes had never once liftedto notice the passage of time. 

"I was so long about it, " said the girl gleefully, "that now it's onlytwo hours and forty minutes to the next refreshment station. I expect Ican keep on living till then if I use all my will power. "

"And here's something to make you forget how long two hours and fortyminutes are. "

Miss Arden went to the door and, returning, laid suddenly in Anne's armsa great, fragrant mass of white bloom, at the smell and touch of whichshe gave a half-smothered cry of rapture, and buried her face in themidst of it. "White lilacs--oh, white lilacs! The dears--the loves! Oh, where _did_ they come from?"

"There's a note that came with them, " admitted Miss Arden presently, when she had let the question go unanswered for some time, while Anne, seeming to forget that she had asked it, smelled and smelled of the coolwhite and green branches as if she could never have enough of them. Intoher eyes had leaped a strange look, as if some memory were connectedwith these outdoor flowers which made them different for her from thehothouse blooms, or even from the daffodils and tulips that hadalternated with the roses which had come often since her convalescencebegan. 

Anne reached up an eager hand for the note, a look of surprise on herface. Miss Arden, looking back at her, noted how each day was helping toremove the pallor and wanness from that face. At the moment, under thecaress of the lilacs and the surprise of the impending note, it wasshowing once more a decided touch of its former beauty. Also she waswearing a little invalid's wrap of lace and pink silk, given her by Mrs. Burns, and this helped the effect. 

Anne unfolded the note. Miss Arden went away with the empty tray, andremained away some time. Miss Arden, as has been said before, was amost remarkable nurse. 

The note read thus:

 The Next Corridor, 10:30 A. M. 

 DEAR MISS LINTON:

 The time has come, it seems to me, for two patients who have nothing to do but while away the hours for a bit longer, to help each other out. What do you say? I suppose you don't know that I've been lying flat on my back now for a fortnight, getting over a rather bad spill from my car. I'm pretty comfortable now, thank you, so don't waste a particle of sympathy; but the hours must certainly drag for you as they do for me, and my idea is that we ought to establish some sort of system of intercommunication. I have an awfully obliging nurse, and a young man with a fiddle here besides, and I'd like to send you a short musicale when you feel up to it. Are you fond of music? I have a notion you are. Franz will come and play for you whenever you say. But besides that I'd awfully like to have a note from you as soon as you are able to write. I'll answer it, you know--and then you'll answer that, perhaps--and so the hours will go by. I know this is a rather free-and-easy-sounding proposition from a perfect stranger, as I suppose you think me, but circumstances do alter cases, you know, and if our circumstances can't alter our cases, then it's no good being laid up!

 Hearty congratulations on that raging appetite. You see Doctor Burns is good enough to keep me informed as to how you come on. You certainly seem to be coming on now. Please keep it up. I shouldn't dare ask you to write to me if the Doctor hadn't said you could--if you wouldn't do it enough to tire you. So--I'm hoping. 

 Yours, under the same roof, JORDAN KING. 

"Good morning!" said a beloved voice from the doorway. Anne looked upeagerly from her letter. 

"Oh, Mrs. Burns--good morning! And won't you please stand quite stillfor a minute while I look at you?"

Ellen laughed. To other people than Anne Linton she was always theembodiment of quiet charm in her freshness of attire and air of generaldaintiness. In the pale gray and white of her summer clothing, with aspray of purple lilac tucked into her belt, she was a vision to rest theeye upon. "You are looking ever so well yourself to-day, " Ellen said asshe sat down close beside Anne, facing her. "Another week and you willbe showing us what you really look like. "

"The little pink cover-up does me as much good as anything, " declaredAnne. "I never thought I could wear pink with my carroty hair. But MissArden says I can wear anything you say I can, and I believe her. "

"Your hair is bronze, not carroty, and that apricot shade of pink tonesin with it beautifully. What a glorious mass of white lilacs! I neversaw any so fine. "

"They're wonderful. I insisted on keeping them right here, I'm so fond ofthe fragrance. They came from Mr. King, " said Anne frankly. "And a notefrom him says he's here in the hospital with an injured back. I'm sosorry. Please tell me how badly he is hurt. "

"He will have to be patient for some weeks longer, I believe, but thereis no permanent injury. Meanwhile, he is like any man confined, restlessfor want of occupation. Still, he keeps his time pretty full. " And Ellenproceeded to recount the story of Franz, and of how Jordan King wascontinuing here in the hospital to teach him to speak English, findinghim the quickest and most grateful of pupils. 

"How splendid of him! He's going to send Franz to play for me. I can'tthink of anything--except beefsteak--I should like so much!" and Annelaughed, her face all alight with interest. But the next instant itsobered. "Mrs. Burns, " she said, "there's something I want to say verymuch, and so far the Doctor hasn't let me. But I'm quite strong enoughnow to begin to make plans, and one of them is this: The minute I'm ableto leave the hospital I want to go to some inexpensive place where I canstay without bothering anybody. You have all been so wonderful to me Ican never express my gratitude, but I'm beginning to feel--oh, can't youguess how anxious I am to be taking care of myself again? And I want youto know that I have quite money enough to do it until I can go on withmy work. "

Mrs. Burns looked at her. In the excitement of talking the girl's facelooked rounder and of a better colour than it had yet shown, and hereyes were glowing, eyes of such beauty as are not often seen. But forall that, she seemed like some lovely child who could no more take careof itself than could a newborn kitten. Ellen laid one hand on hers. 

"You are not to think about such things yet, dear, " she said. "Do youimagine we have not grown very fond of you, and would let you go offinto some place alone before you are fully yourself again? Not a bit ofit. As soon as you can leave here you are coming to me as my guest. Andwhen you are playing tennis with Bob, on our lawn, you may begin to talkabout plans for the future. "

Anne stared back at her, a strange expression on her face. "Oh, no!" shebreathed. 

"Oh, yes! You can't think how I am looking forward to it. Meanwhile--youare not to tire yourself with talking. I only stopped for a minute, andthe Doctor is waiting by now. Good-bye, my dear. " And before Anne couldprotest she was gone, having learned, by experience, that the way toterminate useless argument with the one who is not strong enough to beallowed to argue is by making early escape. 

That afternoon, having recovered from the two surprises of the morning, Anne asked for pencil and paper. Miss Arden, supplying them, stipulatedthat their use should cover but five minutes. 

"It is one of the last things we let patients do, " she said, "though itis the thing they all want to do first. There is nothing so tiring asletter writing. "

"I'm not going to write a letter, " Anne replied, "just a hail to afellow sufferer. Only I'm no sufferer, and I'm afraid he is. "

She wrote her note, and it was presently handed to Jordan King. He hadwondered very much what sort of answer he should have, feeling thatnothing could reveal the sort of person this girl was so surely as aletter, no matter how short. He had been sure he recognized education inher speech, breeding in her manner, high intelligence as well as beautyin her face, but--well, the letter would reveal. And so it did, thoughit was written in a rather shaky hand, in pencil, on one of Miss Arden'shospital record blanks--of all things!

 DEAR MR. KING:

 It is the most wonderful thing in the world to be sitting up far enough to be able to write and tell you how sorry I am that you are lying down. But Mrs. Burns assures me that you are fast improving and that soon you will be about again. Meanwhile you are turning your time of waiting to a glorious account in teaching poor Franz to speak English. Surely he must have been longing to speak it, so that he might tell you the things in his heart--about that dreadful night. But I know you don't want me to write of that, and I won't. 

 Of course I should care to have him play for me, and I hope he may do it soon--to-morrow, perhaps. I wonder if he knows the Schubert "_Frühlingstraum_"--how I should love to hear it! As for your interesting plan for relieving the passing hours, I should hardly be human if I did not respond to it! Only please never write when you don't feel quite like it--and neither will I. 

 The white lilacs were even more beautiful than the roses and the daffodils. There was a long row of white lilac trees at one side of a garden I used to play in--I shall never, never forget what that fragrance was like after a rain! And now that my sun is shining again--after the rain--you may imagine what those white lilacs breathe of to me. 

 With the best of good wishes, ANNE LINTON. 

Jordan King read this note through three times before he folded it backinto its original creases. Then he shut it away in a leather-boundwriting tablet which lay by his side. "Franz, " he said, addressing theyouth who was at this hour of the day his sole attendant, "can you playSchubert's '_Frühlingstraum_'?"

He had to repeat this title several times, with varying accents, beforehe succeeded in making it intelligible. But suddenly Franz leaped to anunderstanding. 

"Yess--yess--yess--yess--sair, " he responded joyously, and made a divefor his violin case. 

"Softly, Franz, " warned his master. As this was a word which had thusfar been often used in his education, on account of the fact that thehospital did not belong exclusively to King--strange as that might seemto Franz who worshipped him--it was immediately comprehended. Withoutraising the tones of his instrument, Franz was able presently to makeclear to King that the music he was asked to play was of the best at hiscommand. 

"No wonder she likes that, " was King's inward comment. "It's a strange, weird thing, yet beautiful in a haunting sort of way, I imagine, to agirl like her, and I don't know but it would be to me if I heard it manytimes--while I was smelling lilacs in the rain, " he added, smiling tohimself. 

That hint of a garden had rather taken hold of his imagination. Morethan likely, he said to himself, it had been her own garden--only shewould not tell him so lest she seem to try to convey an idea of formerprosperity. A different sort of girl would have said "our garden. "

 * * * * *

Next morning, at the time of Mrs. Burns's visit to the hospital, Kingsent Franz to play for Miss Linton. With her breakfast tray had come hissecond note telling her of this intention, so she had two hours ofanticipation--a great thing in the life of a convalescent. With everybronze lock in shining order, with the little wrap of apricot pink silkand lace about her shoulders, with an extra pillow at her back, MissAnne Linton awaited the coming of the "Court Musician, " as King hadcalled him. 

"It's a very good thing Jord can't see her at this minute, " observedBurns to his wife as he met her in the hall outside the door. "Theprettiest convalescent has less appeal for a doctor than a young womanof less good looks in strapping health--naturally, for he gets quiteenough of illness and the signs thereof. But to a lusty chap like KingMiss Anne's present frail appearance would undoubtedly enlist hischivalry. Those are some eyes of hers, eh?"

"I think I have never seen more beautiful eyes, " Ellen agreed heartily. 

Her husband laughed. "I have, " he said, and went his way, having no timefor morning musicales. 

That afternoon Anne Linton, having had all her pillows removed andhaving obediently lain still and silent for two long hours, waspermitted to sit up again and write a note to King to tell him of thejoy of the morning:

 DEAR MR. KING:

 It was as if the twilight were falling, with the stars coming out one by one. By and by they were all shining, and I was on a mountain top somewhere, with the wind blowing softly against my face. It was dark and I was all alone, but I didn't mind, for I was strong, strong again, and I knew I could run down by and by and be with people. Then a storm came on, and I lifted my face to if and loved it, and when it died away the stars were shining again between the clouds. Somewhere a little bird was singing--I opened my eyes just there, and your Franz was looking at me and smiling, and I smiled back. He seemed so happy to be making me happy--for he was, of course. After a while it was dawn--the loveliest dawn, all flushed with pink and silver, and I couldn't keep my eyes shut any more for looking at the musician's face. He is a real musician, you know, and the music he makes comes out of his soul. 

 When it was all over and he and Mrs. Burns were gone, my tray came in. This is a frightful confession, but I am not a real musician; I merely love good music with some sort of understanding of what it means to those who really care, as Franz does. To me, after all the emotion, my tray looked like a sort of solid rock that I could cling to. And I had a piece of wonderful beefsteak--ah, now you are laughing! Never mind--I'll show you the two scenes. 

Upon the second sheet was something which made Jordan King open hiseyes. There were two little drawings--the simplest of pencil sketches, yet executed with a spirit and skill which astonished him. The first wasof Franz himself, done in a dozen lines. There was no attempt at aportrait, yet somehow Franz was there, in the very set of the head, theangle of the lifted brow, the pose of the body, most of all in theindication of the smiling mouth, the drooping eyelids. The secondpicture was a funny sketch of a big-eyed girl devouring food from atray. Two lines made the pillows behind her, six outlined the tray, adozen more demonstrated plainly the famishing appetite with which thegirl was eating. It was all there--it was astonishing how it was allthere. 

"My word!" he said as he laid down the sheets--and took them up again, "that's artist work, whether she knows it or not. She must know it, though, for she must have had training. I wonder where and how. "

He called Miss Arden and showed her the sketches. 

"Dear me, but they're clever, " she said. "They look like a child'swork--and yet they aren't. "

"I should say not, " he declared very positively. "That sort of thing isno child's work. That's what painters do when they're recording animpression, and I've often looked in more wonder at such sketchyoutlines than at the finished product. To know how to get thatimpression on paper so that it's unmistakable--I tell you that'straining and nothing else. I don't know enough about it to say it'sgenius, too, yet I've had an artist friend tell me it cost him more tolearn to take the right sort of notes than to enlarge upon those notesafterward. "

When he wrote to Anne next morning--he was not venturing to ask more ofher than one exchange a day--he told her what he thought about thosesketches:

 I've had that sheet pinned up at the foot of my bed ever since it came, and I'm not yet tired of looking at it. You should have seen Franz's face when I showed it to him. "Ze arteeste!" he exclaimed, and laughed, and made eloquent gestures, by means of which I judged he was trying to express you. He looked as if he were trying to impress me with his own hair, his eyes, his cheeks, his hands; but I knew well enough he meant you. I gathered that he had been not ill pleased with his visit to you, for he proposes another; in fact, I think he would enjoy playing for you every day if you should care to hear him so often. He does not much like to perform in the wards, though he does it whenever I suggest it. He has discovered that though they listen respectfully while he plays his own beloved music, mostly they are happier when he gives them a bit of American ragtime, or a popular song hit. His distaste for that sort of thing is very funny. One would think he had desecrated his beloved violin when he condescends to it, for afterward he invariably gives it a special polishing with the old silk handkerchief he keeps in the case--and Miss Arden vows he washes his hands, too. Poor Franz! Your real artist has a hard time of it in this prosaic world doesn't he?

The note ended by saying boldly that King would like another sketchsometime, and he even ventured to suggest that he would enjoy seeing apicture of that row of white lilac trees at the edge of the garden whereAnne used to play. It was two days before he got this, and meanwhile abox of water colours had come into requisition. When the sheet of heavypaper came to King he lay looking at it with eyes which sparkled. 

At first sight it was just a blur of blues and greens, with irregularpatches of white, and gay tiny dashes of strong colour, pinks andpurples and yellows. But when, as Anne had bidden him, he held it atarm's length he saw it all--the garden with its box-bordered beds fullof tall yellow tulips and pink and white and purple hyacinths--it waseasy to see that this was what they were, even from the dots and dashesof colour; the hedge--it was a real hedge of white lilac trees, againsta spring sky all scudding clouds of gray. Like the sketch of Franz, itscharm lay entirely in suggestion, not in detail, but was none the lessreal for that. 

There was one thing which, to King's observant eyes, stood out plainlyfrom the little wash drawing. This garden was a garden of the rich, notof the poor. Just how he knew it so well he could hardly have told, after all, for there was no hint of house, or wall, or evensummer-house, sundial, terrace, or other significant sign. Yet it wasthere, and he doubted if Anne Linton knew it was there, or meant to haveit so. Perhaps it was that lilac hedge which seemed to show so plainlythe hand of a gardener in the planting and tending. The questionwas--was it her own garden in which she had played, or the garden of herfather's employer? Had her father been that gardener, perchance? Kinginstantly rejected this possibility. 

CHAPTER VII

WHITE LILACS

Burns, coming in to see King one day when the exchange of letters hadbeen going on for nearly a fortnight, announced that he might soon bemoved to his own home. 

King stared at him. "I'm not absolutely certain that I want to go till Ican get about on my own feet, " he said slowly. 

Burns nodded. "I know, but that will be some time yet, and yourmother--well, I've put her off as long as I could, but without lying toher I can't say it would hurt you now to be taken home. And lying's notmy long suit. "

"Of course not. And I suppose I ought to go; it would be a comfort to mymother. But--"

He set his lips and gave no further hint of his unwillingness to gowhere he would be at the mercy of the maternal fondness which wouldoverwhelm him with the attentions he did not want. Besides--there wasanother reason why, since he must for the present be confined somewhere, he was loath to leave the friendly walls where there was now so much ofinterest happening every day. Could he keep it happening at home? Notwithout much difficulty, as he well foresaw. 

"Miss Linton's coming to us on Saturday, " observed Burns carelessly, strolling to the window with his hands in his pockets. 

"Is she? I didn't suppose she'd be strong enough just yet. " King triedto speak with equal carelessness, but the truth was that, with his lifebound, as it was at present, within the confines of this room, theincidents of each day loomed large. 

"She's gaining remarkably fast. For all her apparent delicacy ofconstitution when she came to us, I'm beginning to suspect that she'sthe fortunate possessor of a good deal of vigour at the normal. She saysherself she was never ill before, and that's why she didn't give upsooner--couldn't believe there was anything the matter. We can't makeher agree to stay with us a day longer than I say is a necessity forsafety. "

"Where does she want to go? Not back to that infernal book-agenting?"There was a frown between King's well-marked brows. 

"Yes, I imagine that's what she intends. She's a very decided youngperson, and there's not much use telling her what she must and must notdo. As for the book itself, it's pretty clever, my wife and MissMathewson insist. They say the youngsters of the neighbourhood arecrazy over it. Bob knows it by heart, and even the Little-Un studies thepictures half an hour at a time. If children were her buyers she'd haveno trouble. "

"Have a look at those, will you?"

King reached for a leather writing case on the table at his elbow, tookout a pile of sheets, and began to hand them over one by one to Burns. 

"What's this? Hullo! Do you mean to say she did this? Well, I like herimpudence!"

"So do I, " laughed King, looking past Burns's shoulder at a saucy sketchof the big Doctor himself evidently laying down the law about something, by every vigorous line of protest in his attitude and the thrust of hischin. Underneath was written: "Absolutely not! Haven't I said so athousand times?"

"'Wad some power--'" murmured Burns. "Well, she seems to have the'power. ' I am rather a thunderer, I suppose. What's this next? My wife!Jolly! that's splendid. Hasn't she caught a graceful pose though?Ellen's to the life. Selina Arden? That's good--that's very good. There's your conscientious nurse for you. And this, of herself? Ha! Shehasn't flattered herself any. She may have looked like that at one time, but not now--hardly. "

"She's looking pretty well again, is she?"

"Both pretty and well. We don't starve our patients on an exclusivelyliquid diet the way we used to, and they don't come out of typhoidlooking half so badly in consequence. And she's been rounding out everyday for the last two weeks in fine shape. She's a great little girl, andas full of spirit as a gray squirrel. I'm beginning to believe she's abit older than I would believe at first; that mind of hers is noschoolgirl's; it's pretty mature. She says frankly she's twenty-four, though she doesn't look over nineteen. "

"Is there any reason why I can't see her for a bit of a visit if shegoes Saturday?" asked King straightforwardly. It was always acharacteristic of his to go straight to a point in any matter; intrigueand diplomacy were not for him in affairs which concerned a girl anymore than in those which pertained to his profession. "You see we'vebeen entertaining each other with letters and things, and it would seema pity not to meet--especially if she'll be leaving town before I'mabout. "

There was a curiously wistful look in his face as he said this, whichBurns understood. All along King had said almost nothing about thetorture his present helplessness was to him, but his friend knew. 

"Of course she'll come; we'll see to that. She's walking about a littlenow, and by Saturday she can come down this corridor on her two smallfeet. "

"See here--couldn't I sit up a bit to meet her?"

"Not a sixteenth of a degree. You'll lie exactly as flat as you are now. If it's any consolation I'll tell you that you look like a prostrateman-angel seven feet long. "

"Thanks. I'd fire a pillow at you if I had one. I don't want to looklike an object for sympathy, that's all. "

Burns nodded understandingly. "Well, Jord, " he said a moment later, "will you go home on Saturday, too?"

The two looked at each other. Then, "If you say so, " King agreed. 

"All right. Then we'll get rid of two of our most interesting patientson that happy day. Never mind--the mails will still carry--and Franz isa faithful messenger. What's that, Miss Dwight? All right, I'll bethere. " And he went out, with a gay nod and wave of the hand to the manon the bed. 

This was on Monday. On Tuesday King offered his petition that AnneLinton would pay him a visit before she left on Saturday. When theanswer came it warmed his heart more than anything he had yet had fromher:

 Of course I will come--only I want you to know that I shall be dreadfully sorry to come walking, when you must still lie so long on that poor back. Doctor Burns has told me how brave you are, with all the pain you are still suffering. But I am wonderfully glad to learn that he is so confident of your complete recovery. Just to know that you can be your active self again is wonderful when one thinks what might have happened. I shall always remember you as you seemed to me the day you brought me here. I was, of course, feeling pretty limp, and the sight of you, in such splendid vigour, made me intensely envious. And even though I see you now "unhorsed, " I shall not lose my first impression, because I know that by and by you will be just like that again--looking and feeling as if you were fit to conquer the world. 

It was the most personal note he had had from her, and he liked it verymuch. He couldn't help hoping for more next day, and did his best tosecure it by the words he wrote in reply. But Wednesday's missive wasmerely a merrily piquant description of the way she was trying herreturning strength by one expedition after another about her room. OnThursday she sent him some very jolly sketches of her "packing up, " andon Friday she wrote hurriedly to say that she couldn't write, becauseshe was making little visits to other patients. 

 * * * * *

Jordan King had never been more exacting as to his dressing than on thatSaturday. He studied his face in the glass after an orderly had shavedhim, to make sure that the blue bloom it took but a few hours toacquire had been properly subdued. He insisted on a particular silkshirt to wear under the loose black-silk lounging robe which envelopedhim, and in which he was to be allowed to-day to lie upon the bedinstead of in it. His hair had to be brushed and parted three separatetimes before he was satisfied. 

"I didn't know I was such a fop, " he said, laughing, as Miss Dwightrallied him on his preparations for receiving the ladies. "But somehowit seems to make a difference when a man lies on his back. They have himat a disadvantage. Now if you'll just give me a perfectly goodhandkerchief I'll consider that the reception committee is ready. Thankyou. It must be almost time for them, isn't it?"

For a young man who usually spent comparatively little of his time inattentions to members of the other sex, but who was accustomed, nevertheless, to be entirely at his ease with them, King acknowledged tohimself that he felt a curious excitement mounting in his veins as thelight footsteps of his guests approached. 

Mrs. Burns came first into his line of vision, wearing white from headto foot, for it was early June and the weather had grown suddenly to belike that of midsummer. Behind her followed not the black figure King'smemory had persistently pictured, but one also clad in white--the verysimple white of a plain linen suit, with a close little white hat drawnover the bronze-red hair. Under this hat the eyes King remembered glowedwarmly, and now there was health in the face, which was so much morecharming than the one he recalled that for a moment he could hardlybelieve the two the same. Yet--the profile, as she looked at Mrs. Burns, who spoke first, was the one which had been stamped on his mind as onenot to be forgotten. 

She was looking at him now, and there was no pity in her brightglance--he could not have borne to see it if it had been there. She camestraight up to the bed, her hand outstretched--her gloves were in theother, as if she were on her way downstairs, as he presently found shewas. She spoke in a full, rich voice, very different from the weary onehe had heard before. 

"Do you know me?" she asked, smiling. 

"Almost I don't. Have you really been ill, or did you make it all up?"

"I'm beginning to believe I did. I feel myself as if it must be alldream. How glad I am to find you able to be dressed. Doctor Burns saysyou will go home to-day, too. "

"This evening, I believe. I thought you were not going till theneither. "

"This very hour. " She glanced at Mrs. Burns. "My good fairy begged thatI might go early, because it is her little son's birthday. I am to beat a real party; think of that!"

"The Little-Un's or Bob's?" King asked his other visitor. 

Bob was an adopted child, taken by Burns before his marriage, but thelittle Chester's parents made no difference between them, and a birthdaycelebration for the older boy was sure to be quite as much of anoccasion as for the two-year-old. 

"Bob's, " Mrs. Burns explained. "He is ten; we can't believe it. And hehas set his heart on having Miss Linton at home for his party. He hasread her little book almost out of its covers, and she has been doingsome place-cards for his guests--the prettiest things!" Ellen opened asmall package she was carrying and showed King the cards. 

He gazed at them approvingly. "They're the jolliest I ever saw; theyoungsters will be crazy over them. For a convalescent it strikes meMiss Linton has been the busiest known to the hospital. "

"You, yourself, have kept me rather busy, Mr. King, " the girl observed. 

"So I have. I'm wondering what I'm to do when you are at Doctor Burns'sand I at home. "

She smiled. "I shall be there only a week if I keep on gaining as fastas I am now. "

"A fortnight, " interpolated Mrs. Burns, "is the earliest possible dateof your leaving us. And not then unless we think you fit. "

"Did you ever know of such kindness?" Anne Linton asked softly of King. "To a perfect stranger?"

He nodded. "Nothing you could tell me of their kindness could surpriseme. About that fortnight--would it be asking a great deal of you to keepon sending me that daily note?"

"Isn't there a telephone in your own room at home?" she asked. 

"Yes--how did you know?"

"I guessed it. Wouldn't a little telephone talk do quite as well--orbetter--than a letter?"

"It would be very nice, " admitted King. "But I should hate to do withoutthe letter. The days are each a month long at present, you know, andeach hour is equal to twenty-four. Make it a letter, too, will you, please?"

Miss Linton looked at Mrs. Burns. "Do you think circumstances stillalter cases?" she inquired. 

Her profile, as King caught it again, struck him as a perfect outline. To think of this girl starting out again, travelling alone, sellingbooks from door to door!

"I think you will be quite warranted in being very good to Mr. King--while his hours drag as he describes, " Ellen assented cordially. 

"As soon as I can sit up at any sort of decent angle I can do a lot ofwork on paper, " King asserted. "Then I'll make the time fly. Meanwhile--it's all right. "

They talked together for a little, then King sent for Franz, who cameand played superbly, his eager eyes oftenest on Jordan King, like thoseof an adoring and highly intelligent dog. Anne watched Franz, and Kingwatched Anne. Mrs. Burns, seeming to watch nobody, noted withaffectionate and somewhat concerned interest the apparent trend of thewhole situation. She could not help thinking, rather dubiously, of Mrs. Alexander King, Jordan's mother. 

And, as things happen, it was just as Franz laid down his bow, after abrilliant rendering of a great concerto, that Mrs. Alexander King camein. She entered noiselessly, a slender, tall, black-veiled figure, asscrupulously attired in her conventional deep mourning as if it were nothot June weather, when some lightening of her sombre garb would haveseemed not only rational but kind to those who must observe her. 

"Oh, mother!" King exclaimed. "In all this heat? I didn't expect you. I'm afraid you ought not to have come. "

She bent over him. "The heat has nothing to do with my feelings towardmy son. I couldn't neglect you, dear. "

She greeted Ellen cordially, who presented Miss Linton. King lostnothing of his mother's polite scrutiny of the girl, who bore it withoutthe slightest sign of recognizing it beyond the lowering of her lashesafter the first long look of the tall lady had continued a trifle beyondthe usual limit. Book agent though she might be, Miss Linton's mannerwas faultless, a fact King noted with curious pride in his newfriend--whom, though he himself was meeting her for but the second time, he somehow wanted to stand any social test which might be put upon her. And he well knew that his lady mother could apply such tests if anybodycould. 

In his heart he was saying that it seemed hard luck, he must saygood-bye to Anne Linton in that mother's presence. There was smallchance to make it a leave-taking of even ordinary good fellowshipbeneath that dignified, quietly appraising eye, to say nothing ofendowing it with a quality which should in some measure compensate forthe fact that it might be a parting for a long time to come. Howevermuch or little the exchange of notes during these last weeks might havecome to mean to Jordan King, aside from the diversion they had offeredto one sorely oppressed of mind and body, he resented being now forcedto those restrained phrases of farewell which he well knew were the onlyones that would commend him to his mother's approval. 

Mrs. Burns and Miss Linton rose to go, summoned by Red Pepper himself, who was to take them. In the momentary surge of greeting and small talkwhich ensued, King surreptitiously beckoned Anne near. He looked up withthe direct gaze of the man who intends to make the most of the littlethat Fate sends him. 

"Letters are interesting things, aren't they?" he asked. 

"Very. And when they are written by a man lying on his back, who doesn'tknow when he is down, they are stimulating things, " she answered; andthere was that in the low tone of her voice and the look of her eyeswhich was as if she had pinned a medal for gallantry on the breast ofthe black silk robe. 

Mrs. Alexander King looked at her son--and moved nearer. She addressedAnne. "I am more than glad to see, Miss Linton, " said she, "that you arefully recovered. Please let me wish you much success in your work. Isuppose we shall not see you again after you leave Mrs. Burns. "

"No, Mrs. King, " responded Anne's voice composedly. "Thank you for thatvery kind wish. "

She turned to the prostrate one once more. She put her hand in his, andhe held it fast for an instant, and, in spite of his mother's gaze, itwas an appreciable instant longer than formality called for. 

"I shall hope to see you again, " he said distinctly, and the usualphrase acquired a meaning it does not always possess. 

Then they were gone, and he had only the remembrance of Anne's partinglook, veiled and maidenly, but the comprehending look of a real friendnone the less. 

"My dear boy, you must be quite worn out with all this company in thisexhausting weather, " murmured Mrs. King, laying a cool hand on adecidedly hot brow. 

The brow moved beneath her hand, on account of a contraction of thesmooth forehead, as if with pain. "I really hadn't noticed the weather, mother, " replied her son's voice with some constraint in it. 

"You must rest now, dear. People who are perfectly well themselves areoften most inconsiderate of an invalid, quite without intention, ofcourse. "

"If I never receive any less consideration than I have had here, I shalldo very well for the rest of my life. "

"I know; they have all been very kind. But I shall be so relieved whenI can have you at home, where you will not feel obliged to have otherpatients on your mind. In your condition it is too much to expect. "

Jordan King was a good son, and he loved his mother deeply. But therewere moments when, as now, if he could have laid a kind but firm handupon her handsome, emotional mouth, he would have been delighted to doso. 

CHAPTER VIII

EXPERT DIAGNOSIS

"What would you give for a drive with me this morning?" Burns surveyedhis patient, now dressed and downstairs upon a pillared rear porch, wistfulness in his eyes but determination on his lips. 

"Do you mean it?"

"Yes. We may as well try what that back will stand. Most of the drivewill be sitting still in front of houses, anyhow, and in your plasterjacket you're pretty safe from injury. "

"Thank heaven!" murmured Jordan King fervently. 

Two minutes later he was beside Burns in the Doctor's car, staringeagerly ahead, lifting his hat now and then as some one gave himinterested greeting from passing motor. More than once Burns was obligedto bring his car to a short standstill, so that some delighted friendmight grasp King's hand and tell him how good it seemed to see him out. With one and all the young man was very blithe, though he let them domost of the talking. They all told him heartily that he was lookingwonderfully well, while they ignored with the understanding of theintelligent certain signs which spoke of physical and mental strain. 

"Your friends, " Burns remarked as they went on after one particularlypleasant encounter, "seem to belong to the class who possess brains. Iwish it were a larger class. Every day I find some patient sufferingfrom depression caused by fool comments from some well-meaningacquaintance. "

"I've had a few of those, too, " King acknowledged. 

"I'll wager you have. Well, among a certain class of people there seemsto be an idea that you can't show real sympathy without telling thevictim that he's looking very ill, and that you have known several suchcases which didn't recover. I have one little woman on my list who wouldhave been well long ago if she hadn't had so many loving friends toimpress her with the idea that her case was desperate. I talk Dutch tosuch people now and then, when I get the chance, but it doesn't do muchgood. Sometimes I get so thundering mad I can't stand it, and then I ripout something that makes me a lasting enemy. "

"You get some comfort out of the explosion, anyhow, " King commented, with a glance at the strong profile beside him. "Besides, you may domore good than you know. Anybody who had had a good dressing down fromyou once wouldn't be likely to forget it in a hurry. "

Burns laughed at this, as they stopped in front of a house. King had ahalf-hour wait while his friend was inside. The car stood in heavyshade, and he was very comfortable. He took a letter from his pocket ashe sat, a letter which looked as if it had been many times unfolded, andread it once more, his face very sober as his eyes followed the familiarlines:

 DEAR MR. KING:

 I was very, very sorry to go away without seeing you to say good-bye after our interesting correspondence. Mrs. Burns and I had such a pleasant visit with your mother, in your absence, that we felt rewarded for our call, and it was good to know that you could be out, yet of course we were very disappointed. I do hope that all will go well with you, and that very rapidly, for I can guess how eager you are to be at work. 

 Of course once I am off on my travels I shall have no time for letters. No, that isn't quite frank, is it? Well, I will be truthful and say honestly that I am sure it is not best that I should keep on writing. I am glad if the letters have, as you say, helped you through the worst of the siege; they surely have helped me. But now--our ways part. Sometime I may give you a hail from somewhere--when I am lonely and longing to know how you get on. And sometime I may be back at my old home. But wherever I am I shall never forget you, Jordan King, for you have put something into my life which was not there before and I am the better for it. As for you--your life will not be one whit the less big and efficient for this trying experience; it will be bigger, I think, and finer. I am glad, glad I have known you. 

 ANNE LINTON. 

For the hundredth time King felt his heart sink as he thought of thatprevented last interview. His mother had prevented it. It was perfectlytrue that he was out, and away from home--out in a wheeled chair, whichhad been pushed by Franz through a gap in the hedge between the Kings'lawn and the Wentworths' next door. Just on the other side of that hedgethe chair had paused, where Sally Wentworth, his friend of longstanding, was serving tea to a little group of young people, allintimates and all delighted to have the invalid once more in theirmidst. Under the group of great copper beeches which made of that cornerof the Wentworth lawn a summer drawing room, King had sat in his chairdrinking tea and listening to gay chatter--and wondering why he had notbeen able to get Anne Linton on the telephone so far that day. And atthat very time, so he now bitterly reflected, she and Mrs. Burns hadmade their call upon him, only to be told by Mrs. King that he was"out. "

His mother was unquestionably a lady, and she had told the truth; hecould not conceive of her doing otherwise. He knew that she undoubtedly, quite as Anne had said, had made the call a pleasant one. But she hadknown that he was within a stone's throw of the house, and that he wouldbe bitterly disappointed not to be summoned. She had not mentioned tohim the fact of the call at all until next day--when Anne Linton hadbeen gone a full two hours upon her train. Then, when he had called upMrs. Burns, in a fever of haste to learn what had happened and whatthere might yet be a chance of happening, he had discovered that Ellenherself had tried three times to get him, upon the telephone, and had atlast realized--though this she did not say--that it was not intendedthat she should. 

King understood his mother perfectly. She would scorn directly todeceive him, yet to intrigue quietly but effectively against him in sucha case as this she would consider only her duty. She had seen clearlyhis interest in the stranger, unintroduced and unvouched for, taken inby kind people in an emergency, and though showing unquestionable marksof breeding, none the less a stranger. She had feared for him, in hispresent vulnerable condition; and she had done her part in preventingthat final parting which might have contained elements of danger. Thatwas all there was to it. 

For the present King was helpless, and there could be no possible use inreproaching his mother for her action--or lack of action. Once let himget up on his feet, his own master once more--then it would be of use totalk. And talk he would some day. Also he would act. Meanwhile--

Red Pepper Burns came out of the house and scrutinized his friend andpatient closely as he approached. "Want to go on, or shall I take youhome?" he inquired. 

"Take me on--anywhere--everywhere! Something inside will break loose ifyou don't. " King spoke with a smothered note of irritation new to him inBurns's experience. 

"You've about reached the limit, have you?" The question wasstraightforward, matter-of-fact in tone, but King knew the sympathybehind it. 

"I rather have, " the young man admitted. "I'm ashamed to own it. "

"You needn't be. It's a wonder you haven't reached it sooner; I shouldhave. Well, if you stand this drive pretty well to-day you ought to comeon fast. With that back, you may be thankful you're getting off aseasily as you are. "

"I am thankful--everlastingly thankful. It's just--"

"I know. Blow off some of that steam; it won't hurt you. Here we are onthe straight road. I'll open up and give you a taste of what poor Henleyfelt the first time his crippled body and his big, uncrippled spirittasted the delight of 'Speed. ' Remember?"

"Indeed I do. Oh, I'm not complaining. You understand that, Red?"

"Of course I understand--absolutely. And I understand that you need justwhat I say--to blow off a lot of steam. Hurt you or not, I'm going tolet loose for a couple of miles and blow it off for you. "

In silence, broken only by the low song of the motor as it voiced itsjoy in the widening license to show its power, the two men took the windin their faces as the car shot down the road, at the moment a clearhighway for them. King had snatched off his hat, and his dark hair blewwildly about his forehead, while his eyes watched the way as intently asif he had been driving himself, though his body hardly tensed, socomplete was his confidence in the steady hands on the wheel. Faster andfaster flew the car, until the speed indicator touched a mark seldompassed by King himself at his most reckless moments. His lips, set atfirst, broke into a smile as the pointing needle circled the dial, andhis eyes, if any could have seen them, would have told the relief therewas for him in escape by flight, though only temporary, from thegrinding pull of monotony and disablement. 

At the turn ahead appeared obstruction, and Burns was obliged to beginslowing down. When the car was again at its ordinary by no means slowpace, King spoke:

"Bless you for a mind reader! That was bully, and blew away a lot ofdistemper. If you'll just do it again going back I'll submit to theafternoon of a clam in a bed of mud. "

"Good. We'll beat that record going back, if we break the speedometer. Racing with time isn't supposed to be the game for a convalescent, butI'm inclined to think it's the dose you need, just the same. I expect, Jord, that the first time you pull on a pair of rubber boots and go toclimbing around a big concrete dam somewhere your heart will break forjoy. "

"My heart will stand anything, so that it's action. "

"Will it? I thought it might be a bit damaged. It's had a good deal ofreaction to stand lately, I'm afraid. "

There was silence for a minute, then King spoke:

"Red, you're a wizard. "

"Not much of a one. It doesn't take extraordinary powers of penetrationto guess that a flame applied to a bundle of kindling will cause a fire. And when you keep piling on the fuel something's likely to get burned. "

"Did I pile on the fuel?"

"You sure did. If there had been gunpowder under the kindling you couldhave expected an explosion--and a wreck. "

"There's no wreck. "

"No? I thought there might be--somewhere. "

King spoke quickly. "Do you think I carried it too far?"

"I think you carried it some distance--for an invalid's diversion. "

The young man flushed hotly. "I was genuinely interested and I saw noharm. If there's any harm done it's to myself, and I can stand that. I'mnot conceited enough to imagine that a broken-backed cripple could makeany lasting impression. "

Burns turned and surveyed his companion with some amusement. "Do youconsider that a description of yourself?"

"I certainly do. " Jordan King's strong young jaw took on a grimexpression. 

"Know this then"--Burns spoke deliberately--"there's not a sane girl wholiked you well enough before your accident to marry you who wouldn'tmarry you now. "

"That's absurd. Women want men, not cripples. "

"You're no cripple. Stop using that term. "

"What else? A man condemned to wear a plaster jacket for at least ayear. " King evidently did his best not to speak bitterly. 

"Bosh! Suppose the same thing happened to me. Would you look on measkance for the rest of my days, no matter what man's job I kept ontackling? Besides, the plaster jacket's only a precaution. You wouldn'tdisintegrate without it. "

King looked at Red Pepper Burns and smiled in spite of himself. "I'mglad to hear that, I'm sure. As for looking at you askance--you are you, R. P. Burns. "

"Apply the same logic to yourself. You are you, and will continue to beyou, plus some assets you haven't had occasion to acquire before in theway of dogged endurance, control of mind, and such-like qualities, bredof need for them. You will be more to us all than you ever were, andthat's saying something. And the back's going to be a perfectly goodback; give it time. As for--if you don't mind my saying it--thatinvalid's diversion, I don't suppose it's hurt you any. What I'mconcerned for is the hurt it may have done somebody else. I don't needto tell you that it wasn't possible for Ellen and me to have that littlegirl on our hearts all that time and not get mightily interested in her. She's the real thing, too, we're convinced, and we care a good deal whathappens to her next. "

Jordan King drew a deep breath. "So do I. "

Burns gave him a quick look. "That's good. But you let her go awaywithout making sure of keeping any hold on her. You don't know where sheis now. "

King shot him a return look. "That wasn't my fault. That was hard luck. "

"I don't think much of luck. Get around it. "

"I'll do my best, I promise you. But I wish you'd tell me--"

"Yes?"

"--why you should think I had done her any harm. Heaven knows I wouldn'tdo that for my right arm!"

"She didn't make a sign--not one--of any injury, I assure you. She's agallant little person, if ever there was one--and a thoroughbred, thoughshe may be as poor as a church mouse. No, I should never have guessedit. She went away with all sails set and the flags flying. All I know iswhat my wife says. "

"Please tell me. "

"I'm not sure it will be good for you. " Burns smiled as he drew upbeside a house. "However--if you will have it--she says Miss Anne Lintontook away with her every one of your numerous letters, notes, and evencalling cards which had been sent with flowers. She also took a halftonesnapshot of you out at the Coldtown dam, cut from a newspaper, published the Sunday after your accident. The sun was in your eyes andyou were scowling like a fiend; it was the worst picture of youconceivable. "

"Girls do those things, I suppose, " murmured King with a rising colour. 

"Granted. And now and then one does it for a purpose which we won'tconsider. But a girl of the type we feel sure Miss Linton to becarefully destroys all such things from men she doesn't carefor--particularly if she has started on a trip and is travelling light. Of course she may have fooled us all and be the cleverest littleadventuress ever heard of. But I'd stake a good deal on Ellen'sjudgment. Women don't fool women much, you know, whatever they do withmen. "

He disappeared into a small brown house, and King was left once morewith his own thoughts. When Burns came out they drove on again withlittle attempt at conversation, for Burns's calls were not far apart. King presently began to find himself growing weary, and sat very quietlyin his seat during the Doctor's absences, experiencing, as he had donemany times of late, a sense of intense contempt for himself because ofhis own physical weakness. In all his sturdy life he had never knownwhat it was to feel not up to doing whatever there might be to be done. Fatigue he had known, the healthy and not unpleasant fatigue whichfollows vigorous and prolonged labour, but never weakness or pain, either of body or of mind. Now he was suffering both. 

"Had about enough?" Burns inquired as he returned to the car for theeighth time. "Shall I take you home?"

"I'm all right. "

Burns gave him a sharp glance. "To be sure you are. But we'll go homenevertheless. The rest of my work is at the hospital anyhow. "

As they were approaching the long stretch of straight road to which Kinghad looked forward an hour ago, but which he was disgusted to findhimself actually rather dreading now, a great closed car of luxurioustype, and bearing upon its top considerable travelling luggage, sloweddown as it neared, and a liveried chauffeur held up a detaining hand. Burns stopped to answer a series of questions as to the best routetoward a neighbouring city. There were matters of road mending anddetours to be made plain to the inquirers, so the detention occupied afull five minutes, during which the chauffeur got down and came toBurns's side with a road map, with which the two wrestled after thefashion usually made necessary by such aids to travel. 

During this period Jordan King underwent a disturbing experience. Looking up with his usual keen glance, one trained to observe whatevermight be before it, he took in at a sweep the nature of the party in thebig car. That it was a rich man's car, and that its occupants were thosewho naturally belonged in it, there was no question. From the ownerhimself, an aristocrat who looked the part, as not all aristocrats do, to those who were presumably his wife, his son, and daughters, all wereof the same type. Simply dressed as if for a long journey, they yetdiffused that aroma of luxury which cannot be concealed. 

The presumable son, a tall, hawk-nosed young man who sat beside thechauffeur, turned to speak to those inside, and King's glance followedhis. He thus caught sight of a profile next the open window and close byhim. He stared at it, his heart suddenly standing still. Who was thisgirl with the bronze-red hair, the perfect outline of nose and mouth andchin, the sea-shell colouring? Even as he stared she turned her head, and her eyes looked straight into his. 

He had seen Miss Anne Linton only twice, and on the two occasions shehad seemed to him like two entirely different girls. But this girl--wasshe not that one who had come to visit him in his room at the hospital, full of returning health and therefore of waxing beauty and vigour?

For one instant he was sure it was she, no matter how strange it wasthat she should be here, in this rich man's car--unless--But he had notime to think it out before he was overwhelmed by the indubitableevidence that, whoever this girl was, she did not know him. Hereyes--apparently the same wonderful eyes which he could now neverforget--looked into his without a sign of recognition, and hercolour--the colour of radiantly blooming youth--did not changeperceptibly under his gaze. And after that one glance, in which sheseemed to survey him closely, after the manner of girls, as if he werean interesting specimen, her eyes travelled to Red Pepper Burns andrested lightly on him, as if he, too, were a person of but passingsignificance to the motor traveller looking for diversion after manydusty miles of more or less monotonous sights. 

King continued to gaze at her with a steadiness somewhat indefensibleexcept as one considers that all motorists, meeting on the highway, areaccustomed to take note of one another as comrades of the road. He wasnot conscious that the other young people in the car also regarded himwith eyes of interest, and if he had he would not have realized justwhy. His handsome, alert face, its outlines slightly sharpened by hislate experiences, his well-dressed, stalwart figure, carried no hint ofthe odious plaster jacket which to his own thinking put him outside thepale of interest for any one. 

But it could not be Anne Linton; of course it could not! What should apoor little book agent be doing here in a rich man's car--unless shewere in his employ? And somehow the fact that this girl was not in anyman's employ was established by the manner in which the young man on thefront seat spoke to her, as he now did, plainly heard by King. Thoughall he said was some laughing, more or less witty thing about this beingthe nineteenth time, by actual count since breakfast, that a question ofroads and routes had arisen, he spoke as to an equal in social status, and also--this was plainer yet--as to one on whom he had a more thanordinary claim. And King listened for her answer--surely he would knowher voice if she spoke? One may distrust the evidence of one's eyes whenit comes to a matter of identity, but one's ears are not to be deceived. 

But King's ears, stretched though they might be, metaphoricallyspeaking, like those of a mule, to catch the sound of that voice, caughtnothing. She replied to the young man on the front seat only by a nodand a smile. Then, as the chauffeur began to fold up his road map, thanking Burns for his careful directions, and both cars were on thepoint of starting, the object of King's heart-arresting scrutiny lookedat him once again. Her straight gaze, out of such eyes as he had neverseen but on those two occasions, met his without flinching--a long, steady, level look, which lasted until, under Burns's impatient hand, the smaller car got under motion and began to move. Even then, thoughshe had to turn her head a little, she let him hold her gaze--as, ofcourse, he was nothing loath to do, being intensely and increasinglystirred by the encounter with its baffling hint of mystery. Indeed, shelet him hold that gaze until it was not possible for her longer tomaintain her share of the exchange without twisting about in the car. Asfor King, he did not scruple to twist, as far as his back would let him, until he had lost those eyes from his view. 

CHAPTER IX

JORDAN IS A MAN

When King turned back again to face the front his heart was thumpingprodigiously. Almost he was certain it had been Anne Linton; yet theexplanation--if there were one--was not to be imagined. And if it hadbeen Anne Linton, why should she have refused to know him? There couldhave been little difficulty for her in identifying him, even though shehad seen him last lying flat on his back on a hospital bed. And if therehad been a chance of her not knowing him--there was Red Pepper. 

It was Anne. It could not be Anne. Between these two convictions King'shead was whirling. Whoever it was, she had dared to look straight intohis eyes in broad daylight at a distance of not more than four feet. Hehad seen into the very depths of her own bewildering beauty, and theencounter, always supposing her to be the person of whom he had thoughtcontinuously for four months, was a thing to keep him thinking about herwhether he would or no. 

"Anything wrong?" asked Burns's voice in its coolest tones. "I suspectI was something of an idiot to give you such a big dose of this at thefirst trial. "

"I'm all right, thank you. " And King sat up very straight in the car toprove it. Nevertheless, when he was at home again he was not sorry to beperemptorily ordered to lie supine on his back for at least three hours. 

It was not long after this that King was able to bring about the thinghe most desired--a talk with Mrs. Burns. She came to see him one Julyday, at his request, at an hour when he knew his mother must be away. With her he went straight to his point; the moment the first greetingswere over and he had been congratulated on his ability to spend a fewhours each day at his desk, he began upon the subject uppermost in histhoughts. He told her the story of his encounter with the girl in thecar, and asked her if she thought it could have been Miss Linton. 

She looked at him musingly. "Do you prefer to think it was or was not?"she asked. 

"Are you going to answer accordingly?"

"Not at all. I was wondering which I wanted to think myself. I wish Ihad been with you. I should have known. "

"Would you?" King spoke eagerly. "Would you mind telling me how?"

"I can't tell you how. Of course I came to know her looks much betterthan you; it really isn't strange that after seeing her only twice youcouldn't be sure. I don't think any change of dress or environment couldhave hidden her from me. The question is, of course, why--if it wasshe--she should have chosen not to seem to know you--unless--"

"Yes--"

She looked straight at him. "Unless--she is not the poor girl she seemedto be. And that explanation doesn't appeal to me. I have known of poorgirls pretending to be rich, but I have never, outside of a sensationalnovel, known a rich girl to pretend to be poor, unless for a visit to apoor quarter for charitable purposes. What possible object could therebe in a girl's going about selling books unless she needed to do it? Andshe allowed me--" She stopped, shaking her head. "No, Jordan, that wasnot our little friend--or if it was, she was in that car by some curiouschance, not because she belonged there. "

"So you're going on trusting her?" was King's abstract of thesereflections. He scanned her closely. 

She nodded. "Until I have stronger proof to the contrary than yourlooking into a pair of beautiful eyes. Have you never observed, myfriend, how many pairs of beautiful eyes there are in the world?"

He shook his head. "I haven't bothered much about them, except now andthen for a bit of nonsense making. "

"But this pair you, too, are going to go on trusting?"

"I am. If that girl was Miss Linton she had a reason for not speaking. If it wasn't"--he drew a deep breath--"well, I don't know exactly how toexplain that!"

"I do, " said Ellen Burns, smiling. "She thought she would never see youagain, and she yielded to a girlish desire to look hard at--a real man. "

It was this speech which, in spite of himself, lingered in King's mindafter she was gone, for the balm there was in it--a balm she hadperfectly understood and meant to put there. Well she guessed what hisdisablement meant to him--in spite of the hope of complete recovery--howlittle he seemed to himself like the man he was before. 

Certainly it was nothing short of real manhood which prompted the talkhe had with his mother one day not long after this. She brought him aletter, and she was scrutinizing it closely as she came toward him. Hewas fathoms deep in his work and did not observe her until she spoke. 

"Whom can you possibly have as a correspondent in this town, my son?"she inquired, her eyes upon the postmark, which was that of a small citya hundred miles away. It was one in which lived an old school friend ofwhom she had never spoken, to her recollection, in King's hearing, forthe reason that the family had since suffered deep disgrace in the eyesof the world, and she had been inexpressibly shocked thereby. 

King looked up. He was always hoping for a word from Anne Linton, andnow, suddenly, it had come, just a week after the encounter with thegirl in the car--which had been going, as it happened, in the oppositedirection from the city of the postmark. He recognized instantly thehandwriting upon the plain, white business envelope--an interestinghandwriting, clear and black, without a single feminine flourish. Hetook the letter in his hand and studied it. 

"It is from Miss Linton, " he said, "and I am very glad to hear from her. It is the first time she has written since she went away--over twomonths ago. "

He spoke precisely as he would have spoken if it had been a letter fromany friend he had. It was like him to do this, and the surer another manwould have been to try to conceal his interest in the letter the surerwas Jordan King to proclaim it. The very fact that this announcement wascertain to rouse his mother's suspicion that the affair was of momentto him was enough to make him tell her frankly that she was quite right. 

He laid the letter on the desk before him unopened, and went on with hiswork. Mrs. King stood still and looked at him a moment before movingquietly away, and disturbance was written upon her face. She knew herson's habit of finishing one thing before he took up another, but sheunderstood also that he wished to be alone when he should read thisletter. She left the room, but soon afterward she softly passed the opendoor, and she saw that the letter lay open before him and that his headwas bent over it. The words before him were these:

 DEAR MR. KING:

 I had not meant to write to you for much longer than this, but I find myself so anxious to know how you are that I am yielding to the temptation. I may as well confess that I am just a little lonely to-night, in spite of having had a pretty good day with the little book--rather better than usual. Sometimes I almost wish I hadn't spent that fortnight with Mrs. Burns, I find myself missing her so. And yet, how can one be sorry for any happy thing that comes to one? As I look back on them now, though I am well and strong again, those days of convalescence in the hospital stand out as among the happiest in my life. The pleasant people, the flowers, the notes, all the incidents of that time, not the least among them Franz's music, stay in my memory like a series of pictures. 

 Do you care to tell me how you come on? If so you may write to me, care of general delivery, in this town, at any time for the next five days. I shall be so glad to hear. 

 ANNE LINTON. 

King looked up as his mother approached. He folded the letter and putit into his pocket. 

"Mother, " he said, "I may as well tell you something. You won't approveof it, and that is why I must tell you. From the hour I first saw MissLinton I've been unable to forget her. I know, by every sign, that sheis all she seems to be. I can't let her go out of my life without aneffort to keep her. I'm going to keep her, if I can. "

Two hours later R. P. Burns, M. D. , was summoned to the bedside of Mrs. Alexander King. He sat down beside the limp form, felt the pulse, laidhis hand upon the shaking shoulder of the prostrate lady, who had gonedown before her son's decision, gentle though his manner with her hadbeen. She had argued, prayed, entreated, wept, but she had not been ableto shake his purpose. Now she was reaping the consequences of heragitation. 

"My son, my only boy, " she moaned as Burns asked her to tell him hertrouble, "after all these years of his being such a man, to changesuddenly into a willful boy again! It's inconceivable; it's notpossible! Doctor, you must tell him, you must argue with him. He can'tmarry this girl, he can't! Why, he doesn't even know the place she comesfrom, to say nothing of who she is--her family, her position in life. She must be a common sort of creature to follow him up so; you know shemust. I can't have it; I will not have it! You must tell him so!"

Burns considered. There was a curious light in his eyes. "My dear lady, "he said gently at length, "Jordan is a man; you can't control him. He isa mighty manly man, too--as his frankly telling you his intentionproves. Most sons would have kept their plans to themselves, and simplyhave brought the mother home her new daughter some day without anywarning. As for Miss Linton, I assure you she is a lady--as it seems tome you must have seen for yourself. "

"She is clever; she could act the part of a lady, no doubt, " moaned theone who possessed a clear title to that form of address. "But she mightbe anything. Why didn't she tell you something of herself? Jordan couldnot say that you knew the least thing about her. People with fine familyrecords are not so mysterious. There is something wrong about her--Iknow it--I know it! Oh, I can't have it so; I can't! You must stop it, Doctor; you must!"

"She spent two weeks in our home, " Burns said. "During that time therewas no test she did not stand. Come, Mrs. King, you know that it doesn'ttake long to discover the flaw in any metal. She rang true at everytouch. She's a girl of education, of refinement--why, Ellen came to feelplenty of real affection for her before she left us, and you know thatmeans a good deal. As for the mystery about her, what's that? Mostpeople talk too much about their affairs. If, as we think, she has beenbrought up in circumstances very different from these we find her in, itisn't strange that she doesn't want to tell us all about the change. "

But his patient continued to moan, and he could give her no consolation. For a time he sat quietly beside the couch where lay the long andslender form, and he was thinking things over. The room was veiled in ahalf twilight, partly the effect of closing day and partly that of drawnshades. The deep and sobbing breaths continued until suddenly Burns'shand was laid firmly upon the hand which clutched a handkerchief wetwith many tears. He spoke now in a new tone, one she had never beforeheard from him addressed to herself:

"This, " he said, "isn't worthy of you, my friend. "

It was as if her breath were temporarily suspended while she listened. People were not accustomed to tell Mrs. Alexander King that her courseof action was unworthy of her. 

"No man or woman has a right to dictate to another what he shall do, provided the thing contemplated is not an offense against another. Youhave no right to set your will against your son's when it is a matterof his life's happiness. "

She seized on this last phrase. "But that's why I do oppose him. I wanthim to be happy--heaven knows I do! He can't be happy--this way. "

"How do you know that? You don't know it. You are just as likely to makehim bitterly unhappy by opposing him as by letting him alone. And I cantell you one thing surely, Mrs. King: Jordan will do as he wishes inspite of you, and all you will gain by opposition will be not a gain, but a sacrifice--of his love. "

She shivered. "How can you think he will be so selfish?"

Burns had some ado to keep his rising temper down. "Selfish--to marrythe woman he wants instead of the woman you want? That's an old, oldargument of selfish mothers. "

The figure on the couch stiffened. "Doctor Burns! How can you speak so, when all I ask for is my son's best good?" The words ended in a wail. 

"You think you do, dear lady. What you really want is--your own way. "

Suddenly she sat up, staring at him. His clear gaze met her clouded one, his sane glance confronted her wild one. She lifted her shaking handwith a gesture of dismissal. But there was a new experience in storefor Jordan King's mother. 

Burns leaned forward, and took the delicate hand of his hystericalpatient in his own. 

"No, no, " he said, smiling, "you don't mean that; you are not quiteyourself. I am Jordan's friend and yours. I have said harsh things toyou; it was the only way. I love your boy as I would a younger brother, and I want you to keep him because I can understand what the loss of himwould mean to you. But you must know that you can't tie a man's heart toyou with angry commands, nor with tears and reproaches. You can tieit--tight--by showing sympathy and understanding in this crisis of hislife. Believe me, I know. "

His tone was very winning; his manner--now that he had said hissay--though firm, was gentle, and he held her hand in a way that didmuch toward quieting her. Many patients in danger of losing self-controlhad known the strengthening, soothing touch of that strong hand. RedPepper was not accustomed to misuse this power of his, which came verynear being hypnotic, but neither did he hesitate to use it when theoccasion called as loudly as did this one. 

And presently Mrs. King was lying quietly on her couch again, her eyesclosed, the beating of her agitated pulses slowly quieting. And Burns, bending close, was saying before he left her: "That's a brave woman. Ladies are lovely things, but I respect women more. Only a mighty fineone could be the mother of my friend Jord, and I knew she would meetthis issue like the Spartan she knows how to be. "

If, as he stole away downstairs--leaving his patient in the hands of asomewhat long-suffering maid--he was saying to himself things of a quitedifferent sort, let him not be blamed for insincerity. He had at thelast used the one stimulant against which most of us are powerless: thecall to be that which we believe another thinks us. 

CHAPTER X

THE SURGICAL FIRING LINE

"Len, I've something great to tell you, " announced Red Pepper Burns, oneevening in August, as he came out from his office where he had beenseeing a late patient, and joined his wife, who was wandering about hergarden in the twilight. "To-day I've had the compliment of my life. Whomdo you think I'm to operate on day after to-morrow?"

She looked up at him as he stood, his hands in his pockets, looking downat her. In her sheer white frock, through which gleamed her neck andarms, her hands full of pink and white snapdragon, she was worthconsideration. Her eyes searched his face and found there a curiousexultation of a very human sort. "How could I guess? Tell me. "

"Who should you say was the very last man on earth to do me the honourof trusting me in a serious emergency?"

She turned away her head, gazing down at a fragrant border ofmignonette, while he watched her, a smile on his lips. She looked upagain. "I can't think, Red. It seems to me everybody trusts you. "

"Not by a long shot, or the rest of the profession would stand idle. Butthere's one man who I should have said, to use a time-honoured phrase, wouldn't let me operate on a sick cat. And he's the man who is going toput his life in my hands Wednesday morning at ten o'clock. Len, if I amever on my mettle to do a perfect job, it'll be then!"

"Of course. But who--"

"I should think the name would leap to your lips. Who's mine ancientenemy, the man who has fought me by politely sneering at me, andcircumventing me when he could, ever since I began practice, and whomI've fought back in my way? Why, Len--"

Her dark eyes grew wide. "Red! Not--Doctor Van Horn?"

"Even so. "

"Oh, Red! That is a compliment--and more than a compliment. But I shouldnever have thought of him somehow because, I suppose--"

"Because nobody ever thinks of a doctor's being sick or needing anoperation. But doctors do--sometimes--and usually pretty badly, too, before they will submit to it. Van Horn's in dreadful shape, and hasbeen keeping it dark--until it's got the upper hand of him completely. Mighty plucky the way he's been going on with his work, with troublegnawing at his vitals. "

"How did he come to call you?"

"That's what I'm wondering. But call me he did, yesterday, and I've seenhim twice since. And when I told him what had to be done he took it likea soldier without wincing. But when he said he wanted me to do the trickyou could have knocked me down with a lead pencil. My word, Len, I havebeen doing Van an injustice all these years! The real stuff is in him, after all, and plenty of it, too. "

"It is he who has done you the injustice, " Ellen said with a little liftof the head. 

"I know I have given you reason to think so--the times I've come homeraving mad at some cut of his. But, Len, that's all past and he wipes itout by trusting me now. The biggest thing I've had against him was nothis knifing me but his apparent toadying to the rich and influential. But there's another side to that and I see it now. Some people have tobe coddled, and though it goes against my grain to do it, I don't knowwhy a man who can be diplomatic and winning, like Van Horn, hasn't hisplace just as much as a rough rider like me. Anyhow, the thing now is topull him through his operation, and if I can do it--well, Van and Iwill be on a new basis, and a mighty comfortable one it will be. "

His voice was eager and his wife understood just how his pulses werethrilling, as do those of the born surgeon, at the approach of a greatopportunity. 

"I'm very, very glad, dear, " Ellen said warmly. "It's a real triumph offaith over jealousy, and I don't wonder you are proud of such acommission. I know you will bring him through. "

"If I don't--but that's not to be thought of. It's a case that calls forextremely delicate surgery and a sure hand, but the ground is plainlymapped out and only some absolutely unforeseen complication is to bedreaded. And when it comes to those complications--well, Len, sometimesI think it must be the good Lord who works a man's brain for him at suchcrises, and makes it pretty nearly superhuman. It's hard to account anyother way, sometimes, for the success of the quick decisions you makeunder necessity that would take a lot of time to work out if you had thetime. Oh, it's a great game, Len, no doubt of that--when you win. Andwhen you lose"--he stopped short, staring into the shadows where a rowof dark-leaved laurel bushes shut away the garden in a softseclusion--"well, that's another story, a heartbreaking story. "

He was silent for a minute, then, in another tone, he spokeconfidently: "But--this isn't going to be a story of that kind. Van Hornhas a big place in the city and he's going to keep it. And I'm going tospend the rest of this evening making a bit of a tool I've had in mindfor some time--that there's a remote chance I shall need in this case. But if that remote chance should come--well, there's nothing like astate of preparedness, as the military men say. "

"That's why you succeed, Red; you always are prepared. "

"Not always. And it's in the emergency you can't foresee that heavencomes to the rescue. You can't expect it to come to the rescue when youmight have foreseen. 'Trust the Lord and keep your powder dry' is apretty good maxim for the surgical firing line, too--eh?"

With his arm through his wife's he paced several times up and down theflowery borders, then went away into the small laboratory and machineshop where he was accustomed to do much of the work which showed only inits final results. Through the rest of the hot August evening, hisattire stripped to the lowest terms compatible with possible unexpectedvisitors, he laboured with all the enthusiasm characteristic of him attasks which to another mind would have been drudgery indeed. 

To him, at about ten o'clock, came his neighbour and friend, ArthurChester. Standing with arms on the sill outside of the lighted window, clad in summer vestments of white and looking as cool and fresh as theman inside looked hot and dirty, Chester attempted to lure the workerforth. 

"Win's serving a lot of cold, wet stuff on our porch, " he announced. "Ellen's there, and the Macauleys, and Jord King has just driven up andstopped for a minute. He's got Aleck with him and he's pleased as Punchbecause he's rigged a contrivance so that Aleck can drive himself withone hand. What do you think of that?"

"Good work, " replied Burns absently after a minute, during which hetested a steel edge with an experimental finger and shook his head atit. 

"Did you expect Jord to keep Aleck, when he's got to have another manbesides for the things Aleck can't do now?"

Burns nodded. "Expect anything--of him. "

"Put down that murderous-looking thing and come along over. Ellen saidyou were here, and Win sent word to you not to bother to change yourclothes. "

"Thanks--I won't. "

"Won't bother--or won't come?"

"Both. "

Chester sighed. "Do you know what you remind me of when you get in thishole of a workshop? A bull pup with his teeth in something, and onlygrowls issuing. "

"Better keep away then. "

"I suppose that's a hint--a bull-pup hint. "

Silence from inside, while the worker stirred something boiling over aflame, poured a dark fluid from one retort into another, dropped in adrop or two of something from a small vial inflammatorily labelled, andstarted an electric motor in a corner. Chester could see the shine ofperspiration on the smooth brow below the coppery hair, and dropsstanding like dew on the broad white chest from which the open shirt wasturned widely back. 

"It must be about a hundred and fifty Fahrenheit in there, " hecommented. Burns grunted an assent. "It's only eighty-four on our porch, and growing cooler every minute. The things we have to drink are justabove thirty-two, right off the ice. " Chester's words were carefullychosen. 

"Dangerous extremes. But I wouldn't mind having a pint or two ofsomething cold. Go, bring it to me. "

"Well, I like that. "

"So'll I, I hope. "

Chester laughed and strolled away. When he returned he carried a bigcrystal pitcher filled with a pleasantly frothing home-made amber brewin which ice tinkled. With him came Jordan King. Chester shoved asidethe screen and pushed the pitcher inside, accompanied by a glass whichWinifred had insisted on sending. 

Burns caught up the pitcher, drank thirstily, drew his arm across hismouth and grinned through the window, meeting Jordan King's smiling gazein return. 

"Company manners don't go when your hands are black, eh?" remarked theman inside. 

"Mechanics and surgeons seem a good deal alike at times, " was thelaughing reply. 

"Can't tell 'em apart. Your lily-handed surgeon is an anomaly. I hearAleck came out under his own steam to-night. How does it go?"

"First rate. It was great fun. He's like a boiling kettle full of steam, with the lid off just in time. "

"Good. Be on your guard when he's driving, though, for a while. Don'tlet him stay at the wheel down Devil's Hill just yet. "

"Why not? He has absolute control the way I've fixed it. You see thespark and gas are right where--"

"I don't want you to take one chance in a million on that back of yoursyet. See? Or do I have to drive that order in and spike it down?"

"He seems to have a lot of conversation in him--for you, " observedChester to King as the two outside laughed at this explosion fromwithin. 

"Such as it is, " replied King with an audacious wink. "I thought I'd gotabout through taking orders. "

"I'll give you both two minutes to clear out, " came from inside thewindow as Burns caught up a piece of steel and began narrowly to examineit. Over it he looked at Jordan King, and the two exchanged a glancewhich spoke of complete understanding. 

"Come again, boy, " Burns said with a sudden flashing smile at hisfriend. 

"I will--day after to-morrow in the afternoon, " King returned, and hiseyes held Burns's. 

"What? Do you know?"

King nodded, with a look of pride. "You bet I do. "

"Who told you?"

"Himself. "

"Didn't know you knew him well enough for that. "

"Oh, yes, through mother; they're old friends. She sent me to see himfor her. "

"I see. Well, wish me luck!"

"I wish you--your own skill at its highest power, " said Jordan Kingfervently. 

"Thanks, youngster, " was Burns's answer, and this time there was nosmile on the face which he lifted again for an instant from above thetiny piece of steel which held in it such potentialities--in his hands. 

"You seem to have got farther in under his skin than the rest of us, "observed Chester to King as they walked slowly away. There was a touchof unconscious jealousy in his tone. He had known R. P. Burns a longwhile before Jordan King had reached man's estate. "I never knew him tosay a word about a coming operation before. "

"He didn't say it now; I happened to know. Come out and see the riggingwe've put on the car so Aleck can work everything with one hand and twofeet. "

"And a few brains, I should say, " Chester supplemented. 

 * * * * *

Though Burns had plenty of other work to keep him busy during theinterval before he should lay hands upon Doctor Van Horn, his mind wasseldom off his coming task. In spite of all that Ellen knew of the pastantagonism between the two men she was in possession of butcomparatively few of the facts. Except where his fiery temper hadentirely overcome him Burns had been silent concerning the many causeshe had had to dislike and distrust the older man. 

As what is called "a fashionable physician, " having for his patientsfew outside of the wealthy class, Dr. James Van Horn had occupied afield of practice entirely different from that of R. P. Burns. ThoughBurns numbered on his list many of the city's best known and mostprosperous citizens, he held them by virtue of a manner of address and asystem of treatment differing in no wise from that which he employedupon the poorest and humblest who came to him. If people liked him itwas for no blandishments of his, only for his sturdy manliness, hisabsolute honesty, and a certain not unattractive bluntness of speechwhose humour often atoned for its thrust. 

As for his skill, there was no question that it ranked higher than thatof his special rival. As for his success, it had steadily increased. And, as all who knew him could testify, when it came to that "lastditch" in which lay a human being fighting for his life, Burns'sreputation for standing by, sleeves rolled up and body stiff withresistance of the threatening evil, was such that there was no man tocompete with him. 

It was inevitable that in a city of the moderate size of that in whichthese two men practised there should arise situations which sometimesbrought about a clash between them. The patient of one, having arrivedat serious straits, often called for a consultation with the other. Thevery professional bearing and methods of the two were so different, strive though they might to adapt themselves to each other at least inthe presence of the patient, that trouble usually began at once, veiledthough it might be under the stringencies of professional etiquette. Later, when it came to matters of life and death, these men were sure todisagree radically. Van Horn, dignified of presence, polished of speech, was apt to impress the patient's family with his wisdom, his restraint, his modestly assured sense of the fitness of his own methods to theneeds of the case; while Burns, burning with indignation over somebreach of faith occasioned by his senior's orders in his absence, orother indignity, flaming still more hotly over being forced into acourse which he believed to be against the patient's interest, waslikely to blurt out some rough speech at a moment when silence, as faras his own interests were concerned, would have been more discreet--andthen would come rupture. 

Usually those most concerned never guessed at the hidden fires, becauseeven Burns, under bonds to his wife to restrain himself at moments ofdanger, was nearly always able to get away from such scenes without openoutbreak. But more than once a situation had developed which could behandled only by the withdrawal of one or the other physician from thecase--and then, whether he went or stayed, Burns could seldom winthrough without showing what he felt. 

Now, however, he was feeling as he had never dreamed he could feeltoward James Van Horn. The way in which the man was facing the presentcrisis in his life called for Burns's honest and ungrudging admiration. With that same cool and unflurried bearing with which Van Horn wasaccustomed to hold his own in a consultation was he now awaiting theuncertain issue of his determination to end, in one way or the other, the disability under which he was suffering. 

CHAPTER XI

THE ONLY SAFE PLACE

When Red Pepper Burns visited James Van Horn, at the hospital, on theevening before the operation, he found him lying quietly in bed, readyfor the night--and the morning. He looked up and smiled the sameslightly frosty smile Burns knew so well, but which he now interpreteddifferently. As he sat down by the bedside the younger man's heart wasunbelievably warm. 

He looked straight, with his powerful hazel eyes slightly veiled by acontraction of the eyelids, into the steady gray eyes of hispatient--his patient--he could not believe it yet. He laid exploringfingers upon the pulse of the hand he had just grasped. 

"If they were all like you, " he said gently, "we should have betterchances for doing our best. How do you manage it, Doctor?"

"Temperament, I suppose, " returned the other lightly. "Or"--and now hespoke less lightly--"belief--or lack of it. If we get through--verywell; I shall go on with my work. If we don't get through--that endsit. I have no belief in any hereafter, as you may know. A few years moreor less--what does it matter?"

Burns studied the finely chiselled face in silence for a minute, then hespoke slowly: "It matters this much--to me. If by a chance, a slip, alack of skill, I should put an end to a life which would never liveagain, I could not bear it. "

Van Horn smiled--and somehow the smile was not frosty at all. "I amtrusting you. Your hand won't slip; there will be no lack of skill. Ifyou don't pull me through, it will be because destiny is too much forus. To be honest, I don't care how it comes out. And yet, that's notquite true either. I do care; only I want to be entirely well again. Ican't go on as I have gone. "

"You shall not. We're going to win; I'm confident of it. Only--Doctor, if the unforeseen should happen I don't want you to go out of this lifebelieving there's no other. Listen. " He pulled out a notebook andsearching, found a small newspaper clipping. "A big New York paper theother day printed this headline: '_Fell Eight Stories to Death_. ' Asmaller city paper copied it with this ironical comment: '_Headlinescannot be too complete. But what a great story it would have been if hehad fallen eight stories to life!_' And then one of the biggest andmost influential and respected newspapers in the world copied bothheadlines and comment and gave the whole thing a fresh title: '_Falls toLife--Immortal_. ' Doctor--you can't afford to lie to-night where youdo--and take chances on that last thing's not being true. The greatestminds the world knows believe it is true. "

A silence fell. Then Van Horn spoke: "Burns, do you think it's wise toturn a patient's thoughts into this channel on the eve of a crisis?"

Burns regarded him closely. "Can you tell me, Doctor, " he asked, "thatyour thoughts weren't already in that channel?"

"Suppose they were. And suppose I even admitted the possibility that youwere right--which, mind you, I don't--what use is it to argue thequestion at this late hour?"

"Because the hour is not too late. If you want to sleep quietly to-nightand wake fit for what's coming, put yourself in the hands of the Makerof heaven and earth before you sleep. Then, whether there's a hereafteror not won't matter for you; you'll leave that to Him. But you'll be inHis hands--and that's the only place it's safe to be. "

"Suppose I told you I didn't believe in any such Being. "

"I should tell you you knew better--and knew it with every fibre ofyou. "

The two pairs of eyes steadily regarded each other. In Burns's flamedsincerity and conviction. In Van Horn's grew a curious sort ofsuffering. He moved restlessly on his pillow. 

"If I had known you were a fanatic as well as a fighter I might havehesitated to call you, even though I believe in you as a surgeon, " hesaid somewhat huskily. 

"It's surgery you're getting from me to-night, but I cut to cure. A mindat rest will help you through to-morrow. "

"Why should you think my mind isn't at rest? You commended me for myquiet mind when you came in. "

"For your cool control. But your unhappy spirit looked out of your eyesat me, and I've spoken to that. I couldn't keep silence. Forgive me, Doctor; I'm a blunt fellow, as you have reason to know. I haven't likedyou, and you haven't liked me. We've fought each other all along theline. But your calling me now has touched me very much, and I findmyself caring tremendously to give you the best I have. And not only thebest my hands have to give you, but the best of my brain and heart. Andthat belief in the Almighty and His power to rule this world and otherworlds is the best I have. I'd like to give it to you. "

He rose, his big figure towering like a mountain of strength above theslender form in the bed. 

Van Horn stretched up his hand to say good-night. "I know you thought itright to say this to me, Burns, " he said, "and I have reason to knowthat when you think a thing is right you don't hesitate to do it. I likeyour frankness--better than I seem to. I trust you none the less forthis talk; perhaps more. Do your best by me in the morning, and whateverhappens, your conscience will be free. "

Burns's two sinewy hands clasped the thin but still firm one of VanHorn. "As I said just now, I've never wanted more to do my best than foryou, " came very gently from his lips. "And I can tell you for yourcomfort that the more anxious I am to do good work the surer I am to doit. I don't know why it should be so; I've heard plenty of men say itworked just the other way with them. Yes, I do know why. I think I'lltell you the explanation. The more anxious I am the harder I pray to myGod to make me fit. And when I go from my knees to the operating-room Ifeel armed to the teeth. "

He smiled, a brilliant, heart-warming smile, and suddenly he looked, tothe man on the bed who gazed at him, more like a conqueror than any onehe had ever seen. And all at once James Van Horn understood why, withall his faults of temper and speech, his patients loved and clung to RedPepper Burns; and why he, Van Horn himself, had not been able to defeatBurns as a rival. There was something about the man which spoke ofpower, and at this moment it seemed clear, even to the skeptic, that itwas not wholly human power. 

Burns bent over the bed. "Good-night, Doctor, " he said softly, almost ashe might have spoken to a child. Then, quite as he might have spoken toa child, he added: "Say a bit of a prayer before you go to sleep. Itwon't hurt you, and--who knows?--even unbelieving, you may get ananswer. "

Van Horn smiled up at him wanly. "Good-night, Doctor, " he replied. "Thank you for coming in--whether I sleep the better or the worse forit. "

 * * * * *

If there were anything of the fanatic about Redfield Pepper Burns--andthe term was one which no human being but Van Horn had ever applied tohim--it was the fighting, not the fasting, side of his character whichshowed uppermost at ten next morning. He came out of his hospitaldressing-room with that look of dogged determination written upon browand mouth which his associates knew well, and they had never seen itwritten larger. From Doctor Buller, who usually gave the anesthetics inBurns's cases, and from Miss Mathewson, who almost invariably workedupon the opposite side of the operating table, to the newest nurse whoseonly mission was to be at hand for observation, the staff more or lessacutely sensed the situation. Not one of those who had been for anylength of time in the service but understood that it was an unusualsituation. 

That James Van Horn and R. P. Burns had long been conscious orunconscious rivals was known to everybody. Van Horn was not popular withthe hospital staff, while Burns might have ordered them all to almostany deed of valour and have been loyally obeyed. But Van Horn's standingin the city was well understood; he was admired and respected as themost imposing and influential figure in the medical profession thererepresented. He held many posts of distinction, not only in the city, but in the state, and his name at the head of an article in anyprofessional magazine carried weight and authority. And that he shouldhave chosen Burns, rather than have sent abroad for any more famoussurgeon, was to be considered an extraordinary honour indicative of aconfidence not to have been expected. 

Altogether, there was more than ordinary tension observable in theoperating-room just before the appointed hour. A number of the city'ssurgeons were present--Grayson, Fields, Lenhart, Stevenson--menaccustomed to see Burns at work and to recognize his ability asuncommon. Not that they often admitted this to themselves or to oneanother, but the fact remains that they understood precisely why VanHorn, if he chose a local man at all--which of itself had surprised themvery much--had selected Burns. Not one of them, no matter how personallyhe felt antagonistic to this most constantly employed member of theprofession, but would have felt safer in his hands in such a crisis thanin those of any of his associates. 

Burns held a brief conference with Miss Mathewson, who having been withhim in his office and his operative work for the entire twelve years ofhis practice, was herself all but a surgeon and suited him better thanany man, with her deft fingers and sure response to his slightestindication of intention. The others found themselves watching the two asthey came forward, cool, steady, ready for the perfect team work theyhad so long played. If both hearts were beating a degree faster thanusual there was nothing to show it. Nobody knew what had passed betweenthe two. If they had known they might have understood why they worked soperfectly together. 

"You're going to give me your best to-day, Amy, eh?"

"You know that, Doctor Burns. "

"Of course I know it. But I want a little better than your best. This isone of the cases where every second is going to count. We have to makeall the speed that's in us without a slip. I can trust you. I didn'ttell you before because I didn't want you thinking about it. But I tellyou now because I've got to have the speed. All right; that's all. "

He gave her one quick smile, then his face was set and stern again, asalways at this moment, for it was the moment when he caught sight of hispatient, quietly asleep, being brought to him. And it was the momentwhen one swift echo of the prayer he had already made upon his kneesleaped through his mind--to be gone again as lightning flashes through amidnight sky. After that there was to be no more prayer, only action. 

 * * * * *

The watching surgeons unconsciously held their breath as the operationbegan. For the patient on the table was James Van Horn, and the man whohad taken Van Horn's life into his hands was not a great surgeon fromNew York or Boston, as was to have been anticipated, but their everydaycolleague Burns. And at that moment not one of them envied him hischance. 

Ellen had seldom waited more anxiously for the word her husband alwayssent her at such times. He fully recognized that the silent partner incrises like these suffered a very real and trying suspense, the greaterthat there was nothing she could do for him except to send him to hiswork heartened by the thought of her and of her belief in him. 

It was longer than usual, on this more than ordinarily fateful morning, before Ellen received the first word from the hospital. When it came itwas from an attendant and it was not reassuring:

"Doctor Burns wishes me to tell you that the patient has come throughthe operation, but is in a critical condition. He will not leave him atpresent. "

This meant more hours of waiting, during which Ellen could set her mindand hand to nothing which was not purely mechanical. She was realizingto the full that it was the unknown factor of which Burns had oftenspoken, the unforeseen contingency, which might upset all thecalculations and efforts of science and skill. Well she knew that, though her husband's reputation was an assured one, it might suffersomewhat from the loss of this prominent case. Ellen felt certain thatthis last consideration was one to weigh little with Burns himselfcompared with his personal and bitter regret over an unsuccessful effortto save a life. But it seemed to her that she cared from every point ofview, and to her the time of waiting was especially hard to bear. 

There was one relief in the situation--never had she had her vigilsshared as Jordan King was sharing this one. As the hours went by, bothby messages over the telephone and by more than one hurried drive out tosee Ellen in person, did he let her know that his concern for Burns'svictory was only second to her own. 

"He's got to save him!" was his declaration, standing in her doorway, late in the evening, hat in hand, bright dark eyes on Ellen's. "And theway he's sticking by, I'm confident he will. That bull-dog grip of hiswe know so well would pull a ton of lead out of a quicksand. He won'tgive up while there's a breath stirring, and even if it stops he'llstart it again--with his will!"

"You are a loyal friend. " Ellen's smile rewarded him for this blindlyassured speech, well as she knew how shaky was the foundation on whichhe might be standing. "But the last message he sent was only that noground had been lost. "

"Well, that's a good deal after ten hours. " He looked at his watch. "Keep a brave heart, Mrs. Burns. I'm going to the hospital now to see ifI can get just a glimpse of our man before we settle down for the night. And I want to arrange with Miss Dwight--she was my nurse--to let me knowany news at any hour in the night. "

It was at three in the morning that King called her to say with a ringof joy in his voice: "There's a bit of a gain, Mrs. Burns. It looksbrighter. "

It was at eight, five hours later, that Burns himself spoke to her. Hisvoice betrayed tension in spite of its steadiness. "We're holding hard, Len; that's about all I can say. "

"Dear--are you getting any rest?"

"Don't want any; I'm all right. I'll not be home till we're out of this, you know. Good-bye, my girl. " And he was gone, back to the bedside. Sheknew, without being told, that he had hardly left it. 

Thirty-six hours had gone by, and Ellen and Jordan King had had manymessages from the hospital before the one came which eased their anxiousminds: "Out of immediate danger. " It was almost another thirty-sixbefore Burns came home. 

She had never seen him look more radiantly happy, though the shadowsunder his eyes were heavy, and there were lines of fatigue about hismouth. Although she had been watching for him he took her by surpriseat last, coming upon her in the early morning just as she was descendingthe stairs. With both arms around her, as she stood on the bottom stair, he looked into her eyes. 

"The game's worth the candle, Len, " he said. 

"Even though you've been burning the candle at both ends, dear? Yes, Iknow it is. I'm so glad--so glad!"

"We're sworn friends, Van and I. Can you believe it? Len, he's simplythe finest ever. "

She smiled at him. "I'm sure you think so; it's just what you wouldthink, my generous boy. "

"I'll prove it to you by and by, when I've had a wink of sleep. A bath, breakfast, and two hours of rest--then I'll be in service again. Van'sresting comfortably, practically out of danger, and--Len, his eyesremind me of a sick child's who has waked out of a delirium to find hismother by his side. "

"Is that the way his eyes look when they meet yours?"

He nodded. "Of course. That's how I know. "

"O Red, " she said softly--"to think of the eyes that look at you likethat!"

"They don't all, " he answered as the two went up the stairs side byside. "But Van--well, he's been through the deep waters, and he'sfound--a footing on rock where he expected shifting sands. Ah, there'smy boy! Give him to me quick!"

The Little-Un, surging plumply out of the nursery, tumbled into hisfather's arms, and submitted, shouting with glee, to the sort ofhuggings, kissings, and general inspection to which he was happilyaccustomed when Burns came home after a longer absence than usual. 

Just before he went back to the hospital, refreshed by an hour's longersleep than he had meant to take, because Ellen would not wake himsooner, Burns opened the pile of mail which had accumulated during hisabsence. He sat on the arm of the blue couch, tossing the letters one byone upon the table behind it, in two piles, one for his personalconsideration, the other for Miss Mathewson's answering. Ellen, happilyrelaxing in a corner of the couch, her eyes watching the letter opening, saw her husband's eyes widen as he stooped to pick up a small blue paperwhich had fallen from the missive he had just slitted. As he unfoldedthe blue slip and glanced at it, an astonished whistle leaped to hislips. 

"Well, by the powers--what's this?" he murmured. "A New York draft for athousand dollars, inclosed in a letter which says nothing except atypewritten '_From One of the most grateful of all grateful patients_. 'Len, what do you think of that? Who on earth sent it? I haven't had arich patient who hasn't paid his bill, or who won't pay it in due formwhen he gets around to it. And the poor ones don't send checks of thissize. "

"I can't imagine, " she said, studying the few words on the otherwiseblank sheet, and the postmark on the typewritten envelope, which showedthe letter also to have come from New York. "You haven't had a patientlately who was travelling--a hotel case, or anything of that sort?"

He shook his head. "None that didn't pay before he left--and none thatseemed particularly grateful anyhow. Well, I must be off. The thousand'sall right, wherever it came from, eh? And I want to get back to Van. I'dput that draft in the fire rather than go back to find the slightestslip in his case. I think, if I should, I'd lose my nerve at last. "

CHAPTER XII

THE TRUTH ABOUT SUSQUEHANNA

Jordan King, directing his car with necessary caution through thetraffic of a small but crowded city, two hundred miles from home, suddenly threw out his clutch and jammed his brakes into urgent use. Beside him Aleck, flinging out a hasty arm to warn drivers pressingclosely behind, gazed at his employer in wonder. There was absolutelynothing to stop them, and an autocratic crossing policeman just aheadwas impatiently waving them forward. 

But King, his eyes apparently following something or some one in thethrong, which had just negotiated the crossing of the street at rightangles to his own direction, spoke hurriedly: "Turn to the right here, Aleck, and wait for me at the first spot down that street where they'lllet you stop. "

He was out of the car and off at a dangerous slant through theprocession of moving vehicles, dodging past great trucks and slipping bythe noses of touring cars and coupés with apparent recklessness ofconsequences. 

Aleck, sliding into the driver's seat and forced to lose sight ofKing's tall figure because of the urgency of the crowding mass behind, was moved to curious speculation. As he turned the designated corner, hewas saying to himself with a chuckle: "He always was quick on thetrigger, but I'll be darned if that wasn't about the hastiest move Iever saw him make. What's he after, anyhow, in this town where he justtold me he didn't know a soul? Well, it's some wait for me, I'll bet. "

If he could have seen his master as that young man plunged along throughthe crowd Aleck would have found plenty to interest him. King was doinghis best to pursue and catch up with a figure which he now and againlost sight of in the throng, so that he slowed his pace lest he go by itunawares. The fear that he might thus miss and lose it sharpened hisgaze and gave to his face an intent look, so that many people stared athim as he passed them, wondering what the comely, dark-eyed young manwas after that he was rushing at such a pace. 

There came a moment when King paused, uncertain, his heart standingstill with the certainty that he was off the track and that his quarryhad unconsciously doubled and eluded him. An instant later he drew aquick breath of relief, his gaze following a slender black figure as itmounted the steps of an old church which stood, dingy but stilldignified, close by the highway, its open doors indicating that it hadremained in this downtown district for a purpose. King sprang up thesteps, then paused in the great doorway, beyond which the darkness andquiet of an empty interior silently invited passers-by to rest andreflect. At that moment a deep organ note sounded far away upon thestillness, and King took a step inside, looking cautiously about him. The figure he pursued had vanished, and after a moment more he crossedthe vestibule and stood, hat in hand, gazing into the dim depths beyond. 

For a little, coming as he had from the strong light of the Septemberafternoon, he could see absolutely nothing; but as his vision cleared hewas able to make out a small group of people far toward the front of thespacious interior, and the form of the organist himself before hismanuals low at the right of the choir. But he had to look for some timebefore he could descry at the farthermost side of the church a solitaryhead bent upon the rail before it. Toward this point the young manslowly made his way, his heart hammering a most unwonted tattoo withinhis broad breast. 

Several pews behind and to one side of the kneeling figure he took hisplace, his gaze fastened upon it. He looked his fill, secure in his ownposition, which was in the shadow of a great stone pillar, where thedim light from the sombre-toned windows did not touch him. And, as helooked, the conviction he had had since his first meeting with this girldeepened and strengthened into resolution. He would not lose her again, no matter what it might cost to hold her. He would not believe a mancould be mistaken in that face, in that exquisite and arrestingpersonality. There was not such another in the whole wide world. 

Suddenly she turned, and evidently she saw that some one was near her, though he knew it was not possible that she had recognized him. She satquite still for another five minutes, then rose very quietly, gatheringup the remembered black handbag, and moved like a young nun into theaisle, head downbent. King slipped out of his pew, made a quick circuitaround the pillar, and met her squarely as she came toward him. 

He stood still in her path, and she, looking partially up to pass himwith that complete ignoring of his presence which young women ofbreeding employ when strangers threaten to take notice, heard his lowvoice: "Please don't run away--from your friend!"

"Oh--Mr. King!" Her eyes, startled, met his indeed, and into her face, as she spoke his name, poured a flood of beautiful colour, at sight ofwhich King all but lost his head. 

He managed, however, to retain sufficient sanity to grasp her hand afterthe fashion approved as the proper sign of cordiality in meeting avalued acquaintance, and to say, in an outwardly restrained manner:"Won't you sit down again here? We can talk so much better thanoutside--and I must talk with you. You have no idea how hard I havetried to find you. "

She seemed to hesitate for an instant, but ended by slipping into thepew by the pillar where King had been sitting, and to which he pointedher, as the most sheltered spot at hand, where the group of people atthe front of the church were hidden from view, and only the now low andthrobbing notes of the organ could remind the pair that they were notabsolutely alone. 

"This is wonderful--for me, " King began, in the hushed tone befittingsuch a place--and the tone which suited his feelings as well. "I havethought of you a million times in these months and longed to know justhow you were looking. Now that I see for myself my mind is a biteasier--and yet--I'm somehow more anxious about you than ever. "

"There's no reason why you should be anxious about me, Mr. King, " sheanswered, her eyes releasing themselves from his in spite of his effortto hold them. "I'm doing very well, and--quite enjoying my work. Howabout yourself? I hardly need to ask. "

"Oh, I'm coming on finely, thank you. I've plunged into my work with allthe zest I ever had. Only one thing has bothered me: I seemed unable toget out of the habit of watching the mails. And they have been mightydisappointing. "

"You surely couldn't expect, " she said, smiling a little, "that once youwere well again you should be pampered with frequent letters. "

"I certainly haven't been pampered. One letter in all this time--"

"Book agents haven't much time for writing letters. And surely engineersmust be busy people. "

He was silent for a minute, studying her. She seemed, in spite of heryouth and beauty, wonderfully self-reliant. Again, as in the room at thehospital, her quiet poise of manner struck him. And though she was oncemore dressed in the plainest and least costly of attire--as well as hecould judge--he knew that he should be entirely willing to take heranywhere where he was known, with no mental apologies for herappearance. This thought immediately put another into his mind, on whichhe lost no time in acting. 

"This is a great piece of luck, " said he, and went on hurriedly, tryingto use diplomacy, which always came hard with him: "I don't want it toslip away too soon. Why couldn't we spend the rest of the day together?I'm just on my way back home from a piece of work I've beensuperintending outside this city. I've plenty of time ahead of me, andI'm sure the book business can't be so pressing that you couldn't take afew hours off. If you'll venture to trust yourself to me we'll go offinto the country somewhere, and have dinner at some pleasant place. Thenwe can talk things over--all sorts of things, " he added quickly, lestthis seem too pointed. "Won't you--please?"

She considered an instant, then said frankly: "Of course that would bedelightful, and I can't think of a real reason why I shouldn't do it. What time is it, please?"

"Only three o'clock. We'll have time for a splendid drive and I'llpromise to get you back at any hour you say--after dinner. "

"It must be early. "

"It shall be. Well, then--will you wait in the vestibule out here twominutes, please? I'll have the car at the door. "

Thus it happened that Aleck, four blocks away, having just comfortablysettled to the reading of a popular magazine on mechanics, found himselfsummarily ejected from his seat, and sent off upon his own resourcesfor a number of hours. 

"Take care of yourself, Al, and have a good time out of it if you can, "urged his master, and Aleck observed that King's eyes were very brightand his manner indicative of some fresh mental stimulus received duringthe brief time of his absence. "Have the best sort of a dinner whereveryou like. "

"All right, Mr. King, " Aleck responded. "I hope you're going to have agood time yourself, " he added, "after all the work you've done to-day. Iwas some anxious for fear you'd do too much. "

"No chance, Aleck, with Doctor Burns's orders what they are. And Ididn't do a thing but stand around and talk with the men. I'm feelingfit as a fiddle now. " And King drove off in haste. 

Back at the church he watched with intense satisfaction Miss AnneLinton's descent of the dusty steps. The September sunshine washazily bright, the air was warmly caressing, and there were severalhours ahead containing such an opportunity as he had not yet had totry at finding out the things he had wanted to know. Not this girl'scircumstances--though he should be interested in that topic--not anyaffairs of hers which she should not choose to tell him; but the futurerelationship between herself and him--this was what he must establishupon some sort of a definite basis, if it were possible. 

Out through the crowded streets into the suburbs, on beyond these to theopen country, the car took its way with as much haste as was compatiblewith necessary caution. Once on the open road, however, and well away, King paid small attention to covering distance. Indeed, when they hadreached a certain wooded district, picturesque after the fashion of thesemi-mountainous country of that part of the state, he let his car idleafter a fashion most unaccustomed with him, who was usually principallyconcerned with getting from one place to another with the least possiblewaste of time. 

And now he and Anne Linton were talking as they never had had the chanceto talk before, and they were exploring each other's minds with the zestof those who have many tastes in common. King was confirming that ofwhich he had been convinced by her letters, that she was thoroughlyeducated, and that she had read and thought along lines which hadintensely interested him ever since he had reached the thinking age. Tohis delight he found that she could hold her own in an argument with asclose reasoning, as logical deduction, as keen interpretation, as anyyoung man he knew. And with it all she showed a certain quality ofappreciation of his own side of the question which especially pleasedhim, because it proved that she possessed that most desirable power, rare among those of her sex as he knew them--the ability to hold herselffree from undue bias. 

Yet she proved herself a very girl none the less by suddenly crying outat sight of certain tall masses of shell-pink flowers growing by theroadside in a shady nook, and by insisting on getting out to pick themfor herself. 

"It's so much more fun, " she asserted, "to choose one's own than towatch a man picking all the poorest blossoms and leaving the very best. "

"Is that what we do?" King asked, his eyes feasting upon the sight ofher as she filled her arms with the gay masses, her face eager with herpleasure in them. 

"Yes, indeed. Or else you get out a jackknife and hack off greathandfuls of them at once, and bring them back all bleeding from yourruthless attack. "

"I see. And you gather them delicately, so they don't mind, I suppose. Yet--I was given to understand that 'Susquehanna' died first. I'vealways wondered what you did to her. I'd banked on her as the huskiestof the lot. "

She flashed a quick look at him, compounded of surprise, mirth, andsomething else whose nature he could not guess. "'Susquehanna' wascertainly a wonderful rose, " she admitted. 

"Yet only next morning she was sadly drooping. I know, because Ireceived a report of her. And I lost my wager. "

"You should have known better, " she said demurely, her head bent overher armful of flowers, "than to make a wager on the life of a rose sentto a girl who was just coming back to life herself. "

"You weren't so gentle with 'Susquehanna, ' then, I take it, as you arewith those wild things you have there. "

"I was not gentle with her at all. " Anne lifted her head with amischievously merry look. "If you must know--I kissed her--hard!"

"Ah!" Jordan King sat back, laughing, with suddenly rising colour. "Ithought as much. But I suppose I'm to take it that you did it solelybecause she was 'Susquehanna'--not because--"

"Certainly because she was her lovely self, cool and sweet and aglorious colour, and she reminded me--of other roses I had known. Flowers to a convalescent are only just a little less reviving thanfood. 'Susquehanna' cheered me on toward victory. "

"Then she died happy, I'm sure. "

He would have enjoyed keeping it up with nonsense of this pleasurablesort, but as soon as Anne was back in the car she somehow turned himaside upon quite different ground, just how he could not tell. He foundhimself led on to talk about his work, and he could not discover in herquestioning a trace of anything but genuine interest. No man, howevermodest about himself, finds it altogether distressing to have to tell acharming girl some of his more exciting experiences. In the days of hisearly apprenticeship King had spent many months with a contractingengineer of reputation, who was executing a notable piece of work in awild and even dangerous country, and the young man's memory was full ofadventures connected with that period. In contrast with his presentwork, which was of a much more prosaic sort, it formed a chapter in hishistory to which it stirred him even yet to turn back, and at Anne'srequest he was soon launched upon it. 

So the afternoon passed amidst the sights and sounds of the Septembercountry. And now and again they stopped to look at some fine view from acommanding height, or flew gayly down some inviting stretch of smoothroad. By and by they were at an old inn, well up on the top of theworld, which King had had in mind from the start, and to which he hadtaken time, an hour before, to telephone and order things he had hopedshe would like. When the two sat down at a table in a quiet cornerthere were flowers and shining silver upon a snowy cloth, and the foodwhich soon arrived was deliciously cooked, sustaining the reputation theplace had among motorists. And in the very way in which Anne Lintonfilled her position opposite Jordan King was further proof that, inspite of all evidence to the contrary, she belonged to his class. 

Their table was lighted with shaded candles, and in the soft glow Anne'sface had become startlingly lovely. She had tucked a handful of theshell-pink wild flowers into the girdle of her black dress, and theirhue was reflected in her cheeks, glowing from the afternoon's drive inthe sun. As King talked and laughed, his eyes seldom off her face, hefelt the enchantment of her presence grow upon him with every minutethat went by. 

Suddenly he blurted out a question which had been in his mind all day. "I had a curious experience a while back, " he said, "when I first gotout into the world. I was in Doctor Burns's car, and we met some peoplein a limousine, touring. They stopped to ask about the road, and therewas a girl in the car who looked like you. But--she didn't recognize meby the slightest sign, so I knew of course it couldn't be you. "

He looked straight at Anne as he spoke, and saw her lower her eyes for amoment with an odd little smile on her lips. She did not long evade hisgaze, however, but gave him back his look unflinchingly. 

"It was I, " she said. "But I'm not going to tell you how I came to bethere, nor why I didn't bow to you. All I want to say is that there wasa reason for it all, and if I could tell you, you would understand. "

Well, he could not look into her face and not trust her in whatever shemight elect to do, and he said something to that effect. Whereupon shesmiled and thanked him, and said she was sorry to be so mysterious. Herecalled with a fresh thrill how she had looked at him at that strangemeeting, for now that he knew that it was surely she, the great factwhich stayed by him was that she had given him that look to remember, given it to him with intent, beyond a doubt. 

They came out presently upon a long porch overhanging the shore of asmall lake. The September sun was already low, and the light upon theblue hills in the distance was turning slowly to a dusky purple. Theplace was very quiet, for it was growing late in the tourist season, andthe inn was remote from main highways of travel. 

"Can't we stay here just a bit?" King asked pleadingly. "It won't takeus more than an hour to get back if we go along at a fair pace. We cameby a roundabout way. "

With each hour that passed he was realizing more fully how he dreadedthe end of this unexpected and absorbing adventure. So far none of hisattempts to pave the way for other meetings, in other towns to which shemight be going in the course of her book selling, had resulted inanything satisfactory. And even now Anne Linton was shaking her head. 

"I think I must ask you to take me back now, " she said. "I want to comeinto the house where I am staying not later than I usually do. "

So he had to leave the pleasant, vine-clad porch and take his placebeside her in the car again. It did not seem to him that he was having afair chance. But he thought of a plan and proceeded to put it intoexecution. He drove steadily and in silence until the lights of thenearing city were beginning to show faintly in the twilight, with thesky still rich with colour in the west. Then, at a certain curve in theroad far above the rest of the countryside, he brought the car to astandstill. 

"I can't bear to go on and end this day, " he said in a low voice ofregret. "How can I tell when I shall see you again? Do you realize thatevery time I have said a word about our meeting in the future you'vesomehow turned me aside? Do you want me to understand that you wouldrather never see me again?"

Her face was toward the distant lights, and she did not answer for aminute. Then she said slowly: "I should like very much to see you again, Mr. King. But you surely understand that I couldn't make appointmentswith you to meet me in other towns. This has happened and it has beenvery pleasant, but it wouldn't do to make it keep happening. Even thoughI travel about with a book to sell, I--shall never lose the senseof--being under the protection of a home such as other girls have. "

"I wouldn't have you lose it--good heavens, no! I only--well--" And nowhe stopped, set his teeth for an instant, and then plunged ahead. "Butthere's something I can't lose either, and it's--you!"

She looked at him then, evidently startled. "Mr. King, will you driveon, please?" she said very quietly, but he felt something in her tonewhich for an instant he did not understand. In the next instant hethought he did understand it. 

He spoke hurriedly: "You don't know me very well yet, do you? But Ithought you knew me well enough to know that I wouldn't say a thing likethat unless I meant all that goes with it--and follows it. You see--Ilove you. If--if you are not afraid of a man in a plaster jacket--it'llcome off some day, you know--I ask you to marry me. "

There was a long silence then, in which King felt his heart pumpingaway for dear life. He had taken the bit between his teeth now, certainly, and offered this girl, of whom he knew less than of any humanbeing in whom he had the slightest interest, all that he had to give. Yet--he was so sure he knew her that, the words once out, he realizedthat he was glad he had spoken them. 

At last she turned toward him. "You are a very brave man, " she said, "and a very chivalrous man. "

He laughed rather huskily. "It doesn't take much of either bravery orchivalry for a man to offer himself to you. "

"It must take plenty of both. You are--what you are, in the big worldyou live in. And you dare to trust an absolute stranger, whom you haveno means of knowing better, with that name of yours. Think, Mr. JordanKing, what that name means to you--and to your mother. "

"I have thought. And I offer it to you. And I do know what you are. Youcan't disguise yourself--any more than the Princess in the fairy tale. Do you think all those notes I had from you at the hospital didn't tellthe story? I don't know why you are selling books from door to door--andI don't want to know. What I do understand is--that you are the first ofyour family to do it!"

"Mr. King, " she said gravely, "women are very clever at onething--cleverer than men. With a little study, a little training, alittle education, they can make a brave showing. I have known a shopgirlwho, after six months of living with a very charming society woman, could play that woman's part without mistake. And when it came totalking with men of brains, she could even use a few clever phrases andleave the rest of the conversation to them, and they were convinced ofher brilliant mind. "

"You have not been a shopgirl, " he said steadily. "You belong in a homelike mine. If you have lost it by some accident, that is only thefortune of life. But you can't disguise yourself as a commonplaceperson, for you're not. And--I can't let you go out of my life--Ican't. "

Again silence, while the sunset skies slowly faded into the dusky blueof night, and the lights over the distant city grew brighter andbrighter. A light wind, warmly smoky with the pleasant fragrance ofburning bonfires, touched the faces of the two in the car and blew smallcurly strands of hair about Anne Linton's ears. 

Presently she spoke. "I am going to promise to write to you now andthen, " she said, "and give you each time an address where you mayanswer, if you will promise not to come to me. I am going to tell youfrankly that I want your letters. "

"You want my letters--but not me?"

"You put more of yourself into your letters than any one else I know. Soin admitting that I want your letters I admit that I want yourself--as agood friend. "

"No more than that?"

"That's quite enough, isn't it, for people who know each other only aswe do?"

"It's not enough for me. If it's enough for you, then--well, it's as Ithought. "

"What did you think?"

He hesitated, then spoke boldly: "No woman really wants--a mangled humanbeing for her own. "

Impulsively she laid her hand on his. Instantly he grasped it. "Please, "she said, "will you never say--or think--that, again?"

He gazed eagerly into her face, still duskily visible to his scrutiny. "I won't, " he answered, "if you'll tell me you care for me. Oh, don'tyou?--don't you?--not one bit? Just give me a show of a chance and I'llmake you care. I've _got_ to make you care. Why, I've thought of nothingbut you for months--dreamed of you, sleeping and waking. I can't stop;it's too late. Don't ask me to stop--Anne--dear!"

No woman in her senses could have doubted the sincerity of this youngman. That he was no adept at love making was apparent in the way hestumbled over his phrases; in the way his voice caught in his throat;in the way it grew husky toward the last of this impassioned pleading ofhis. 

He still held her hand close. "Tell me you care--a little, " he begged ofher silence. 

"No girl can be alone as I am now and not be touched by such words, " shesaid very gently after a moment's hesitation. "But--promising to marryyou is a different matter. I can't let you rashly offer me so much whenI know what it would mean to you to bring home a--book agent to yourmother!"

He uttered a low exclamation. "My life is my own, to do with as Iplease. If I'm satisfied, that's enough. You are what I want--all Iwant. As for my mother--when she knows you--But we'll not talk of thatjust yet. What I must know is--do you--can you--care for me--enough tomarry me?" His hand tightened on hers, his voice whispered in her ear:"Anne, darling--can't you love me? I want you so--oh--I want you so! Letme kiss you--just once, dear. That will tell you--"

But she drew her hand gently but efficiently away; she spoke firmly, though very low: "No--no! Listen--Jordan King. Sometime--by next springperhaps, I shall be in the place I call home. When that time comes Iwill let you know. If you still care to, you may come and see me there. Now--won't you drive on, please?"

"Yes, if you'll let me--just once--_once_ to live on all those months!Anne--"

But, when he would have made action and follow close upon the heels ofpleading he found himself gently but firmly prevented by an upliftedsmall hand which did not quite touch his nearing face. "Ah, don't spoilthat chivalry of yours, " said her mellow, low voice. "Let me go onthinking you are what I have believed you are all along. Be patient, andprove whether this is real, instead of snatching at what might dull yourjudgment!"

"It wouldn't dull it--only confirm it. And--I want to make you rememberme. "

"You have provided that already, " she admitted, at which he gave anejaculation as of relief--and of longing--and possibly of recognition ofher handling of the whole--from her point of view--rather difficultsituation. At the back of his mind, in spite of his disappointment atbeing kept at arm's length when he wanted something much more definite, was the recognition that here was precisely the show of spirit anddignity which his judgment approved and admired. 

"I'll let you go, if I must; but I'll come to you--if you live in ahovel--if you live in a cave--if you live--Oh, I know how you live!"

"How do I live?" she asked, laughing a little unsteadily, and as ifthere were tears in her eyes, though of this he could not be sure. 

"You live in a plain little house, with just a few of the things youused to have about you; rows of books, a picture or two, and some oldchina. Things may be a bit shabby, but everything is beautifully neat, and there are garden flowers on the table, perhaps white lilacs!"

"Oh, what a romanticist!" she said, through her soft laughter. "Onewould think you wrote novels instead of specifications for concretewalls. What if you come and find me living with my older sister, whosews for a living, plain sewing, at a dollar a day? And we have a longcredit account at the grocery, which we can't pay? And at night ourlittle upstairs room is full of neighbours, untidy, loud-talking, commonplace women? And the lamp smokes--"

"It wouldn't smoke; you would have trimmed it, " he answered, quickly andwith conviction. "But, even if it were all like that, you would still bethe perfect thing you are. And I would take you away--"

"If you don't drive on, Mr. King, " she interposed gently, "you will soonbe mentally unfit to drive at all. And I must be back before thedarkness has quite fallen. And--don't you think we have talked enoughabout ourselves?"

"I like that word, " he declared as he obediently set the car in motion. "Ourselves--that sounds good to me. As long as you keep me with you thatway I'll try to be satisfied. One thing I'm sure of: I've something towork for now that I didn't have this morning. Oh, I know; you haven'tgiven me a thing. But you're going to let me come to see you nextspring, and that's worth everything to me. Meanwhile, I'll do my levelbest--for you. "

 * * * * *

When he drew up before the door of the church, where, in spite of hisentreaties that he be allowed to take her to her lodging place, Anneinsisted on being left, he felt, in spite of all he had gained that day, a sinking of the heart. Though the hour was early and the neighbourhoodat this time of day a quiet one, and though she assured him that she hadnot far to go, he was unhappy to leave her thus unaccompanied. 

"I wish I could possibly imagine why it must be this way, " he said tohimself as he stood hat in hand beside his car, watching Anne Linton'squickly departing figure grow more and more shadowy as the twilightenveloped it. "Well, one thing is certain: whatever she does there's agood and sufficient reason; and I trust her. "

CHAPTER XIII

RED HEADED AGAIN

Crowding his hat upon his head with a vigorous jerk after his reluctantparting with Anne Linton at the church door, Jordan King jumped into hiscar and made his way slowly through the streets to the hotel where Aleckawaited him. For the first few miles out of the city he continued todrive at a pace so moderate that Aleck more than once glancedsurreptitiously at him, wondering if he were actually going to sleep atthe wheel. It was not until they were beyond the last environs and farout in the open country that, quite suddenly, the car was released fromits unusual restraint and began to fly down the road toward home at theold wild speed. 

Somehow or other, after this encounter, King could not settle down tohis work till he had seen Red Pepper Burns. He could not have explainedwhy this should be so, for he certainly did not intend to tell hisfriend of the meeting with Anne Linton, or of the basis upon which hisaffairs now stood. But he wanted to see Burns with a sort of hungerwhich would not be satisfied, and he went to look him up one eveningwhen he himself had returned early from his latest trip to the concretedam. 

He found Burns just setting forth on a drive to see a patient in thecountry, and King invited himself to go with him, running his own caroff at one side of the driveway and leaping into Burns's machine withonly a gay by-your-leave apology. But he had not more than slid into hisseat before he found that he was beside a man whom he did not know. 

King had long understood that Red Pepper's significant cognomen stoodfor the hasty temper which accompanied the coppery hair and hazel eyesof the man with the big heart. But such exhibitions of that temper asKing had witnessed had been limited to quick explosions from which thesmoke had cleared away almost as soon as the sound of warfare had diedupon the air. He was in no way prepared, therefore, to find himself inthe company of a man who was so angry that he could not--or wouldnot--speak to one of his best friends. 

"Fine night, " began the young man lightly, trying again, after twosilent miles, to make way against the frost in the air. "I don't knowwhen we've had such magnificent September weather. "

No answer. 

"I hope you don't mind my going along. You needn't talk at all, youknow--and I'll be quiet, too, if you prefer. "

No answer. King was not at all sure that Burns heard him. The car wasrunning at a terrific pace, and the profile of the man at the wheelagainst the dusky landscape looked as if it were carved out of stone. The young man fell silent, wondering. Almost, he wished he had not beenso sure of his welcome, but there was no retreating now. 

Five miles into the country they ran, and King soon guessed that theirdestination might be Sunny Farm, a home for crippled children which wasEllen Burns's special charity, established by herself on a small scale afew years before and greatly grown since in its size and usefulness. Burns was its head surgeon and its devoted patron, and he was accustomedto do much operative work in its well-equipped surgery, bringing outcases which he found in the city slums or among the country poor, withtotal disregard for any considerations except those of need andsuffering. King knew that the place and the work were dearer to thehearts of both Doctor and Mrs. Burns than all else outside their ownhome, and he began to understand that if anything had gone wrong withaffairs there Red Pepper would be sure to take it seriously. 

Quite as he had foreseen--since there were few homes on this road, which ran mostly through thickly wooded country--the car rushed on tothe big farmhouse, lying low and long in the night, with pleasant lightstwinkling from end to end. Burns brought up with a jerk beside thecentral porch, leaped out, and disappeared inside without a word ofexplanation to his companion, who sat wondering and looking in throughthe open door to the wide hall which ran straight through the house tomore big porches on the farther side. 

Everything was very quiet at this hour, according to the rules of theplace, all but the oldest patients being in bed and asleep by eighto'clock. Therefore when, after an interval, voices became faintlyaudible, there was nothing to prevent their reaching the occupant of thecar. 

In a front room upstairs at one side of the hall two people werespeaking, and presently through the open window Burns was heard to saywith incisive sternness: "I'll give you exactly ten minutes to pack yourbag and go--and I'll take you--to make sure you do go. "

A woman's voice, in a sort of deep-toned wail, answered: "You aren'tfair to me, Doctor Burns; you aren't fair! You--"

"Fair!" The word was a growl of suppressed thunder. "Don't talk offairness--you! You don't know the meaning of the word. You haven't beenfair to a single kid under this roof, or to a nurse--or to any one ofus--you with your smiles--and your hypocrisy--you who can't be trusted. That's the name for you--She-Who-Can't-Be-Trusted. Go pack that bag, Mrs. Soule; I won't hear another word!"

"Oh, Doctor--"

"Go, I said!"

Outside, in the car, Jordan King understood that if the person to whomBurns was speaking had not been a woman that command of his might havebeen accompanied by physical violence, and the offending one more thanlikely have been ejected from the door by the thrust of two vigoroushands on his shoulders. There was that in Burns's tone--all that andmore. His wrath was quite evidently no explosion of the moment, but theculmination of long irritation and distrust, brought to a head by someovert act which had settled the offender's case in the twinkling of aneye. 

Burns came out soon after, followed by a woman well shrouded in a heavyveil. 

King jumped out of the car. "I'm awfully sorry, " he tried to say inBurns's ear. "Just leave me and I'll walk back. "

"Ride on the running board, " was the answer, in a tone which King knewmeant that he was requested not to argue about it. 

Therefore when the woman--to whom he was not introduced--was seated, hetook his place at her feet. To his surprise they did not move off in thedirection from which they had come, but went on over the hills for fivemiles farther, driving in absolute silence, at high speed, and arrivingat a small station as a train was heard to whistle far off somewhere inthe darkness. 

Burns dashed into the station, bought a ticket, and had his passengeraboard the train before it had fairly come to a standstill at theplatform. King heard him say no word of farewell beyond the statementthat a trunk would be forwarded in the morning. Then the whole strangeevent was over; the train was only a rumble in the distance, and Kingwas in his place again beside the man he did not know. 

 * * * * *

Silence again, and darkness, with only the stars for light, and theroadside rushing past as the car flew. Then suddenly, beside the deepwoods, a stop, and Burns getting out of the car, with the firstvoluntary words he had spoken to King that night. 

"Sit here, will you? I'll be back--sometime. "

"Of course. Don't hurry. "

It was an hour that King sat alone, wondering. Where Burns had gone, hehad no notion, and no sound came back to give him hint. As far as Kingknew there was no habitation back there in the depths into which hiscompanion had plunged; he could not guess what errand took him there. 

At last came a distant crashing as of one making his way through heavyundergrowth, and the noise drew nearer until at length Burns burstthrough into the road, wide of the place where he had gone in. Then hewas at the car and speaking to King, and his voice was very nearly hisown again. 

"Missed my trail coming back, " he said. "I've kept you a blamed longtime, haven't I?"

"Not a bit. Glad to wait. "

"Of course that's a nice, kind lie at this time of night, and whenyou've no idea what you've been waiting for. Well, I'll tell you, andthen maybe you'll be glad you assisted at the job. "

He got in and drove off, not now at a furious pace, but at an ordinaryrate of speed which made speech possible. And after a little he spokeagain. "Jord, " he said, "you don't know it, but I can be a fiendincarnate. "

"I don't believe it, " refused King stoutly. 

"It's absolutely true. When I get into a red rage I could twist a neckmore easily than I can get a grip on myself. Sometimes I'm afraid I'lldo it. Years back when I had a rush of blood to the head of that sort Iused to take it out in swearing till the atmosphere was blue; but Ican't do that any more. "

"Why not?" King asked, with a good deal of curiosity. 

"I did it once too often--and the last time I sent a dying soul to theother world with my curses in its ears--the soul of a child, Jord. Ilost my head because his mother had disobeyed my orders, and the littlelife was going out when it might have stayed. When I came to myself Irealized what I'd done--and I made my vow. Never again, no matter whathappened! And I've kept it. But sometimes, as to-night--Well, there'sonly one thing I can do: keep my tongue between my teeth as long as Ican, and then--get away somewhere and smash things till I'm black andblue. "

"That's what you've been doing back in the woods?" King ventured to ask. 

"Rather. Anyhow, it's evened up my circulation and I can be decentagain. I'm not going to tell you what made me rage like the bull ofBashan, for it wouldn't be safe yet to let loose on that. It's enoughthat I can treat a good comrade like you as I did and still have himstand by. "

"I felt a good deal in the way, but I'm glad now I was with you. "

"I'm glad, too, if it's only that you've discovered at last what mannerof man I am when the evil one gets hold of me. None of us likes to bepersistently overrated, you know. "

"I don't think the less of you for being angry when you had a justcause, as I know you must have had. "

"It's not the being angry; it's the losing control. "

"But you didn't. "

"Didn't I?" A short, grim laugh testified to Burns's opinion on thispoint. "Ask that woman I put on the train to-night. Jord, on her arm isa black bruise where I gripped her when she lied to me; I gripped her--awoman. You might as well know. Now--keep on respecting me if you can. "

"But I do, " said Jordan King. 

CHAPTER XIV

A STRANGE DAY

"Len, will you go for a day in the woods with me?"

Ellen Burns looked up from the old mahogany secretary which had beenhers in the southern-home days. She was busily writing letters, but therequest, from her busy husband, was so unusual that it arrested herattention. Her glance travelled from his face to the window and backagain. 

"I know it's pretty frosty, " he acknowledged, "but the sun is bright, and I'll build you a windbreak that'll keep you snug. I'm aching for aday off--with you. "

"Artful man! You know I can't resist when you put it that way, though Iought not to leave this desk for two hours. Give me half an hour, andtell me what you want for lunch. "

"Cynthia and I'll take care of that. She's putting up the stuff now, subject to your approval. "

He was off to the kitchen, and Ellen finished the note she had begun, put away the writing materials and letters, and ran up to her room. Bythe end of the stipulated half hour she was down again, trimly clad in asuit of brown tweeds, with a big coat for extra warmth and a close hatand veil for breeze resistance. 

"That's my girl! You never look prettier to my eyes than when you aredressed like this. It's the real comrade look you have then, and I feelas if we were shoulder to shoulder, ready for anything that might come. "

"Just as if it weren't always that, " she said in merry reproach as shetook her place beside him and the car rolled off. 

"It's always great fun to go off with you unexpectedly like this, " shewent on presently. "It seems so long since we've done it. It's been sucha busy year. Is everybody getting well to-day, that you can manage awhole day?"

"All but one, and he doesn't need me just now. I could keep busy, ofcourse, but I got a sudden hankering for a day all alone with you in thewoods; and after that idea once struck me I'd have made way for itanyhow, short of actually running away from duty. "

"You need it, I know. We'll just leave all care behind and remembernothing except how happy we are to be together. That never grows old, does it, Red?"

"Never!" He spoke almost with solemnity, and gave her a long look as hesaid it, which she met with one to match it. "You dear!" he murmured. "Len, do you know I never loved you so well as I do to-day?"

"I wonder why?" She was smiling, and her colour, always duskily soft inher cheek, grew a shade warmer. "Is it the brown tweeds?"

"It's the brown tweeds, and the midnight-dark hair, and the beautifulblack eyes, and--the lovely soul of my wife. "

"Why, Red, dear--and all this so early in the morning? How will you endif you begin like this?"

"I don't know--or care. " Something strange looked out of his eyes for aminute. "I know what I want to say now and I'm saying it. So much of thetime I'm too busy to make love to my wife, I'm going to do itto-day--all day. I warn you now, so you can sidetrack me if you gettired of it. "

"I'm very likely to, " she said with a gay tenderness. "To have you makelove to me without the chance of a telephone call to break in will be awonderful treat. "

"It sure will to me. "

It was a significant beginning to a strange day. They drove for twentymiles, to find a certain place upon a bluff overlooking a small lake ofunusual beauty, far out of the way of the ordinary motor traveller. They climbed a steep hill, coming out of the wooded hillside into thefull sunlight of the late October day, where spread an extended view ofthe countryside, brilliant with autumn foliage. The air was crisp andinvigorating, and a decided breeze was stirring upon this lofty point, so that the windbreak which Burns began at once to build was a necessaryprotection if they were to remain long. 

An hour of hard work, at which Ellen helped as much as she was allowed, established a snug camp, its back against a great bowlder, its windwardside sheltered by a thick barrier of hemlocks cleverly placed, a briskbonfire burning in an angle where an improvised chimney carried off itssmoke and left the corner clear and warm. 

"There!" Burns exclaimed in a tone of satisfaction as he threw himselfdown upon the pine needle-strewn ground at Ellen's side. "How's this fora comfortable nest? Think we can spend six contented hours here, myhoney?"

"Six days if you like. How I wish we could!"

"So do I. Jove, how I'd like it! I haven't had enough of you to satisfyme for many a moon. And there's no trying to get it, except by runningaway like this. "

"We ought to do it oftener. "

"We ought, but we can't. At least we couldn't. Perhaps now--"

He broke off, staring across the valley where the lake lay to thedistant hills, smoky blue and purple in spite of the clear sunlightwhich lay upon them. 

"Perhaps now--what?"

"Well--I might not be able to keep up my activity forever, and the timemight come when I should have to take less work and more rest. "

"But you said 'now. '"

"Did I? I was just looking ahead a bit. Len, are you hungry, or shall wewait a while for lunch?"

"Don't you want a little sleep before you eat? You haven't had too muchof it lately. "

"It would taste rather good--if I might take it with my head in yourlap. "

She arranged her own position so that she could maintain it comfortably, and he extended his big form at full length upon the rug he had broughtup from the car and upon which she was already sitting. He smiled upinto her face as he laid his head upon her knees, and drew one of herhands into his. "Now your little boy is perfectly content, " he said. 

 * * * * *

It was an hour before he stirred, an hour in which Ellen's eyes hadsilently noted that which had escaped them hitherto, a curious change inhis colour as he lay with closed eyes, a thinness of the flesh over thecheek bones, dark shadows beneath the eyes. Whether he slept she couldnot be sure. But when he sat up again these signs of wear and tearseemed to vanish at the magic of his smile, which had never beenbrighter. Nevertheless she watched him with a new sense of anxiety, wondering if there might really be danger of his splendid physiquegiving way before the rigour of his life. 

She noted that he did not eat heartily at lunch, though he professed toenjoy it; and afterward he was his old boyish self for a long time. Thenhe grew quiet, and a silence fell between the pair while they satlooking off into the distance, the October sunlight on their heads. 

And then, quite suddenly, something happened. 

"Red! What is the matter?" Ellen asked, startled. 

In spite of the summer warmth of the spot in which they sat herhusband's big frame had begun to quiver and shake before her very eyes. Evidently he was trying hard to control the strange fit of shiveringwhich had seized him. 

"Don't be s-scared, d-dear, " he managed to get out between rigid jaws. "It's just a bit of a ch-chill. I'll b-be all right in a m-minute. "

"In all this sunshine? Why, Red!" Ellen caught up the big coat she hadbrought to the place and laid it about his shoulders--"you must havetaken cold. But how could you? Come--we must go at once. "

"N-not just yet. I'll g-get over this s-soon. "

He drew his arms about his knees, clasping them and doing his best tomaster the shivering, while Ellen watched him anxiously. Never in herlife with Red had she seen him cold. His rugged frame, accustomed to allweathers, hardened by years of sleeping beside wide-opened windows inthe wintriest of seasons, was always healthily glowing with warmth whenothers were frankly freezing. 

The chill was over presently, but close upon its heels followedreaction, and Red Pepper's face flushed feverishly as he said, with agallant attempt at a smile: "Sit down again a minute, dear, while I tellyou what I'm up against. I wasn't sure, but this looks like it. You'vegot to know now, because I'm undoubtedly in for a bit of trouble--andthat means you, too. "

She waited silently, but her hand slipped into his. To her surprise hedrew it gently away. "Try the other one, " he said. "It's in better shapefor holding. "

She looked down at the hand he had withdrawn and which now lay upon hisknee. It was the firmly knit and sinewy hand she knew so well, thetypical hand of the surgeon with its perfectly kept, finely sensitivefingertips, its broad and powerful thumb, its strong but not too thickwrist. Not a blemish marked its fair surface, yet--was it very slightlyswollen? She could hardly be sure. 

"Dear, tell me, " she begged. "What has happened? Are you hurt--orill--and haven't let me know?"

"I thought it might not amount to anything; it's only a scratch in thepalm. But--"

"Red--did you get it--operating? On what?"

He nodded. "Operating. It's the usual way, the thing we all expect toget some day. I've been lucky so far; that's all. "

"But--you didn't give yourself a scratch; you never have done that?"

"No, not up to date anyhow. I might easily enough; I just haven'thappened to. "

"Amy didn't?--She couldn't!"

"She didn't--and couldn't, thank heaven. She'd kill herself if she everdid that unlucky trick. No, she wasn't assisting this time. It was anemergency case, early yesterday morning--one of the other men brought inthe case. It was hopeless, but the family wanted us to try. "

"What sort of a case, Red?" Ellen's very lips had grown white. 

"Now see here, sweetheart, I had to tell you because I knew I was infor a little trouble, but there's no need of your knowing any more thanthis about it. It was just an accident--nobody's fault. The blamedelectric lights went off--for not over ten seconds, but it was the wrongten seconds. I didn't even know I was scratched till the thing began toset up a row. I don't even yet understand how I got it in the palm. That's unusual. "

"Who did it?"

"I'm not going to tell you. He feels badly enough now, and it wasn't hisfault. He asked me at the time if he had touched me in the dark and Isaid no. It was as slight a thing as that. If we'd known it at the timewe'd have fixed it up. We didn't, and that's all there was to it. "

"You must tell me what sort of a case it was, Red. "

He looked down at her. The two pairs of eyes met unflinchingly for aminute, and each saw straight into the depths of the other. Burnsthought the eyes into which he gazed had never been more beautiful;stabbed though they were now with intense shock, they were yet speakingto him such utter love as it is not often in the power of man toinspire. 

He managed still to talk lightly. "I expect you know. What's the use ofusing scientific terms? The case was rottenly septic; never mind thecause. But--I'm going to be able to throw the thing off. Just give metime. "

"Let me see it, Red. "

Reluctantly he turned the hand over, showing the small spot in which wasquite clearly the beginning of trouble. "Doesn't look like much, doesit?" he said. 

"And it is not even protected. "

"What was the use? The infection came at the time. "

"And you did all that work in the windbreak. Oh, you ought not to havedone that!"

"Nonsense, dear. I wanted to, and I did it mostly with my left handanyhow. "

"Your blood must be of the purest, " she said steadily. 

"It sure is. I expect I'll get my reward now for letting some thingsalone that many men care for, and that I might have cared for, too--ifit hadn't been for my mother--and my wife. "

"You are strong--strong. "

"I am--a regular Titan. Yes, we'll fight this thing through somehow;only I have to warn you it'll likely be a fight. I'll go to thehospital. "

"No!" It was a cry. 

"No? Better think about that. Hospital's the best place for such cases. "

"It can't be better than home--when it's like ours. We'll fight ourfight there, Red--and nowhere else. "

He put one hand to his arm suddenly with an involuntary movement and acontraction of the brow. But in the next breath he was smiling again. "Perhaps we'd better be getting back, " he admitted. "My head's beginningto be a trifle unsteady. But, I'm glad a thousand times we've had thisday. "

"Was it wise to take it, dear?"

"I'm sure of it. What difference could it make? Now we've had it--toremember. "

She shivered, there in the warm October sunlight. A chill seemedsuddenly to have come into the air, and to have struck her heart. 

No more words passed between them until they were almost home. ThenEllen said, very quietly: "Red, would you be any safer in the hospitalthan at home?"

"Not safer, but where it would be easier for all concerned, in casethings get rather thick. "

"Easier for you, too?"

He looked at her. "Do I have to speak the truth?"

"You must. If you would rather be there--"

"I would rather be as near you as I can stay. There's no use denyingthat. But Van Horn wants me at the hospital. "

"Is he to look after you?"

"Yes. Queer, isn't it? But he wants the job. No, " at the unspokenquestion in her face, "it wasn't Van. But he came in just as the troublebegan to show and--well, you know we're the best of friends now, and Ithink I'd rather have him--and Buller, good old Buller--than anybodyelse. "

"Oh, but you won't need them both?" she cried, and then bit her lip. 

"Of course not. But you know how the profession are--if one of them getsdown they all fall over one another to offer their services. "

"They may all offer them, but they will have to come to you. You aregoing to stay at home. You shall have the big guest room--made as youwant it. Just tell me what to do--"

"You may as well strip it, " he told her quietly. "And--Len, I'd ratherbe right there than anywhere else in the world. I think, when it'sready, I'll just go to bed. I'd bluff a bit longer if I could, but--perhaps--"

"I'm sure you ought, " she said as quietly as he. But she was very gladwhen the car turned in at the driveway. 

CHAPTER XV

CLEARED DECKS

Two hours later, under her direction and with her efficient help, Cynthia and Johnny Carruthers in medical parlance had "stripped" theguest room, putting it into the cleared bare order most useful for thepurpose needed. If Ellen's heart was heavy as she saw the change madeshe let nothing show. And when, presently, she called her husband fromthe couch where he had lain, feverish and beginning to be tortured bypain, and put him between the cool, fresh sheets, she had her reward inthe look he gave, first at the room and then at her. 

"Decks all cleared for action, " he commented with persistentcheerfulness, "and the captain on deck. Well--let them begin to fire;we're ready. All I know is that I'm glad I'm on your ship. Just pray, Len, will you--that I keep my nerve?"

This was the beginning, as Burns himself had foreseen, of that whichproved indeed to be a long fight. Strong of physique though heunquestionably was, pure as was the blood which flowed in his veins, the poison he had received unwittingly and therefore taken no immediatemeasures to combat was able to overcome his powers of resistance andtake shattering hold upon his whole organism. There followed day afterday and week after week of prostrating illness, during which he sufferedmuch torturing pain in the affected hand and arm, with profounddepression of mind and body, though he bore both as bravely as was tohave been expected. Two nurses, Amy Mathewson and Selina Arden, alternated in attendance upon him, day and night, and Ellen herself wasalways at hand to act as substitute, or to share in the care of thepatient when it was more than ordinarily exacting. 

As she watched the powerful form of her husband grow daily weaker beforethe assaults of one of the most treacherous enemies modern science hasto face, she felt herself in the grip of a great dread which could notbe for an hour thrown off. She did not let go of her courage; butbeneath all her serenity of manner--remarked often in wonder by thenurses and physicians--lay the fear which at times amounted to aconviction that for her had come the end of earthly happiness. 

She was able to appreciate none the less the devoted and skillfulattention given to Burns by his colleagues. Dr. Max Buller had long beenhis attached friend and ally, and of him such service as he nowrendered was to have been counted on. But concerning Dr. James Van Horn, although Ellen well knew how deeply he felt in Burns's debt for havingin all probability saved his life only a few months earlier, she had hadno notion what he had to offer in return. She had not imagined how warma heart really lay beneath that polished urbanity of manner with itssuggestion of coldness in the very tone of his voice--hitherto. She grewto feel a distinct sense of relief and dependence every time he enteredthe door, and his visits were so many that it came to seem as if hismotor were always standing at the curb. 

"You know, Len, Van's a tremendous trump, " Burns himself said to hersuddenly, in the middle of one trying night when Doctor Van Horn hadlooked in unexpectedly to see if he might ease his patient and securehim a chance of rest after many hours of pain. "It seems like a queerdream, sometimes, to open my eyes and see him sitting there, looking atme as if I were a younger brother and he cared a lot. "

"He does care, " Ellen answered positively. "You would be even surer ofit if you could hear him talk with me alone. He speaks of you as if heloved you--and what is there strange about that? Everybody loves you, Red. I'm keeping a list of the people who come to ask about you andsend you things. You haven't heard of half of them. And to-day Franztelephoned to offer to come and play for you some night when youcouldn't sleep with the pain. He begged to be allowed to do the onething he could to show his sympathy. "

"Bless his heart! I'd like to hear him. I often wish my ears wouldstretch to reach him in his orchestra. " Burns moved restlessly as hespoke. A fresh invasion of trouble in his hand and arm was reaching aculmination, and no palliative measures could ease him long. "You've noidea, Len, " he whispered as Ellen's hand strayed through his heavycoppery locks with the soothing touch he loved well, "what it means tome to have you stand by me like this. If I give in now it won't be forwant of your supporting courage. "

"It's you who have the courage, Red--wonderful courage. "

He shook his head. "It's just the thought of you--and the Little-Un--andBobby Burns--that's all. If it wasn't for you--"

He turned away his head. She knew the thing he had to fear--the thingshe feared for him. Though his very life was in danger it was not thatwhich made the threatening depths of black shadow into which he looked. If he should come out of this fight with a crippled right hand therewould be no more work for him about which he could care. Neither VanHorn nor Buller would admit that there was danger of this; but Grayson, who had seen the hand yesterday; Fields, who was making blood counts forthe case; Lenhart and Stevenson, who had come to make friendly callsevery few days and who knew from Fields how things were going--all wereshaking their heads and saying in worried tones that it looked pretty"owly" for the hand, and that Van Horn and Buller would do well if theypulled Burns through at all. 

Outside of the profession Jordan King was closest in touch with Burns'scase. He persistently refused to believe that all would not come out asthey desired. He came daily, brought all sorts of offerings for thepatient's comfort, and always ran up to see his friend, hold his lefthand for a minute and smile at him, without a hint in his ruddy face ofthe wrench at the heart he experienced each time at sight of thesteadily increasing devastation showing in the face on the pillow. 

"You're a trump, Jord, " Burns said weakly to him one morning. King hadjust finished a heart-warming report of certain messages brought fromsome of Burns's old chronic patients in the hospital wards, where it wasevident the young man had gone on purpose to collect them. "Every time Ilook at you I think what an idiot I was ever to imagine you needed meto put backbone into you, last spring. "

"But I did--and you did it. And if you think I showed more backbone togo through a thing that hardly took it out of me at all than you tostand this devilish slow torture and weakness--well, it just showsyou've lost your usual excellent judgment. See?"

"I see that you're one of the best friends a man ever had. There's onlyone other who could do as much to keep my head above water--and he isn'there. "

"Why isn't he? Who is he?" demanded King eagerly. "Tell me and I'll gethim. "

"No, no. He could do no more than is being done. I merely get tothinking of him and wishing I could see him. It's my old friend and chumof college days, John Leaver, of Baltimore. "

"The big surgeon I've heard you and Mrs. Burns speak of? Great heavens, he'd come in a minute if he knew!"

"I've no doubt he would, but I happen to know he's abroad just now. "

King studied his friend's face, saw that Burns was already weary withthe brief visit, and soon went away. But it was to a consultation withMrs. Burns as to the possibility of communicating with Doctor Leaver. 

"I wrote his wife not long ago of Red's illness, " Ellen said, "but Ididn't state all the facts; somehow I couldn't bring myself to do that. They are in London; they go over every winter. I had a card onlyyesterday from Charlotte giving a new address and promising to writesoon. "

"Wasn't he the man you told me of who had a bad nervous breakdown a fewyears ago? The one Red had stay with you here until he got back hisnerve?"

"Yes; and he has been even a more brilliant operator ever since. "

"I remember the whole story; there was a lot of thrill in it as you toldit. How Red made him rest and build up and then fairly forced him tooperate, against his will, to prove to him that he had got his nerveback? Jove! Do you think that man wouldn't cross the ocean in a hurry ifhe thought he could lift his finger to help our poor boy?"

King's speech had taken on such a fatherly tone of late that Ellen wasnot surprised to hear him thus allude to his senior. 

"Yes, Jack Leaver would do anything for Red, but I know Red would neverlet us summon him from so far. "

"Summon him from the antipodes--I would. And we don't have to consultRed. His wish is enough. Leave it to me, Mrs. Burns; I'll take all theresponsibility. "

She smiled at him, feeling that she must not express the very naturaland unwelcome thought that to call a friend from so far away was toadmit that the situation was desperate. Burns had said many times thatDoctor Van Horn was using the very latest and most acceptable methodsfor his relief, and that his confidence in him was absolute. None theless she knew that the very sight of John Leaver's face would be likethat of a shore light to a ship groping in a heavy fog. 

Within twenty-four hours Jordan King came dashing in to wave a cablemessage before her. "Read that, and thank heaven that you have suchfriends in the world. "

At a glance her eyes took in the pregnant line, and the first tears shehad shed leaped to her eyes and misted them, so that she had to wipethem away to read the welcome words again. 

 We sail Saturday. Love to Doctor and Mrs. Burns. 

 LEAVER. 

A week later, Burns, waking from an uneasy slumber, opened his eyes upona new figure at his bedside. For a moment he stared uncomprehending intothe dark, distinguished face of his old friend, then put out hisuninjured hand with a weak clutch. 

"Are you real, Jack?" he demanded in a whisper. 

"As real as that bedpost. And mighty glad to see you, my dear boy. Theytell me the worst is over, and that you're improving. That's worth thejourney to see. "

"You didn't come from--England?"

"Of course I did. I'd come from the end of the world, and you know it!Why in the name of friendship didn't somebody send me word before?"

"Who sent it now?"

"That's a secret. I hoped to be able to do something for you, Red, justto even up the score a little, but the thing that's really been done hasbeen by yourself. You put your own clean blood into this tussle and it'sbrought you through. "

"I don't feel so very far through yet, but I suppose I'm not quite somuch of a dead fish as I was a week ago. There's only one thing thatbothers me. "

"I can guess. Well, Red, I saw Doctor Van Horn on my way upstairs, andhe tells me you're going to get a good hand out of this. He'll be upshortly to dress it, and then I may see for myself. "

"That will be a comfort. I've wished a thousand times you might, thoughnobody could have given me better care than these bully fellows have. But I've a sort of superstition that one look at trouble from JackLeaver is enough to make it cut and run. "

By and by Dr. John Leaver came downstairs and joined his wife and Ellen. His face was grave with its habitual expression, but it lighted as thetwo looked up. "He's had about as rough a time as a man can and weatherit, " he said; "but I think the trouble is cornered at last, and there'llbe no further outbreak. And the hand will come out better than couldhave been expected. He will be able to use it perfectly in time. But itwill take him a good while to build up. He must have a sea voyage--along one. That will do you all kinds of good, too, " he added, his keeneyes on the face of his friend's wife. 

"She looks etherealized, " Charlotte Leaver said, studying Ellenaffectionately. "You've had a long, anxious time, haven't you, Len, darling?" Mrs. Leaver went on. "And we knew nothing--we who care morethan anybody in the world. You can't imagine how glad we are to be herenow, even though we can't help a bit. "

"You can help, you do. And I know what it means to Red to have hisbeloved friend come to him. "

"Then I hope you know what it means to me to come, " said John Leaver. 

The Leavers stayed for several days, while Burns continued to improve, and before they left they had the pleasure of seeing him up andpartially dressed, the bandages on his injured hand reduced in extent, and his eyes showing his release from torture. His face and figure gavetouching evidence of what he had endured, but he promised them thatbefore they saw him again he would be looking like himself. 

"I wonder, " Burns said, on the March day when he first came downstairsand dropped into his old favourite place in a corner of the big bluecouch, "whether any other fellow was ever so pampered as I. I look likethirty cents, but I feel, in spite of this abominable limpness, as if mystock were worth a hundred cents on the dollar. And when we get backfrom the ocean trip I expect to be a regular fighting Fijian. "

"You look better every day, dear, " Ellen assured him. "And when it's allover, and you have done your first operation, you'll come home and sayyou were never so happy in your life. "

Burns laughed. He looked over at Jordan King, who had come in on purposeto help celebrate the event of the appearance downstairs. "She promisesme an operation as she would promise the Little-Un a sweetie, eh? Well, I can't say she isn't right. I was a bit tired when this thing began, but when I get my strength back I know how my little old 'lab' andmachine shop will call to me. Just to-day I got an idea in my head thatI believe will work out some day. My word, I know it will!"

The other two looked at each other, smiling joyously. 

"He's getting well, " said Ellen Burns. 

"No doubt of it in the world, " agreed Jordan King. 

"Sit down here where I can look at you both, " commanded theconvalescent. "Jord, isn't my wife something to look at in that bluefrock she's wearing? I like these things she melts into evenings, likethat smoky blue she has on now. It seems to satisfy my eyes. "

"Not much wonder in that. She would satisfy anybody's eyes. "

"That's quite enough about me, " Ellen declared. "The thing that's reallyinteresting is that your eyes are brighter to-night, Red, than they havebeen for two long months. I believe it's getting downstairs. "

"Of course it is. Downstairs has been a mythical sort of place for agood while. I couldn't quite believe in it. I've thought a thousandtimes of this blue couch and these pillows. I've thought of that oldgrand piano of yours, and of how it would seem to hear you play itagain. Play for me now, will you, Len?"

She sat down in her old place, and his eyes watched her hungrily, asKing could plainly see. To the younger man the love between these twowas something to study and believe in, something to hope for as awonderful possibility in his own case. 

When Ellen stopped playing Burns spoke musingly. Speech seemed anecessity for him to-night--happiness overflowed and must findexpression. 

"I've had a lot of stock advice for my patients that'll mean something Iunderstand for myself now, " he said. He sat almost upright among theblue pillows, his arm outstretched along the back of the couch, his longlegs comfortably extended. It was no longer the attitude of the invalidbut of the well man enjoying earned repose. "I wonder how often I'vesaid to some tired mother or too-busy housewife who longed for rest: 'Ifyou were to become crippled or even forbidden to work any more and madeto rest for good, how happy these past years would seem to you when youwere tired because you had accomplished something. ' I can say that nowwith personal conviction of its truth. It looks to me as if to come indog-tired and drop into this corner with the memory of a good job donewould be the best fun I've ever had. "

"I know, " King nodded. "I learned that, too, last spring. "

"Of course you did. And now, instead of going to work, I've got to takethis blamed sea voyage of a month. Van and Leaver are pretty hard on me, don't you think? The consolation in that, though, is that my wife needsit quite as much as I do. I want to tan those cheeks of hers. Len, willyou wear the brown tweeds on shipboard?"

"Of course I will. How your mind seems to run to clothes to-night. Whatwill Your Highness wear himself?"

"The worst old clothes I can find. Then when I get back I'll go to thetailor's and start life all over again, with the neatest lot of stuff hecan make me--a regular honeymoon effect. " Burns laughed, lifting hischin with the old look of purpose and power touching his thin face. 

"I'm happy to-night, " he went on; "there's no use denying it. I'm notsorry, now it's over, I've had this experience, for I've learned somethings I've never known before and wouldn't have found out any otherway. I know now what it means to be down where life doesn't seem worthmuch, and how it feels to have the other fellow trying to pull you out. I know how the whisper of a voice you love sounds to you in the middleof a black night, when you think you can't bear another minute of pain. Oh, I know a lot of things I can't talk about, but they'll make adifference in the future. If I don't have more patience with my patientsit'll be because memory is a treacherous thing, and I've forgotten whatI have no business to forget--because the good Lord means me toremember!"

CHAPTER XVI

WHITE LILACS AGAIN

It was the first day of May. Burns and Ellen had not been at home twodays after their return from the long, slow sea voyage which had donewonders for them both, when Burns received a long-distance message whichsent him to his wife with his eyes sparkling in the old way. 

"Great luck, Len!" he announced. "I'm to get my first try-out inoperating, after the late unpleasantness, on an out-of-town case. Off inan hour with Amy for a place two hundred miles away in a spot I neverheard of--promises to be interesting. Anyhow, I feel like a small boywith his first kite, likely to go straight off the ground hitched to thetail of it. "

"I'm glad for you, Red. And I wish"--she bit her lip and turnedaway--"it may be a wonderful case. "

"That's not what you started to say. " He came close, laid a hand oneither side of her face, and turned it up so that he could look into it, his lips smiling. "Tell me. I'll wager I know what you wish. "

"No, you can't. "

"That you could go with me--to take Amy's place and assist. "

A flood of colour poured over her face, such a telltale, significantcolour as he had rarely seen there before. She would have concealed itfrom him, but he was merciless. A strange, happy look came into his ownface. "Len, don't hide that from me. It's the one thing I've alwayswished you'd show, and you never have. I'm such a jealous beggar myselfI've wanted you to care--that way, and I've never been able to discovera trace of it. "

"But I'm not really jealous in the way you think. How could I be?--withnot the slightest cause. It's only--envy of Amy because she is--sonecessary to you. O Red, I never, never meant to say it!"

"I'd rather hear you say it than anything else on earth. I'd like tohear you own that you were mad with jealousy, because I've been eaten upwith it myself ever since I first laid eyes on you. Not that you've evergiven me a reason for it, but because it's my red-headed nature. Now Imust go; but I'll take your face with me, my Len, and if I do a goodpiece of work it'll be for love of you. "

"And of your work, Red. I'm not jealous of that; I'm too proud of it. "

"I know you are, bless you. "

Then he was off, all his old vigour showing in his preparations for thehurried trip, and as he went away Ellen felt as might those on shorewatching a lusty life-saver put off in a boat to pull for a sinkingship. 

 * * * * *

Burns and Amy Mathewson were away three days, during which Red keptEllen even more closely in touch with himself than usual, by means ofthe long wire. When he returned it was with the bearing of a conqueror, for the case had tried his regained mettle and he had triumphed moresurely than he could have hoped. 

"The hand's as good as new, Len, and the touch not a particle affected. Van's a trump, and I stopped on the way out to tell him so. He waspleased as a boy; think of it, Len--my ancient enemy and my new goodfriend! And the case is fine as silk. They've a good local man to lookafter it till I come again, which will be Thursday. And I'm going todrive there--and take you--and Jord King and Jord's mother. How's thatfor a plan?"

"It sounds very jolly, Red, but will the Kings go? And why Mrs. King?Will she care to?"

"Because I've found some old friends of hers in the place, though I'llnot tell her whom. Besides, I want to keep on her right side, forreasons. And Jord's back has been bothering him lately and I'veprescribed a rest. We'll take the Kings' limousine and go in state. It'll be arranged in five minutes, see if it won't. By the way, Jordsays Aleck's new arm is really going to do him some service besidesimproving his looks. "

He pulled her away to the telephone and held her on his knee while hetalked to Jordan King, giving her a laughing hug, when, to judge by thethings he was saying into the transmitter, he had brought about hiseffect. 

"Yes, I know I sound crazy, " he admitted to King, "but you must givesomething to a man who has been buried alive and dug up again. I'vetaken this notion and I'm going to carry it through. Mrs. King willenjoy every foot of the way, and you and I will jump out and pick appleblossoms for the ladies whenever they ask. It's a peach of a plan, andthe whole idea is to minister to my pride. I want to arrive in a greatprince of a car like yours and impress the natives down there. See? Yes, go and put it up to your mother, and then call me up. Don't you dare sayno!"

"No wonder he's astonished, " Ellen commented while they waited. "Foryou, who are never content except when you're at the steering wheel, toask Jordan, who is another just like you, to elect to travel in alimousine with a liveried chauffeur--well, I admit I am puzzled myself. "

"Why, it's simple enough. I want to take you and Mrs. Alexander King. She wouldn't go a step in Jord's roadster at his pace. And if she would, and we went in pairs, Jord would be always wanting to change off andtake you with him--and as you very well know I'm not made that way. Stopguessing, Len, and prepare yourself to break down Mrs. King'sopposition, if she makes any--which I don't expect. "

Mrs. King made no opposition, or none which her son thought best toconvey to the Burnses, and the trip was arranged. 

"Is there a good hotel in the place?" Ellen asked. 

"No hotel within miles--nor anything else. We're to stay overnight withthe family. You won't mind. They can put us up pretty comfortably, evenif not just as we're accustomed to be. " Burns's eyes were twinkling, andhe refused to say more on the subject. 

It did not matter. It was early May, and the world was a wilderness ofbudding life, and to go motoring seemed the finest way possible to getinto sympathy with spring at her loveliest. And although Ellen wouldhave much preferred to drive alone with her husband in his own car, shefound herself anticipating the affair, as it was now arranged, with nota little curiosity to stimulate her interest. Mrs. Alexander King, forher son's sake, was sure to be a complaisant and agreeable companion, and Ellen was glad to feel that such a pleasure might come her way. 

"This is great stuff!" exulted Jordan King early on Thursday morning asthe big, shining car, standing before Burns's door, received its fullcomplement of passengers. "Mother and I are tremendously honoured, aren't we, mother?"

"Even though we had the audacity to invite ourselves and ask for thismagnificent car?" Burns inquired, grasping Mrs. Alexander King's glovedhand, and smiling at her as her delicate face was lifted to him with alook of really charming greeting. He knew well enough that she liked himin spite of certain pretty plain words he had said to her in the past, and he had prepared himself to make her like him still better on thisjourney together. "I'm the one who is responsible, you know. I've merelybroken out in a new place. "

"We appreciate your caring to include us in your party, " Mrs. King saidcordially. "The car is all too little used, for Jordan prefers his own, and I go about mostly in the small coupe. I have never taken so long adrive as you plan, and it will doubtless be a pleasant experience. I seeso little of my son I am happy to be with him on such a trip. "

"Altogether we're mightily pleased with the whole arrangement, " declaredJordan King, regarding Mrs. Burns with high approval. "Mother, did youever see a more distinguished-looking pair?"

"In spite of our brown faces?" Ellen challenged him gayly. 

"My wife's face simply turns peachy when she tans. I look like anIndian, " observed Burns, bestowing certain professional luggage where itwould be most out of the way. 

"That's it; you've said it. Great Indian Chief go make big medicine forsick squaw; take along whole wigwam; wigwam tickled to death to go!" AndKing settled himself with an air of complete satisfaction. 

He had had no word from Anne Linton for nearly two months, and was asrestless as a young man may well be when his affairs do not go to pleasehim. She had kept her promise and had written from time to time, butthough her letters were the most interesting human documents King hadever dreamed a woman could write, they were, from the point of view ofthe suitor, extremely unsatisfying. As she had agreed, she had given himwith each letter an address to which he might send an immediate reply, and he had made the most of each such opportunity; but, since it takestwo to seal a bargain, he had not been able to feel his cause muchadvanced by all his efforts. He had welcomed this chance to accompanyBurns as a diversion from his restless thoughts, for a few days'interval in his engineering plans, caused by a delay in the arrival ofcertain necessary material, was making him wild with eagerness forsomething--anything--to happen. 

Two hundred miles in a high-powered car over finely macadamized roadsare more quickly and comfortably covered in these days than athirty-mile drive behind horses over such country highways as existed adecade ago. Aleck, at the wheel, his master's orders in his willing earsfrom time to time, gradually accelerated his rate of speed until by theend of the first two hours he was carrying his party along at a pacewhich Mrs. King had frequently condemned as one which would be to herunbearable. Burns and King exchanged glances more than once as the carflew past other travellers, and the good lady, talking happily withEllen or absorbed in some far-reaching view, took no note of the factthat she was annihilating space with a smooth swiftness comparable onlyto the flight of some big, strong-winged bird. 

"Over halfway there, and plenty of time for lunch, " Burns announced. "And here's the best roadside inn in the country. If it hadn't been forour coming this way I should have suggested bringing our own hampers, but I wanted you to have some of this little Englishman's brook troutand hot scones. "

Mrs. King enjoyed that hot and delicious meal as she had seldom enjoyeda luncheon anywhere. As she sat at the faultlessly served table, hereyes travelling from the wide view at the window to the faces of hercompanions, she grew more and more cheerful in manner, and was evenheard to laugh softly aloud now and then at one of Burns's gay quips, turning to Ellen in appreciation of her husband's wit, or to Jordanhimself as he came back at his friend with a rejoinder worth hearing. 

"This is doing my mother a world of good, " King said in Ellen's ear asthe party came out on a wide porch to rest for a half hour before takingto the car again. "I don't know when I've seen her expand like this andseem really to be forgetting her cares and sorrows. "

"It's a pleasure to watch her, " Ellen agreed. "Red vowed this morningthat he meant to bring about that very thing, and he's succeeding muchbetter than I had dared to hope. "

"Who wouldn't be jolly in a party where Red was one? Did you ever seethe dear fellow so absolutely irresistible? Sometimes I think there's abit of hypnotism about Red, he gets us all so completely. "

"What are you two whispering about?" said a voice behind them, and theyturned to look into the brilliant hazel eyes both were thinking of atthe moment. 

"You, " King answered promptly. 

"Rebelling against the autocracy of the Indian Chief?"

"No. Prostrating ourselves before his bulky form. He's some Indianto-day. "

"He will be before the day is over, I promise you. He'll call a councilaround the campfire to-night, and plenty pipes will be smoked. Everybodydo as Big Chief says, eh?"

"Sure thing, Geronimo; that's what we came for. "

"You don't know what you came for. Absolutely preposterous this thingis--surgeon going to visit his case and bringing along a lot of peoplewho don't know a mononuclear leucocyte from an eosinophile cell. "

"Do you know a vortex filament from a diametral plane?" demanded King. 

Burns laughed. "Come, let's be off! I must spare half an hour to showMrs. King a certain view somewhat off the main line. "

The afternoon was gone before they could have believed it, detoursthough there were several, as there usually are in a road-mendingseason. As the car emerged from a long run through wooded country andpassed a certain landmark carefully watched for by Red Pepper, he spoketo Aleck. 

"Run slowly now, please. And be ready to turn to the left at a pointthat doesn't show much beforehand. "

They were proceeding through somewhat sparsely settled country, thoughmarked here and there by comfortable farmhouses of a more thanordinarily attractive type--apparently homes of prosperous people withan eye to appearances. Then quite suddenly the car, rounding a turn, came into a different region, one of cultivated wildness, of studiedeffects so cleverly disguised that they would seem to the unobservantonly the efforts of nature at her best. A long, heavily shaded avenue ofoaks, with high, untrimmed hedges of shrubbery on each side, curvedenticingly before them, and all at once, Burns, looking sharply ahead, called, "There, by that big pine, Aleck--to the left. " In a minute morethe car turned in at a point where a rough stone gateway marked theentrance to nothing more extraordinary than a pleasant wood. 

"Patient lives in a hut in the forest?" King inquired with interest. "Or a rich man's hunting lodge?"

"You'll soon see. " Burns's eyes were ahead; a slight smile touched hislips. 

The car swept around curve after curve of the wood, came out upon theshore of a small lake and, skirting it halfway round, plunged into agrove of pines. Then, quite without warning, there showed beyond thepines a long, white-plumed row of small trees of a sort unmistakable--inMay. Beside the row lay a garden, gay with all manner of spring flowers, and farther, through the trees, began to gleam the long, low outlines ofa great house. 

"Stop just here, Aleck, for a minute, " Burns requested, and the car cameto a standstill. Burns looked at Jordan King. 

"Ever see that row of white lilacs before, Jord?" he asked withinterest. 

King was staring at it, a strange expression of mingled perplexity andastonishment upon his fine, dark face. After a minute he turned toBurns. 

"What--when--where--" he stammered, and stopped, gazing again at thelilac hedge and the box-bordered beds with their splashes of brightcolour. 

"Well, I don't know what, when, or where, if you don't, " Burns returned. 

But evidently King did know, or it came to him at that instant, for heset his lips in a certain peculiar way which his friend understood meantan attempt at quick disguise of strong feeling. He gave his mother oneglance and sat back in his seat. Then he looked again at Burns. "What isthis, anyway?" he asked rather sternly. "The home of your patient, or ashow place you've stopped to let us look at?"

"My patient's in the house up there. Drive on, Aleck, please. They'll beexpecting us at the back of the house, where the long porches are, andwhere they're probably having afternoon tea at this minute. " He glancedat his watch. "Happy time to arrive, isn't it?"

Ellen found herself experiencing a most extraordinary sensation ofexcitement as the car rounded the drive and approached the porch, whereshe could see a number of people gathered. The place was not moreimposing than many with which she was familiar, and if it had been thehome of one of the world's greatest there would have been nothingdisconcerting to her in the prospect. But something in her husband'smanner assured her that he had been preparing a surprise for them all, and she had no means of guessing what it might be. The little hastysketch of lilac trees against a spring sky, though she had seen it, hadnaturally made no such impression upon her as upon King, and she didnot even recall it now. 

The car rolled quietly up to the porch steps, and immediately a tallfigure sprang down them. "It's Gardner Coolidge, my old college friend, Len, " Burns said in his wife's ear. "Remember him?" The afternoonsunlight shone upon the smooth, dark hair and thin, aristocratic face ofa man who spoke eagerly, his quick glance sweeping the occupants of thecar. 

"Mrs. King! This is a great pleasure, I assure you--a great pleasure. Mrs. Burns--we are delighted. And this is your son, Mrs. King--welcometo you, my dear sir! Red, no need to say we're glad to see you back. Letme help you, Mrs. King. Don't tell me you wouldn't have known me; thatwould be a blow. Alicia"--he turned to the graceful figure approachingacross the porch to meet the elder lady of the party as she came up thesteps upon the arm of the man who had taken her from the car--"Mrs. King, this is my wife. "

Red Pepper Burns, laughing and shaking hands warmly with AliciaCoolidge, was watching Mrs. Alexander King as, after the first look ofbewilderment, she cried out softly with pleasure at recognizing the sonof an old friend. 

"But it has all been kept secret from me, " she was saying. "I had nopossible idea of where we were coming, and I am sure my son had not. "She turned to that son, but she could not get his attention, for thereason that his astonished gaze was fastened upon a person who had atthat moment appeared in the doorway and paused there. 

CHAPTER XVII

RED'S DEAREST PATIENTS

Jordan King looked, and looked again, and it was a wonder he did not rubhis eyes to make sure he was fully awake. As he looked the figure in thedoorway came forward. It was that of a girl in a white serge coat andskirt, with a smart little white hat upon her richly ruddy hair, and thelook, from head to foot, of one who had just returned to a place whereshe belonged. And the next instant Anne Linton was greeting Ellen Burnsand coming up to be presented to Mrs. Alexander King. 

"This is my little sister, Mrs. King, " said Gardner Coolidge, smiling, and putting his arm about the white-serge-clad shoulders. "She is yourhostess, you know. Alicia and I are only making her a visit. "

"I am so glad you are here, Mrs. King, " said a voice Jordan King wellremembered, and Anne Linton's eyes looked straight into those of heroldest guest, whose own were puzzled. 

"I think, " said Mrs. King, holding the firm young hand which she hadtaken, "I have seen you before, my dear, though my memory--"

"Yes, Mrs. King, " the girl replied--and there was not the smallestshadow of triumph discernible in her tone or look--"you have. I came tosee your son in the hospital, with Mrs. Burns, just before I left. It'snot strange you have forgotten me, for we went away almost at once. Weare so delighted to have you come to see us. Isn't it delightful thatyou knew our mother so well at school?"

Well, it came Jordan King's turn in the end, although Anne Linton, soextraordinarily labelled "hostess" by her brother, discharged every dutyof greeting her other guests before she turned to him. Meanwhile he hadstood, frankly staring, hat in hand and growing colour on his cheek, while his eyes seemed to grow darker and darker under his heavily markedbrows. When Anne turned to him he had no words for her, and hardly asmile, though his good breeding came to his rescue and put him throughthe customary forms of action, dazed though he yet was. He found himselfpresented to other people on the porch, whom he recognized asundoubtedly those whom he had met in the passing car at the time when hewas in doubt as to Anne's identity. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins theyproved to be, though the young man whom he remembered as being presenton that occasion was now happily absent. Jordan King found himselfcompletely reconciled to this at once. 

"How is our patient?" Burns said to Anne at the first opportunity. "Shall I go up at once?"

"Oh, please wait a minute, Doctor Burns; I want to go with you, and Imust see my guests having some tea first. "

There followed, for King, what seemed an interminable interval of time, during which he was forced to sit beside one of Anne's girl cousins--anda very pretty girl she was, too, only he didn't seem able to appreciateit--drinking tea, and handing sugar, and doing all the proper things. Inthe midst of this Anne vanished with Red Pepper at her heels, leavingthe tea table to Mrs. Coolidge. At this point, however, King foundhimself glad to listen to Miss Stockton. 

"I don't suppose anybody in the world but Anne Linton Coolidge wouldhave thought of sending two hundred miles for a surgeon to operate onher housekeeper, " she was saying when his attention was arrested by herwords. "But she thinks such a lot of Timmy--Mrs. Timmins--she would payany sum to keep her in the world. She was Anne's nurse, you see, and ofcourse Anne is fond of her. And I'm sure we're glad she did send forhim, for it gave us the pleasure of meeting Doctor Burns, and of coursewe understand now why she thought nobody else in the world could pullTimmy through. He's such an interesting personality, don't you think so?We're all crazy about him. "

"Oh, yes, everybody's crazy about him, " King admitted readily. "Andcertainly two hundred miles isn't far to send for a surgeon these days. "

"Of course not--only I don't suppose it's done every day for one'shousekeeper, do you? But nobody ever knows what Anne's going todo--least of all now, when she's just back, after the most extraordinaryperformance. " She stopped, looking at him curiously. "I suppose you knowall about it--much more than we, in fact, since you met her when she wasin that hospital. Did you ever hear of a rich girl's doing such a thinganyway? Going off to sell books for a whole year just because"--shestopped again, and bit her lip, then went on quickly: "Everybody knowsabout it, and you would be sure to hear it sooner or later. Doctor Burnsknows, anyhow, and--"

"Please don't tell me anything I oughtn't to hear, " Jordan's sense ofhonour impelled him to say. He recognized the feminine type before him, and though he longed to know all about everything he did not want toknow it in any way Anne would not like. 

But there was no stopping the fluffy-haired young person. "Really, everybody knows; the countryside fairly rang with it a year ago. Youmight even have read it in the papers, only you wouldn't remember. Agirl book agent killed herself in Anne's house here because Annewouldn't buy her book. Did you ever hear of anything so absurd as Anne'sthinking it was her fault? Of course the girl was insane, and Anne hadabsolutely nothing to do with it. And then Anne took the girl's book andwent off to sell it herself--and find out, she said, how such thingscould happen. I don't know whether she found out. " Miss Stockton laughedvery charmingly. "All I know is we're tremendously thankful to have herback. Nothing's the same with her away. We don't know if she'll stay, though. Nobody can tell about Anne, ever. "

"Is this your home, too?" King managed to ask. His brain was whirlingwith the shock of this astonishing revelation. He wanted to get off byhimself and think about it. 

"Oh, no, indeed, no such luck. We live across the lake in a much lessbeautiful place, only of course we're here a great deal when Anne'shome. My mother would be a mother to Anne if Anne would let her, butshe's the most independent creature--prefers to live here with justTimmy and old Campbell, the butler who's been with the family sincetime began. Timmy's more than a housekeeper, of course. Anne's madealmost a real chaperon out of her, and she is very dignified and nice. "

King would have had the entire family history, he was sure, if adiversion had not occurred in the nature of a general move to show theguests to their rooms, with the appearance of servants, and the removalof luggage. In his room presently, therefore, King had a chance to gethis thoughts together. One thing was becoming momentarily clear to him:his being here was with Anne's permission--and she was willing to seehim; she had kept her promise. As for all the rest, he didn't care much. And when he thought of the moment during which his mother had looked sokindly into Anne's eyes, not recognizing her, he laughed aloud. Let Mrs. King retreat from that position now if she wanted to. As for himself, hewas not at all sure that he cared a straw to have it thus so clearlyproved that Anne was what she had seemed to be. Had he not known it allalong? His heart sang with the thought that he had been ready to marryher, no matter what her position in the world. 

And now he wondered how many hours it would be before he should have hischance to see her alone, if for but five minutes. Well, at least hecould look at her. And that, as he descended the stairs with theothers, he found well worth doing. Anne and Gardner Coolidge weremeeting them at the foot, and the young hostess had changed her whiteouting garb for a most enchanting other white, which showed her roundarms through soft net and lace and made her yet a new type of girl inKing's thought of her. 

She had a perfectly straightforward way of meeting his eyes, though herown were bewildering even so, without any coquetry in her use of them. She was not blushing and shy, she was self-possessed and radiant. Kingcould understand, as he looked at her now, how she had felt over thataffair of the tragedy suddenly precipitated into her life, and whatstrength of character it must have taken to send her out from thissecluded and perfect home into a rough world, that she might find outfor herself "how such things could happen. " And as he watched her, playing hostess in this home of hers, looking after everybody's comfortwith that ease and charm which proclaims a lifetime of previous trainingand custom, his heart grew fuller and fuller of pride and love andlonging. 

The dinner hour passed, a merry hour at a dignified table, served by theold butler who made a rite of his service, his face never relaxingthough the laughter rang never so contagiously. Burns and Coolidge werethe life of the company, the latter seeming a different man from theone who had come to consult his old chum as to the trouble in his life. Mrs. Coolidge, quiet and very attractive in her reserved, fair beauty, made an interesting foil to Ellen Burns, and the two, beside the ratherfussy aunt and cousins, seemed to belong together. 

"Anne, we must show Doctor Burns our plans for the cottage, " Coolidgesaid to his sister as they left the table. He turned to Ellen, walkingbeside her. "She's almost persuaded us to build on a corner of her ownestate--at least a summer place, for a starter. You know Red prescribedfor us a cottage, and we haven't yet carried out his prescription Butthis sister of mine, since she met him, has acquired the idea that anyprescription of his simply has to be filled, and she won't let Aliciaand me alone till we've done this thing. Shall we all walk along downthere? There'll be just about time before dark for you to see the site, and the plans shall come later. "

The whole party trooped down the steps into the garden. King was aclever engineer, but he could not do any engineering which seemed tocount in this affair. Never seeming to avoid him, Anne was never wherehe could get three words alone with her. She devoted herself to hismother, to Ellen, or to Burns himself, and none of these people gave himany help. Not that he wanted them to. He bided his time, and meanwhilehe took some pleasure in showing his lady that he, too, could play hispart until it should suit her to give him his chance. 

But when, as the evening wore on, it began to look as if she weredeliberately trying to prevent any interview whatever, he grew unhappy. And at last, the party having returned to the house and gathered in adelightful old drawing-room, he took his fate in his hands. At a momentwhen Anne stood beside Red Pepper looking over some photographs lying onthe grand piano, he came up behind them. 

"Miss Coolidge, " he said, "I wonder if you would show me that lilachedge by moonlight. "

"I'm afraid there isn't any moon, " she answered with a merry, straightforward look. "It will be as dark as a pocket down by thathedge, Mr. King. But I'll gladly show it to you to-morrow morning--asearly as you like. I'm a very early riser. "

"As early as six o'clock?" he asked eagerly. 

She nodded. "As early as that. It is a perfect time on a May morning. "

"And you won't go anywhere now?"

"How can I?" she parried, smiling. "These are my guests. "

Burns glanced at his friend, his hazel eyes full of suppressed laughter. "Better be contented with that, old fellow. That row of lilacs will bevery nice at six o'clock to-morrow morning. Mayn't I come, too, MissCoolidge?"

"Of course you may. " Her sparkling glance met his. Evidently they werevery good friends, and understood each other. 

"If he does, " said King, in a sort of growl, "he'll have something tosettle with me. "

He went to bed in a peculiar frame of mind. Why had she wanted to wasteall these hours when at nine in the morning the party was to leave forits return trip? Well, he supposed morning would come sometime, thoughit seemed, at midnight, a long way off. 

"Want me to call you at five-thirty, Jord?" Burns had inquired of him atparting. 

"No, thanks, " he had replied. "I'll not miss it. "

"A fellow might lie awake so long thinking about it that he'd go offinto a sound sleep just before daylight, and sleep right through hisearly morning appointment, " urged his loyal friend. "Better let me--"

"Oh, you go on to bed!" requested King irritably. 

"No gratitude to one who has brought all this to pass, eh?"

"Heaps of it. But this evening has been rather a facer. "

"Not at all. There were a dozen times when you might have rushed in andgot a little quiet place all to yourself, with only the stars lookingon. Plenty of openings. "

"I didn't see 'em. You were always in the way. "

"I was! Well, I like that. Had to be ordinarily attentive to my hostess, hadn't I? It wasn't for me to take shy little boys by the hand and leadthem up to the little girls they fancied. "

"I don't want to be led up by the hand, thank you. Good-night!"

 * * * * *

King was up at daybreak, which in May comes reasonably early. Stealingdown through the quiet house, the windows of which seemed to be all wideopen to the morning air, he came out upon the porch and took the path tothe lilac hedge. Arrived there at only twenty minutes before theappointed hour, he had so long a wait that he began to grow bothimpatient and chagrined. At quarter-past six he was feeling very muchlike stalking back to the house and retiring to his room, when the lowsound of a motor arrested him, and he wheeled, to discover a long, low, gray car, of a type with which he was not familiar, sailing gracefullyaround the long curve of the driveway toward him. A trim figure in gray, with a small gray velvet hat pulled close over auburn hair, was at thewheel, and a vivid face was smiling at him. But the air of the driveras she drew up beside him was not at all sentimental, rather it wasbusinesslike. 

"I'm awfully sorry to be late, " she said, "but I couldn't possibly helpit. I got up at four, to make a call I had to make and be back, but Iwas detained. And even now I must be off again, without any lingering bylilac hedges. What shall we do about it?"

"I'll go with you. " And King stepped into the car. 

"With or without an invitation?" Her eyes were laughing, though her lipshad sobered. 

"With or without. And you know you came back for me. "

"I came back for a basket of things I must get from the house. Also, ofcourse, to explain my detention. "

"Out selling books, I suppose?" he questioned, not caring much what hesaid, now that he had her to himself. "You must make a great impressionas a book agent. If only you had tried that way in our town. And I--Itook you in my car under the pleasant impression that I was giving you atreat--on that first trip, you know. By the second trip I had acquired asneaking suspicion that motoring wasn't such a novelty to you as I hadat first supposed. "

They had flown around the remaining curves and were at a rear door ofthe house. Anne jumped out, was gone for ten minutes or so, and emergedwith a servant following with a great hamper. This was bestowed atKing's feet, and the car was off again, Anne driving with the ease of aveteran. 

"You see, " she explained, "late last evening I had news of the seriousillness of a girl friend of mine. I went to see her, but after I cameback I couldn't be easy about her, and so I got up quite early thismorning and went again. She was much better, precisely as Doctor Burnshad assured me she would be. By and by perhaps I shall learn to trusthim as absolutely as all the rest of you do. "

"Burns! You don't mean to say you had him out to see a case lastnight--after--"

She nodded, and her profile, under the snug gray hat, was a little likethat of a handsome and somewhat mischievous but strong-willed boy. "Wasthat so dreadful of me--as a hostess? I admit that a doctor ought to beallowed to rest when he is away from home, but I knew that he was justback from a long voyage and was feeling fit as a fiddle, as he himselfsaid. And there is really no very competent man in the town where myfriend is ill; it was such a wonderful chance for her to have greatskill at her service. And such skill! Oh, how he went to work for her!It made one feel at once that something was being done, where beforepeople had merely tried to do things. "

King was making rapid calculation. At the end of it, "Would you mindtelling me whether you have had any sleep at all?" he begged. 

She turned her face toward him for an instant. "Do I look so haggard andwan?" she queried with a quick glance. "Yes, I had a good two hours. AndI'm so happy now to know that Estelle is sleeping quietly that it's muchbetter than to have slept myself. "

"Do you do this sort of thing often?"

"Not just such spectacular night work, but I do try to see that a littleis done to look after a few people who have had a terribly hard time ofit. But this is all--or mostly--since I came back from my year away. Ilearned just a few things during that year, you know. "

"Your cousin--do you mind?--gave me just a bit of an idea why you went, "he ventured. 

"Oh, Leila Stockton. " Her lips took on an amused curl. "Of course Leilawould. She--chatters. But she's a dear girl; it's just that she can'teasily get a new point of view. "

He pressed her with his questions, for his discernment told him that itwas of no use, while they were flying along the road at this pace, witha hamper at their feet--or at his feet, crowding him ratheruncomfortably and forcing him to sit with cramped legs--no use for himto talk of the subject uppermost in his anxious mind. So he got fromher, as well as he could, the story of the year, and presently had hertelling him eagerly of the people she had met, and the progress she hadmade in the study of human beings. It was really an engrossing tale, quietly as she told it, and many as were the details he saw that shekept back. 

"I found out one thing very early, " she said. "I knew that I could nevercome back and live as I had lived before, with no thought of any one butmyself. "

"I don't believe you had ever done that. "

"I had--I had, if ever any one did. I went away to school in Paris fortwo years; I wouldn't go to college--how I wish I had! I was the gayest, most thoughtless girl you ever knew until--the thing happened that sentmy world spinning upside down. Why, Mr. King, I was so selfish and sothoughtless that I could turn that poor girl away from my door with acareless denial, and never see that she was desperate--that it wantedonly one more such turning away to make her do the thing she did. "

He saw her press her lips together, her eyes fixed on the road ahead, and he saw the beautiful brows contract, as if the memory still weretoo keen for her to bear calmly. 

"You have certainly atoned a hundred times over, " he said gently, "forany carelessness in the past. How could you know how she was feeling?And she was insane, Miss Stockton said. "

"No more insane than I am now--simply desperate with weariness andfailure. And I should have seen; I did see. I just--didn't care. I wasbusy trying on a box of new frocks from a French dressmaker, frocks ofsilk and lace--of silk and lace, Jordan King, while she hadn't clothesenough to keep her warm! And I couldn't spare the time to look at thegirl's book! Well, I learned what it was to have people turn me fromtheir doors--I, with plenty of money at my command, no matter how Ielected to dress cheaply and go to cheap boarding places, and--insist oncheap beds at hospitals. " Her tone was full of scorn. "After all, did Iever really suffer anything of what she suffered? Never, for always Iknew that at any minute I could turn from a poor girl into a rich one, throw my book in the faces of those who refused to buy it, and telephonemy anxious family. They did come on and try to get me away--once. I wentwith them--for the day. It was the day you met me. And always there wasthe interest of the adventure. It was an adventure, you know, a bigone. "

"I should say it was. And when you were at the hospital--"

"Accepting expensive rooms and free medical attendance--oh, wasn't I afraud? How I felt it I can never tell you. But I could--and did--sendback Doctor Burns a draft in part payment, though I thought he wouldnever imagine where it came from. He did, though. What do you suppose hetold me last night when we were driving home?--this morning it was, ofcourse. "

"I can't guess, " King admitted, suffering a distinct and poignant pangof jealousy at thought of Red Pepper Burns driving through the nightwith this girl, on an errand of mercy though it had been. 

"He told me, " she said slowly, "that he learned all about me while I wasin the hospital. One night, when I was at the worst, he sent Miss Ardenout for a rest and sat beside me himself. And in my foolish, deliriouswanderings I gave him the whole story, or enough of it so that he piecedout the rest. And he never told a soul, not even his wife; wasn't thatwonderful of him? And treated me exactly the same as if he didn'tpractically know I wasn't what I seemed. You see, I wasn't far enoughaway from that poor girl's suicide, when I was so ill last year, butthat it was always in my mind. Even yet I dream of it at times. "

They were entering a large manufacturing town, the streets in the earlymorning full of factory operatives on their way to work, dinner-pails inhands and shawls over heads. Anne drove carefully, often throwing asmile at a group of children or slowing down more than the law decreedto avoid making some weary-faced woman hurry. And when at length shedrew up before a dingy brick tenement house, of a type the mostunpromising, King discovered that her "friend" was one of these verypeople. 

He carried the hamper up two flights of ramshackle stairs and set itinside the door she indicated. Then he unwillingly withdrew to the car, where he sat waiting--and wondering. It was not long he had to wait, inpoint of time, but his impatience was growing upon him. All this wasvery well, and threw interesting lights upon a girl's character, but--itwould be nine o'clock all too soon. To be sure, though Red Pepper borehim away, he knew the road back--he could come back as soon as hepleased, with nobody to set hours of departure for him. But he did notmean to go away this first time without the thing he wanted, if it wasto be his. 

She came running downstairs, face aglow with relief and pleasure, andsent the car smoothly away. And now it was that King discovered how agirl may fence and parry, so that a man may not successfully introducethe subject he is burning to speak of, without riding roughshod over herobjection. And presently he gave it up, biding his time. He sat silentwhile she talked, and then finally, when she too grew silent, he let theminutes slip by without another word. Thus it was that they drew up atthe house, still speechless concerning the great issue between them. 

It was only a little past seven; nobody was in sight except a maidservant, who slipped discreetly away. King took one look into a smallroom at the right of the hall, a sort of small den or office it seemedto be. Then he turned to Anne and put out his hand. "Will you come inhere, please?" he requested. 

She looked at him for a moment without giving him her hand, thenpreceded him into the room. There was a heavy curtain of dull blue silkhanging by the door frame, and King noiselessly drew this across. Thenhe turned and confronted the girl. She had drawn off her motoringgloves, but made no motion to remove either the rough gray coat in whichshe had been driving or the small gray velvet hat drawn smoothly downover her curls with a clever air of its own. Altogether she looked notin the least like a hostess, but very like a traveller who has onlypaused for a brief stop on a journey to be immediately continued. 

He stood there watching her for a minute, himself a challenging figurewith his dark, bright face, his fine young height, his air of--quitesuddenly--commanding the situation. And he was between the girl and thedoor. The two pairs of eyes looked straight into each other. 

"Well?" he said. 

"Well?" said Anne Linton Coolidge in return. 

"Did you expect me to wait any longer?"

"I was afraid you might come and go--and never say so much as 'Well?'"said she. 

This was more than mortal man could bear--and there was no more waitingdone by anybody. When Jordan King had--temporarily--done satisfying thehunger of his lips and arms, he spoke again, looking down searchingly ata face into which he had brought plenty of splendid colour. 

"If I had found you in that poor place I thought I should, it would havebeen just the same, " he said. 

"I really believe it would, " admitted Anne. 

 * * * * *

Half an hour afterward, emerging from the small room which had held sucha big experience, the pair discovered Red Pepper Burns just descendingthe stairway. He scrutinized their faces sharply, then advanced uponthem. They met him halfway. He gravely took Anne's hand and set hisfingers on her pulse. 

"Too rapid, " he said with a shake of the head. "Altogether too rapid. You have been undergoing much excitement--and so early in the morning, too. As your physician I must caution you against such untimely hours. "

He felt of King's wrist, and again he shook his head. "Worse and worse, "he announced. "Not only rapid, but bounding. The heart is plainlyoverworked. These cases are contagious. One acts upon the other--nodoubt of it--no doubt at all. I would suggest--"

He found both his arms grasped by Jordan King's strong hands, and heallowed himself to be held tightly by that happy young man. "Give usyour best wishes!" demanded his captor. 

"Why, you've had those from the first. I saw this coming before eitherof you, " Burns replied. 

"Not before I did, " asserted King. 

"Not before I did, " declared Anne. 

Then the two looked at each other, and Burns, smiling at them, his hazeleyes very bright, requested to be restored the use of his arms. Thisbeing conceded, he laid those arms about the shoulders before him anddrew the two young people close within them. 

"You two are the most satisfactory and the dearest patients I've everhad, " declared Red Pepper Burns.