counterpane; her eyes, bright, restless, and expectant, were fixed on the door.
The moment she saw Dr. Anderson they became full of a sudden intense and most lovely joy. I never saw such a look of beatitude in any eyes. He came forward at once, took her two little hot hands in one of his, and sat down by her side. I followed him into the room, but neither he nor she saw me. The physician and the patient were altogether absorbed with one another.
"He came forward at once."
I went away, closing the door behind me.
I did not like Miss Whittaker's look. I had already found she was suffering from a critical heart condition owing to the repeated strains and shocks which her delicate temperament had undergone.
I could not attend to my other patients, but moved restlessly about, wondering how long Dr. Anderson would remain with her.
He came out of the room much sooner than I expected.
The look of real trouble and distress was still most apparent on his face.
"She is asleep now," he said, coming up to me.
"You have mesmerized her, then?" I answered.
"Only very, very little, just sufficient to give her repose. She is extremely weak, and I am anxious about her. I should like to talk over her case with you, if you will allow me."
"With pleasure," I replied. "Come with me to my consulting-room."
We went there. I motioned the doctor to an easy chair, but he would not seat himself.
"You do not like me," he said, looking full at me. "You distrust me: I am an enigma to you."
"I do not understand you, certainly," I replied, nettled by his tone.
"That is evident," he retorted. "Notwithstanding, I am going to put implicit confidence in you. I am a man in a great strait. Since Miss Whittaker's arrest, and since the severe sentence pronounced against her, I have been one of the most unhappy men on God's earth. There was one right and straight course before me, and day after day I shrank from taking it. All the same, I knew that a day would come when I should have to take it. When you called on me this morning and mentioned Miss Whittaker's name, I knew that the day and hour had arrived. That was why I desired my servant to dismiss my patients—that was why I, a very busy man, leaping into popularity day by day, gave up my time at once to you."
Here he paused. I did not interrupt him by a single word. I looked full at him, as he restlessly paced up and down the room.
"My opinion of Miss Whittaker is this," he said, stopping abruptly and fixing me with his dark, curious eyes. "My opinion is this, that if she stays here much longer, she will die. Do you agree with me?"
"I have not studied her case as carefully as you have," I replied. "Nevertheless, my opinion coincides with yours. Miss Whittaker is not strong—she is more than usually nervous. The sights she cannot help seeing in this place, the sounds she must hear, and the people she must associate with, cannot but be injurious to her health. Even if she
