what he thinks. And— I'll have to go home with mother, and I can't stand it, dear, I can't stand it! I won't go back! That town! Never anything doing! The old tabbies, and the beastly old men, always telling the same old jokes. I won't!"
Her head was in the hollow of his arm; she was weeping, hard; he was stroking her hair, not covetously now but tenderly, and he was whispering:
"Darling! I almost feel as if I dared to love you. You're going to marry me and— Take me couple more years to finish my medical course and couple in hospital, then we'll be married and— By thunder, with you helping me, I'm going to climb to the top! Be big surgeon! We're going to have everything!"
"Dearest, do be wise. I don't want to keep you from your scientific work—"
"Oh. Well. Well, I would like to keep up some research. But thunder, I'm not just a lab-cat. Battle o' life. Smashing your way through. Competing with real men in real he-struggle. If I can't do that and do some scientific work too, I'm no good. Course while I'm with Gottlieb, I want to take advantage of it, but afterward— Oh, Madeline!"
Then was all reasoning lost in a blur of nearness to her.
He dreaded the interview with Mrs. Fox; he was certain that she would demand, "Young man, how do you expect to support my Maddy? And you use bad language." But she took his hand and mourned, "I hope you and my baby will be happy. She's a dear good girl, even if she is a little flighty sometimes, and I know you're nice and kind and hard-working. I shall pray you'll be happy—oh, I'll pray so hard! You young people don't seem to think much of prayer, but if you knew how it helped me— Oh, I'll petition for your sweet happiness!"
She was weeping; she kissed Martin's forehead with the dry, soft, gentle kiss of an old woman, and he was near to weeping with her.
At parting Madeline whispered, "Boy, I don't care a bit, myself, but Mother would love it if we went to church with her. Don't you think you could, just once?"
The astounded world, the astounded and profane Clif Claw-
