give me the
idea that they were born in a church, and have never got over the chill.
However, she seemed very fond of him, and he of her; and they talked very
prettily to each other--too prettily for it to be quite genuine, I should
have said, if I'd known as much of the world then as I do now.

"The operation was a difficult and dangerous one. When I came on duty in
the evening I found him, as I expected, highly delirious. I kept him as
quiet as I could, but towards nine o'clock, as the delirium only
increased, I began to get anxious. I bent down close to him and listened
to his ravings. Over and over again I heard the name 'Louise.' Why
wouldn't 'Louise' come to him? It was so unkind of her--they had dug a
great pit, and were pushing him down into it--oh! why didn't she come and
save him? He should be saved if she would only come and take his hand.

"His cries became so pitiful that I could bear them no longer. His wife
had gone to attend a prayer-meeting, but the church was only in the next
street. Fortunately, the day-nurse had not left the house: I called her
in to watch him for a minute, and, slipping on my bonnet, ran across. I
told my errand to one of the vergers and he took me to her. She was
kneeling, but I could not wait. I pushed open the pew door, and, bending
down, whispered to her, 'Please come over at once; your husband is more
delirious than I quite care about, and you may be able to calm him.'

"She whispered back, without raising her head, 'I'll be over in a little
while. The meeting won't last much longer.'

"Her answer surprised and nettled me. 'You'll be acting more like a
Christian woman by coming home with me,' I said sharply, 'than by
stopping here. He keeps calling for you, and I can't get him to sleep.'

"She raised her head from her hands: 'Calling for me?' she asked, with a
slightly incredulous accent.

"'Yes,' I replied, 'it has been his one cry for the last hour: Where's
Louise, why doesn't Louise come to him.'

"Her face was in shadow, but as she turned it away, and the faint light
from one of the turned-down gas-jets fell across it, I fancied I saw a
smile upon it, and I disliked her more than ever.

"'I'll come back with you,' she said, rising and putting her books away,
and we left the church together.

"She asked me many questions on the way: Did patients, when they were
delirious, know the people about them? Did they remember actual facts,
or was their talk m