had been driven by a
man of inflexible will, his very soul inoculated with greed for
possessions which would give him power; his body endowed with unfailing
strength to meet the demands he made on it, and his heart wholly
lacking in sentiment; but she did not propose to start her new life by
speaking of her family to strangers. George Holt's experiences had
been those of a son spoiled by a weak woman, one day petted, the next
bribed, the next nagged, again left to his own devices for days, with
strong inherited tendencies to be fought, tendencies to what he did not
say. Looking at his heavy jaw and swarthy face, Kate supplied "temper"
and "not much inclination to work." He had asked her to teach him, she
would begin by setting him an example in the dignity of self-control;
then she would make him work. How she would make that big, strong man
work! As she sat there on the bank of the ravine, with a background of
delicately leafed bushes and the light of the setting sun on her face
and her hair, George Holt studied her closely, mentally and physically,
and would have given all he possessed if he had not been so hasty. He
saw that she had a good brain and courage to follow her convictions,
while on closer study he decided that she was moulded on the finest
physical lines of any woman he ever had seen, also his study of
medicine taught him to recognize glowing health, and to set a right
estimate on it. Truly he was sorry, to the bottom of his soul, but he
did not believe in being too humble. He said as much in apology as he
felt forced, and then set himself the task of calling out and parading
the level best he could think up concerning himself, or life in
general. He had tried farming, teaching, merchandise, and law before
he had decided his vocation was medicine.

On account of Robert Gray, Kate was much interested in this, but when
she asked what college he was attending, he said he was going to a
school in Chicago that was preparing to revolutionize the world of
medicine. Then he started on a hobby that he had ridden for months,
paying for the privilege, so Kate learned with surprise and no small
dismay that in a few months a man could take a course in medicine that
would enable him "to cure any ill to which the human flesh is heir," as
he expressed it, without knowing anything of surgery, or drugs, or
using either. Kate was amazed and said so at once. She
disconcertingly inquired what he would do with pati