stions about the patients
whom he had visited. James hesitated about inquiring for the man who had
been injured the night before, but finally he did so. The dog had sprung
up to greet him, and between his pats on the white head and commands of
"Down, sir, down!" he asked as casually as he could if Gordon had seen
his patient who had fallen in the drive the night before, and how he
was. Gordon turned upon James a face of such fierce misery that the
younger man fairly recoiled. "He isn't going to die?" he cried.

"No, he is not going to die. He shall not die!" Gordon replied with
passionate emphasis. Then he added, in response to James's wondering,
half-frightened look, "I have been there all the morning. I have just
come home. I have left everything for him. I don't dare get a nurse. I
am afraid. He may talk a good deal. Georgie K. is with him now. I can
trust him, but I can't trust a nurse. I am going back after luncheon,
and you may go with me. I would like you to see him."

"Does he seem to be very ill?" James asked timidly.

"Not from the--the--wound," replied Gordon, "but I am afraid of
something else."

"What?"

"Erysipelas. I am afraid of that setting in. In fact, I am not
altogether sure that it has not. He is an erysipelas subject. He has
told me of two severe attacks which he has had. When he fell he got an
abrasion of the cheek. That looks worse than the--the--wound. I should
like you to see him. You have seen erysipelas cases, of course, in your
hospital practice."

"Oh, yes."

"There is the bell for luncheon. We will go directly afterward."

James wondered within himself at the feverish haste with which Gordon
swallowed his luncheon, frequently looking at his watch. He was actually
showing more anxiety over this man who had hounded him, of whom he had
lived in dread, than James had seen him show over any patient since he
had been with him. It seemed to him inconsistent. Mrs. Ewing did not
come down to luncheon; Clemency said that she was not feeling as well as
usual but Gordon did not seem much disturbed even by that. He gave
Clemency some powders, with instructions how to administer them to the
sick woman before he left, but he did not show concern, and did not go
upstairs to see her. Clemency herself looked pale and anxious.

She found a chance to whisper to James before he went. "Is that man very
much hurt?" she said close to his ear.

"Hush, dear. I am afraid so."

"Uncle Tom seems terribly