uently and complacently, "'getting
there' is easy enough if you've only the brains and the nerve to pull
the right wire," and she considered that she had taken a turn around
Opportunity's foretop in a manner which would have been creditable to a
far more experienced hand than hers; also she had no reason to doubt
that the "wire" upon which she now held an unshakable grip held manifold
possibilities. By her astuteness and daring, she assured herself, she
was in absolute control of a situation which promised as great a success
as any person handicapped by petticoats could hope for. Assuredly the
top wave made pleasant riding.

Lamb accepted her partnership proposition with an avidity which rather
indicated that he needed the money. He had no objections to being a
salaried scapegoat providing the pay was sure, but naturally it did not
occur to Lamb to regard himself in any such light. If Dr. Harpe dubbed
him her "peon," she took care to treat him and his opinions with
flattering deference.

They rented a long, unpainted, one-story building which had been a
boarding house, for hospital purposes. It was divided lengthwise by a
narrow hall which ended in a dingy kitchen in the rear. Dr. Lamb who had
some vague theories upon sanitation protested feebly when the operating
room was located next to the kitchen, but the location was not changed
on that account. The office in the front was furnished with a few
imposing bottles and their combined display of cutlery was calculated to
impress. Their ideas as to keeping expenses for equipment at a minimum
were in perfect harmony, for Lamb as well as Dr. Harpe regarded it as a
purely commercial venture. The latter, however, was disposed to regard
the purchase of an X-ray machine as a profitable investment because of
the impression it would make upon their private patients.

"Moses!" She chortled at the notion. "Wouldn't their eyes bung out if I
showed 'em their own bones! I could soak 'em twice the fee and they'd
never peep."

Lamb discouraged the idea for the present on the grounds of economy and
advised a sterilizing apparatus instead, which Dr. Harpe opposed for the
same reason.

If Dr. Harpe had been given the opportunity of selecting an associate
from a multitude of practitioners, it is doubtful if she could have
found another better suited to her purpose than the man Lamb. Although,
by some means, he had succeeded in being graduated from an institution
of good repute, he was