life at the institution! Of
course the brothers wouldn't live there, but we should see each other,
like ordinary people in society, and everything would not be so
dreadfully blank, and there is no end to the things which you could do,
which we cannot do, unless with a great deal of trouble. The usefulness
of your plan seems to have no limits at all. How many brothers do you
think we ought to have?"

"I have not considered that point," I said; "at present I know of but
one person, besides myself, who would have the necessary qualifications
for the position."

"I expect," she said, looking at me with a twinkle of fun in her eye,
"that if you had the selection of the other brothers they would be a
tame lot."

"Perhaps you are right," I said, and we both broke into a laugh.

"I wish I could tell you," said Sylvia, "how much I am charmed with your
idea of the brotherhood. I haven't enjoyed myself so much for ever so
long."

We were now nearing the little house at the bottom of the hill. An idea
struck me.

"Who is it that you are going to visit?" I asked.

"It is an old man," she said, "who has the rheumatism so badly that he
cannot move. He has to take his medicine every hour, and his wife is
worn out sitting up and giving it to him, and Sister Agatha and I were
sent to take care of him during the morning, and let the poor old woman
get some sleep."

"Very good," said I, "here is a chance for me to make a beginning in my
scheme of brotherhood, and that without asking leave or license of
anybody. I will go in with you, and help you nurse the old man."

"I expect you can do it splendidly," said Sylvia, "and now we can see
how a brotherhood would work."

We entered a little house, which apparently had once been a good enough
home for humble dwellers, but which now showed signs of extreme poverty.
A man with gray hair, and placid, pale face, was lying on a bed in one
corner of the room into which the door opened, and in a chair near by
sat an old woman, her head bobbing in an uneasy nap. She roused when we
entered, and seemed glad to see us.

"He's about the same as he was," she said, "an' as he's loike to be
width thim little draps of midicine; but if you're a docther, sir, it
ain't for me to be meddlin', an' sayin' that one of thim Pepper Pod
Plasters width howles in it would do more good to his poor back than
thim draps inside of him."

"Rheumatism is not treated externally so much as it used to be," I said.