e driver to return with all possible speed to the office. Dr.
Hillhouse was in bed, but rose on getting the summons from Dr. Angier
and accompanied Mr. Ridley. He did not feel in a pleasant humor. The
night's indulgence in wine and other allurements of the table had not
left his head clear nor his nerves steady for the morning. A sense of
physical discomfort made him impatient and irritable. At first all the
conditions of this case were not clear to him; but as his thought went
back to the incidents of the night, and he remembered not only seeing
Mr. Ridley in considerable excitement from drink, but hearing it
remarked upon by one or two persons who were familiar with his life at
Washington, the truth dawned upon his mind, and he said abruptly, with
considerable sternness of manner and in a quick voice:

"At what time did you get home last night?"

Ridley made no reply.

"Or this morning? It was nearly midnight when _I_ left, and you were
still there, and, I am sorry to say, not in the best condition for
meeting a sick wife at home. If there is anything seriously wrong in
this case, the responsibility lies, I am afraid, at your door, sir."

They were in the carriage, moving rapidly. Mr. Ridley sat-with his head
drawn down and bent a little forward; not answering, Dr. Hillhouse said
no more. On arriving at Mr. Ridley's residence, he met Dr. Angier, with
whom he held a brief conference before seeing his patient. He found her
in no favorable condition. The fever was not so intense as Dr. Angier
had found it on his arrival, but its effect on the brain was more
marked.

"Too much time has been lost." Dr. Hillhouse spoke aside to his
assistant a's they sat together watching carefully every symptom of
their patient.

"I sent for you before ten o'clock last night," said the nurse, who
overheard the remark and wished to screen herself from any blame.

Dr. Hillhouse did not reply.

"I knew there was danger," pursued the nurse. "Oh, doctor, if you had
only come when I sent for you! I waited and waited until after
midnight."

The doctor growled an impatient response, but so muttered and mumbled
the words that the nurse could not make them out. Mr. Ridley was in the
room, standing with folded arms a little way from the bed, stern and
haggard, with wild, congested eyes and closely shut mouth, a picture of
anguish, fear and remorse.

The two physicians remained with Mrs. Ridley for over twenty minutes
before deciding on t