ered in their respectful regard of her.

He spoke again:

"I can assure you that Dr. Leonard meant no discourtesy. The new
arrangement means nothing further than that your trouble is more
distinctively within my province. It is his custom, once he has
thoroughly diagnosed a case, to assign it to the one of his assistants
best qualified to treat it. Dr. Leonard is a very busy man; he can't
be expected to do more than supervise his aides."

And now he was actually rebuking her!

He bowed once more, and moved toward the door. His hand was upon the
knob, when an imperious command brought him to a standstill.

"Wait," said Miss Willis. "Dr. Carter, if I remain here--"

He coolly interrupted. "Pardon me, Miss Willis, but my patient is
waiting. I shall be at liberty in ten minutes, then I shall return."

This time he was gone.

Number Four must have been an adjoining room, for the next instant
she could hear Dr. Carter's voice through the thin board partition.
His speech was as unemotional and businesslike as when addressing her.
She could not make up her mind whether to go or wait, and so sat
pondering and presently forgot to go.

Here was a man such as she had never dreamed of as existing; one
absolutely disinterested, who treated people--even people like
Clementine Willis--as abstractly as a master mechanic goes about
repairing a worn-out engine. Perhaps it was a characteristically
feminine decision at which she presently arrived, but anyway she made
up her mind, then and there, to know more of this man.

After a while Miss Willis fell to surveying the room; with an
undefined hope, perhaps, that it would throw some further light upon
the young doctor's character. It was essentially the home of a busy
man. Every article had a use and a definite one. The spirit of the
place was contagious, and presently she began to have a feeling that
she was the one useless thing there.

In one corner of the room was the desk where he had been writing,
upon which was a pile of loose manuscript. Reference books were
scattered all about, some with improvised bookmarks, but mostly face
downward, just as they had been left. The environment was that of one
who seeks to overtake and outstrip Time, rather than to forget him.

Dr. Carter returned at last, entering quickly but quietly.

"Pardon my leaving you so abruptly," he apologized, the impersonal
note again in his voice, and an inquiry as well. He seemed surprised
that she had