ently a
witness. But the days went by and nothing happened, so I returned to
town and another young doctor took my place. He also got tired of
waiting and suggested it might be some spinal trouble. He induced them
once more to visit London and see Sir Victor Horsley, whose work on
the brains of animals and men had marked an epoch in our knowledge of
the central nervous system. Some new symptoms had now supervened, and
the famous neurologist at once diagnosed a tumour in the spinal canal.
Such a case had never previously been operated on successfully, but
there was no alternative. The operation was brilliantly performed and
a wonderful success obtained. The case was quoted in the next edition
of our surgical textbooks.

A little later my father's health began to fail in London, the worries
and troubles of a clergyman's work among the poor creatures who were
constantly passing under his care utterly overwhelming him. We had
agreed that a long change of thought was necessary and he and I
started for a fishing and sight-seeing tour in Norway. Our steamer was
to sail from the Tyne, and we went up to Newcastle to catch it. There
some evil fiend persuaded my father to go and consult a doctor about
his illness, for Newcastle has produced some well-known names in
medicine. Thus, while I waited at the hotel to start, my father became
persuaded that he had some occult disease of the liver, and must
remain in Newcastle for treatment. I, however, happened to be
treasurer of the voyage, and for the first time asserting my
professional powers, insisted that I was family physician for the
time, and turned up in the evening with all our round-trip tickets and
reservations taken and paid for. In the morning I had the trunks
packed and conveyed aboard, and we sailed together for one of the most
enjoyable holidays I ever spent. We travelled much afoot and in the
little native carriages called "stolkjaerre," just jogging along,
staying anywhere, fishing in streams, and living an open-air life
which the increasing flood of tourists in after years have made much
less possible. We both came back fitter in body and soul for our
winter's work.

My father's death a year later made a great difference to me, my
mother removing to live with my grandmother at Hampstead, it being too
lonely and not safe for her to live alone in East London. Twice our
house had been broken into by burglars, though both times fruitlessly.
The second occasion was in o