and zeal but also a considerable
amount of acumen in the matter of Dick's placing. For, when Mrs
Maitland, perhaps very naturally, expressed the wish that Dick should
begin his studies under the guidance of some eminent Harley Street
specialist, the solicitor strenuously opposed the idea, not only upon
the score of expense, but also because, as he argued, Dick would
certainly acquire a wider knowledge of diseases and their cure--and
acquire it much more quickly--under some hard-working practitioner among
the East-End poor of London; and that, as he very truly pointed out, was
the great desideratum in such a case as Dick's, far outweighing the
extra hard work and the sordid surroundings to which Mrs Maitland had
at first so strenuously objected. Moreover, Dick agreed with the
solicitor; and in the end the maternal objections were overcome, careful
enquiries were instituted, and finally Dick found himself installed as a
pupil in the somewhat Bohemian establishment of Doctor Julian Humphreys,
M.D., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.S., and several other letters of the alphabet.
And, queer though the arrangement was in many respects, it proved
eminently satisfactory to Dick; for Dr Humphreys was not only an
extraordinarily able physician and surgeon, but also marvellously clever
and learned outside the bounds of his profession, gentle and tender-
hearted as a woman, and a thoroughly good fellow all round, in the best
and highest sense of the term. As for Dick, he displayed from the
outset a quite exceptional aptitude for the noble profession which he
had chosen; study, instead of being irksome, was a pleasure--almost a
passion--with him; his nerves were steel, he never for a moment lost his
head even when assisting at the most sickening operation; his touch was
light and sure; and knowledge seemed to come to him intuitively. No
wonder that Doctor Humphreys persistently predicted a brilliant and
successful career for his pupil.

Upon his arrival home Dick found his mother in such an acute state of
distress that for the first few moments of their interview she seemed to
be quite incapable of making any intelligible statement: she could do
nothing but weep copiously upon her stalwart son's shoulder and gasp
that they were ruined--utterly and irretrievably ruined! At length,
however, the lad managed to extract from Mrs Maitland the statement
that she had seen, in the previous morning's papers, an account of the
suicide of Mr Jonas Cuthbert