usual hour for absenting himself and I had much
to tell him and many advices to give. It was the first balk I had
received and I was fuming over it, when I saw what looked like a
package of books lying on the table before me, and though it was
addressed to my partner, I was about to take it up, when I heard my
name uttered in a tremulous tone, and turning, saw a man standing in
the doorway, who, the moment I met his eye, advanced into the room and
said:

"O doctor, I have been waiting for you an hour. Mrs. Warner has been
taken very bad, sir, and she prays that you will not delay a moment
before coming to her. It is something serious I fear, and she may have
died already, for she would have no one else but you, and it is now an
hour since I left her."

"And who are you?" I asked, for though I knew Mrs. Warner well--she is
the patient to whom I have already referred--I did not know her
messenger.

"I am a servant in the house where she was taken ill."

"Then she is not at home?"

"No, sir, she is in Second Avenue."

"I am very sorry," I began, "but I have not the time--"

But he interrupted eagerly: "There is a carriage at the door; we
thought you might not have your phaeton ready."

I had noticed the carriage.

"Very well," said I. "I will go, but first let me write a line--"

"O sir," the man broke in pleadingly, "do not wait for anything. She
is really very bad, and I heard her calling for you as I ran out of
the house."

"She had her voice then?" I ventured, somewhat distrustful of the
whole thing and yet not knowing how to refuse the man, especially as
it was absolutely necessary for me to see Mrs. Warner that night and
get her consent to my departure before I could think of making further
plans.

So, leaving word for Richter to be sure and wait for me if he came
home before I did, I signified to Mrs. Warner's messenger that I was
ready to go with him, and immediately took a seat in the carriage
which had been provided for me. The man at once jumped up on the box
beside the driver, and before I could close the carriage door we were
off, riding rapidly down Seventh Avenue.

As we went the thought came, "What if Mrs. Warner will not let me
off!" But I dismissed the fear at once, for this patient of mine is an
extremely unselfish woman, and if she were not too ill to grasp the
situation, would certainly sympathize with the strait I was in and
consent to accept Richter's services in place of my own, es