The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-01-02
'.'NUMBER
-..TWENTY=NINE.'

nnlng OF the carriage the set face of man in
sue was visible By the light of a portable lamp.
:: IL was the lace Of man whose mind is not at
ease. There were irritable folds at the corners
OF the mouth, a restless look in the keen eyes,
even as they travelled over the page be was
reading. Sir Kenneth Brandon only shut his
book as he stepped Out and entered the White
chapel Hospital The doctor always read as
me drove about London from one consultation
TO another IL was his habit to allow himself
no leisure for idle thoughts.
Sir Kenneth Brandon was one of the few
London doctors whose names are familiar
abroad. He had made one big discovery, he
had done a great deal OF useful work, and at so
he was already making a large income His
recent knlghthO0d was pOpular-not only
among his patients, but among his professional
bIeihlen-and his dinners were among the
incest IN town. And yet many people-and,
VINO knows ? perhaps Sir Kenneth himself
missed hostess smile, woman's winning
phrases, at Ills brilliant dinner-tabe In VIM
pole street 'SOmetimes-it ever he.had time to
think-perhapS the great physician might bave
IegEetled. the pretty, bad-tempefed, foolish
wife, whom he had seeded and neglected in
the old days; the ehild-for she was little more
whU.had finally lett their diDgy suburban villa
for good the girl be might have saved before il
was; too late-for at first she had left his house
3afleT one of their miserable sordid
sauabbles, and had gone back 10 her father.
and twas only after a humiliatihg scene with
'herbuSband that she had finally disappeared.
She had disappeared and She had never come
TACK. The police had been unable 10 find a
trace OF her beyond that she had first gone to
Spain win some man who was unknown to
HIM. After that all was a blank To All in
ients and purposes his wife was as one who is
dead. Yet the embittering Quarrels of those
early years, his severity when he should have
been lenient, his careiessucSs when he ouCht
o II na .IfFa
That he had sworn to cherish anu protect
were Facts which, though he seldom allowed
himself TO think Of them, had left their trace
written on the great physicians face.
. Inside the large hall. where q marble statue
OF: me queen loomed CHILLY out OF the vague
.hali-ligbt lady was already waiting for him
"a fair nigh-bred face, with something of the
look %. the student, moderniZed by a slightly
bored air, such as Is often seen IN cultivated
woman OF the world. Lady SbihOrpe was
widow OF leisure, and was int mittentiV inle
eSJed in variety of questions. She occasion
ally wrote short article for one OF the monthly
reviews, preterring such topics as do not usually
themselves TO the more tender
hearted Sex for she by no means posed as
phtlanthropist, and was understood TO have
views little in advance Of those of the British
ma iron. Just now, for instance, she was in-
teTeSted iD,the hospital question, and at a din.
ner party the night before Sir Kenneth had
TO explain the internal working of
an opportunity OF being useful TO Lady Sib-
thorpe; she was just he woman he would have
asked to be his wife, II only
90 Tney met as people meet who are more than
Interested in each other. For some time past
Lady Sibthorpe had known that he liked her,
and for some time past she had almost made
up her mind that she might accept him. but
there was no hurry; they were both OF a certain !
age; they both had their occupations, their az |
fairs. And now they turned up the stone stair.
case together, on their way TO the Wemen's |
wards. Lady SibthOrpe paused for an instant |
as they passed the operating theater. The doors |
were closed. Outside TWO porters were waiting
with siretcher. Suddenly the door was pushed
ajar, and there was a vision of anxious, inter-
eSted faces, lit up by a strong glare of gas; Of
nurses back bending forward, and of a sur
geOn's face blowing spray on TO something that
broken only by the hOarse whispers Of the por-
Iers with the stretcher wondering how long they
would have TO walt. Lady Slbthorpe
was not emotional, bat she shiYered little as
she passed on.
In the Catherine Ward" the fifty blue co v.
eTleted beds effaced themselves In the gloom
Of the long room. Here and there the freight
lllumned the bland, Unconditional features of
The nurse under her smooth hair and white
cap-the seXless featnres of a woman who has
learned to witness suffering without a sign.
: On seeing Sir Kenneth Brandon Sister Cathe-
Ttne a lOng-nOsed woman with bright eyes
hurried forward as superintendent OF the ward. |
The doctor introduced the two women TO
each other, and for. awhile Lady SibthOrp-, |
notebook in hand, was absorbed with statistics !
Now take me round TO your patients, Sir
Kenneth" she said, when she had done. Sister |
on her bright face. They stopped at every bed |
Lady SibGhOIpe asked questions in q business
ike way, and Sir Kenneth, whose hospital |
manner" was proYerbiaL addressed the patients |
IN the same tone he would have employed 10 a |
duchess. His way with women was one OF the |
things for which he was justly famous. They |
had come 10 the END OF one OF the lines OF beds |
aud were now turning up tile other side Of the |
room.
1--WE have a new patient there, SIR Kenneth" |
said the sister: mo. ga hopeless case-the |
F fad hxrt
and dirt. They brought her in from one OF the |
common lodglng-nouses. Poor creature; she |
was IN. terrible state when she came" |
Indeed" calculated the great physician, In |
bis sympathetic voice.
IAN three approached the bed. The patients |
BACK was turned 10 him, but as steps ap- |
preached she tossed over and lay on her back, |
her weakly vicious face, with its flush OF color |
on each cneek bone looking sharply emaciated |
against tile wniteness OF tho pillow. There /
were streaks of gray in the dark hair, and The |
eyes-dull, slaty eyes. which had once been |
blue-wero blO0dshot and red-lidded.
Sir Kenneth leaned forward and their eyes
me to " long STARE line years seemed
SELL Great GOdi Could this horrible wreck |
of womanhood be his wife =" And |
she was going to speak, 1t was a fateful |
But No. 20 only laughed-am unmirthful. |
coarse and empty laugh. ."0h, Lord Are |
you here % she murmurt d, and tossed over.
The doctor drew long breath; he n I'd grown |
a little paler before he spoke. "Poor creature; |
She mlsiakes me for some one else. They often |
DO at the last" he whispered, and then, taking |
down the usual card. hung above the bed on |
which the patients age, disease and diet, as |
we'll as the doctors pane Ia charge OF the case,
were written, he added urbaDely: Quite |
rlght-perfecty right DR.. Brown has ordered |
that could possibly be OF use Sister,
lock after this case specially"
:: Lazy Sibthorpe said some thing gracious and |
passed on. Not a feature Of the strange scene |
ESCAPED her. It was evident that something |
had happened. That these two
Ene fashionable physician and the pitiable out |
cast on the hospital m2tGress-knew each other |
,he.had now not the smallest doubt. But the |
hfee moved on to the next bed, smiling and |
chatting as they went. Presently Sir Kenneth |
Bfandnn urged consultation a; the olher END |
81 London at o'ciocs, and offered to drive
Lady Sfbthorpe back, as she mad sent away her |
carriage They were both rather silent as tney |
we're bowled along westward.
: Al fe nights afteTward they met by accldenG I
al a.; dinner. Ii was a brilliant party. Inc
talk, like the food, was stimulating; the WINE, /
kethe beauty OF the women, was rare. IL
was 10 gracefully artificial moments Ike THESE
that Sir Kenneth, pessimist though he was
felt .tenderly toward all the world. Sir Ken
meth, in fact, was delighted, for ne was ceputeu
to.take Lady Siblhorpe down to dinner. one
was woman who looked specially wen py
candle light and al dinner time. her teetb'
her shoulders and her diamonds were ptoVeI-
I.iHT tod