Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-10-21

BY HARPER CURTIS.
Il don't agre with you! / see no
9~D1igation whatsoever. To be frank
y
aepaused abruptly. He was actually
blushing, but the faint tinge faded
quickly from his cheeks, and left them
unusually pallid.
"Yes?" said Lieutenant Winston, en-
couragingiy and quite unblushingly.
"Oh, / don't know stammered the
other man. Are you really serious? If
SO, you must be-pardon me for saying
so-either the most heartless beggar l
ever met or the most absurdly sensi-
tive"
I'm other words, a knave or a blither-
ing idiot-eh, Metford. old chap" said
Winston, cheerily.
Exactly. / hope it is only a case
of temporary insanity.
DR.. Metford was one Of the ablest Of
the younger physicians in the West End
of London; but, being also one of the
most stupidity modest of clever men,
his professional income barely sufficed
to pay the rental of his rooms in Cover
street.
Some day he may discover that it is
possible to be over-modest, and that in
ward self-depreciation leads to perjury,
and then he will remove to Harley and
begin to make progress toward af-
1duence.
Winston did not fail to observe the
tinge OF color on the doctors face, nor
its quick disappearance, but he gave
no sign of recognition. Never before
had he seen his old college chum look
half so handsome as when that feting
show of rosy color tinted the mans
cheeks. nor half so pathetically glum
as when it vanished.
"She saved my life. l think you will
admit that doctor? How many wo-
men would have taken the risks that
she took? Would any other woman in
the world have sacrificed herself as she
did?"
ANY number of them!" declared the
doctor sententiously, although a fitting
smile upon his face said: None OF
them, bless her!
you medical men are utterly heart
less cynics,' protested Winston, shrug-
ging his broad shoulders.
YUutterly," admitted Metford. Now
/ am so unromantic to attribute your
recovery chiefly to your cast-iron con-
stitution, a rafting good physician
must sound my own trumpet if you
won't blow it for me-and Old Nick's
merciful consideration. Your cup OF
iniauity is not yet brimful; your liver
and all the rest of you, including your
heart, is as sound as a beli!"
Il know we'll waht | owe to you, Met
c~-1 ia elo- >, oojI tho oanuo1oconnf
In a grateful tone, and with an effec-
tionate gasp of the biceps OF the doc
tors nearest arm. You don't ap-
pear to be aware of it, but you're a
long ay the cleverest medicine mar
In London, head and shoulders above
all the rest of them. If you wern't
such 4 confoundedly modest beast
S"kittles!" %interjected the physician,
in much confusion. "You can't think
how | hate that kind of talk"
Nevertheless, | mean it, old chap.
Just you think the matter over serious
ly. Well, to proceed. My sister Jess
says that Miss Wethered-who, by the
nRy, comes of tolerably good stock
vas very different from the ordinary
professional nurse, and that, during
tuOoC WCCho hlCl tAy fCly NoAUobiS NV
hung on a very slender thread, she abb
solutely sacrificed herself to save me.
My recovery, Jess says, is due entirely
to her devotion. Not very compliment
airy to you, eh?"
Mrs. Trevelyan Is modesty and every
other grace personified!" declared DR..
Metford. so far as | could see, she
sacrificed herself almost, if not quite,
as magnifcently as-as the-the paid
nurse!'
BE that as it may" persisted Wins
ton, Il have chatted the matter over
very seriously with my sister, and she
says ,imprimis, that Mary Wethered is,
barring the wings, an angel; secondly,
that the said angel without wings
would make a jewel of a wife; and
thirdly and most troublesomely, that
| shall be the most ungrateful beast on
earth and stupidest old duffer If l
don't staightway let the lady know |
think SO. Unfortunately, as | protest
ed to my sister, and have admitted to
you, | can't honestly say that l am
the least bit in love with Miss Wether-
ed. | like her very much, you know,
and all that sort of thing-possibly
more than | like any other girl of my
acquaintanee-and have reason to be-
lieye that she is not entirely Indifferent
10 me. and that if | only"
The doctors lips curved scornfully,
lnvoluntarily, and a glow of color that
was hardly a blush suffused his face.
And Jess tells me-" continued the
young officer, imperturbably, that |
might do a very much worse thing
than marry Mary Wethered. You
know, old chap, I've led a devil of a
life in India and elsewhere! Terrible
lot of racketing. We army men, you