The St. Johns herald., 1901-02-02
THE WAY OF A CAD
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DON'T agree with yOuI I se


 no obligation whatsoever. To be quite frank"
 He paused abruptly. He was actual ly blushing: but the faint tinge faded quickly from his cheeks and left them unusually pallid.
 ''Yes?" said Lieut.. Winston, eneour- agingly and quite unblushingly.
 "Oh, don't knowI" stammered the other man. Are you really serious2 If so. you must be-pardon me for saying so-either the most heartless beggar ever met or the most ab- surdly sensitive"
 %In other words, knaEe or blith- ering idot-eh. Metford. old chapT said Winston, cheerily.
 'Exactlyl hope it is only 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 stupidIy modest of clever men, his professional income barely .suficed 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 inward self-deprecia- tion leads to penury, and then he will remove to Harley street and begin to make progress towards affluence.
 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 fieeting show of rosy color tinted the mans cheeks, nor half so pathet- ically glum as when it vanished.
 ''She saved my life. I think you will admit that, doctor? How many wom- en would have taken the risks that she took2 Would any other woman in the world have sacrificed herself as she did?"
 Any number of themi" declared the doctor. sententiously. although fitting smile upon his face said: "None of them. bless herI"
 ''You medical men are utterly heartless cynics." protested Winston, shrugging his broad shoulders.
 Utterly" admitted Metford. '.Now, I am so unromantic as to ate tribute your recovery chiefly to your cast-iron constitution, a rattling good physician-must sound by own trum- pet if you won't blow it for me-and Old Nick's merciful consideration. Your cup of iniquity is not yet quite brimful; your liver and all the rest of you, including your Reart, is as sound as a bell!"
 'I know well what I owe to you, Metford, old chapl" said the convales- cent in a grateful tone and with an afectionate grasp of the biceps of the doctors nearest arm. "You don't appear to be aware of it, but you're long way the cleverest medicine man in London. head and shoulders above all the rest of 'em. If you weren't such confoundedly modest beast-"
 "Skittlesl" interjected his physi- elan, in much confusion. "You can't think how hate that kind of talkl"
 Nevertheless, I mean it. old chapl Jnst you think the matter over seri- ously! We'll. to proceed: My sister Jess says that Miss Wethered-who, by the way. comes of tolerably good stoch-was very different from the or dinary professional nurse. and that, during those weeks when my. very valuable life hung on a very slender thread, she absolutely sacrificed her self to save me. My recovery. Jess says, is due entirely to her devotion. Not very complimentary to you. eh ?"
 Mrs. Trevelyan is modesty and every other grace personifedl" de- clared Dr. Metford. ''So far as I could see, she sacrificed herself almost, if not quite, as magnifcently as-as the paid nurse!"
 ''Be that as it may" persisted Win ston, CT have chatted the matter over very seriously with my sister, and she says. imprimis. that Mary Weth- cred is. barring the wings, an angel; that the said angel without wings would make a jewel of a wife, and thirdly and most troublesomely, | that I shall be the most ungrateful | beast on earth and stupidest old duff fer if don't straightway let the lady know I think so. Unfortunately, as l protested to my sister and have ad- mitted to you, can't honestly say | that I am the least bit in love with Miss Wethered. like her very much, | you know, and all that sort of thing more than like any other girl of my aequaintance-and I have reason to believe that she is not en- tirely indifferent to me, and that if I only"
 The doctors lips curved scornfully, l involuntarily, and a glow of color ! that was hardly blush suffused his face.
 And Jess tells me-" continued the i young officer, imperturbably, "that might do a very much worse thing than marry hMary Nethered. You know, old chap, I've led a devil of a life in India and elsewhere! Ter rible lot of racketingI We army men, you know-l So, you see, old fel- | low, I-er-oh-you know-I-well- is for me dream of the , joyful past, and not vision of the future. Miss Wethered's knowledge { of nursing might be invaluable to me"
 Metford groaned audibly.