The Irish standard., 1916-12-16
CHAPTER X.

CHAP Elk X.
A few days after Wilson'S recogni-
ticn of H., Two most exciting things
happened to Sidney. One was that
Christine asked her TO be maid Of
honor at her wedding. The other was
more wonderful. She was accepted.
and given her cap.
Because she could not get home that
night, and because the little house had
no telephone, She wrote the news to
her mother and sent Il note to- lie
Moyne.
X. found the note on the hall table
when he got home that night, and car
ried it upstairs to read. Whatever
faint hope he might have had that her
youth would prevent her acceptance
he knew now was over. With the let
ter in his hand, he sat by his table
Not quite empty, of course. She would
be coming home.
But more and more the life of the
hospital would engross her. He sur
missed, too, very shrewdly, that, had he
ever had hope that she might come
to care for him, his very presence in
the little house initiated against him.
There was none of the illusion of sep
aration; he was always there, like Ka-
tie. When she opened the door, she
called Mother" from the hall. If
Anna did not answer, she called him,
In much the same voice.
Sidneys letter was not the only one
he received that day. When, in re-
s,onse to Katie's summons, he rose
heavily and prepared for dinner, he
found an unopened envelope on the
table. 1t was from Max Wilson:
Dear lie Moyne-I have feeling Of deli
cacy about trying to see you again so
soon. I'm bound to respect your seclu-
sion. But there are some things that have
got to be discussed.
1t takes courage to step down from the
pinnacle you stood on. So it's not cow
ardice that has set you down here. It's
wrong conception. And I've thought Of
two things. The first, and best, Is for you
to go back No one has taken your place,
because no one could do the work. But
II that's out of the question-and only you
hHCW tLdt. 1OE OILY you kIlOW lN0 1dCtS-
the next best thing Is this. and in all hui
rnanity make the suggestion.
Take the State exams under your pres
ent name, and when you've got your GER
tificate. come in witt, me. This isn't mag
nanimity. I'll be getting much more than
give
Think it over, old man. M. w.
It is a curious fact that man who
Is absolutely uEtrustwcrthy about
women is often the soul Of honor to
other men. The younger Wilson. talk
ing his pleasures lightly and not too
liscriminatingly, was making an offer
that meant his ultimate eclipse, and
doing it c!lccrfully, with his eyes open.
X. was moved. 1t was like Max to
make such an offer, like him to do it
rs if he were asking n favor and not
comforting one. But the offer left him
interrupted. lie had weighed himself
in the balance, and found himself
wanting. No tablet On the college wall
could change that. And when, late
that night, Wilson found him on the
balcony and added appeal to argu-
Elent, the situation remained I'M
changed. He realized its hopelcssncss
when X. lapsed into whimsical hunor.
"I'm not absolutely useless where I
ala, you know, Max" he said. 1--WE
raised three tomato plants and fam
lily of kittens this summer, helped to
plan trOusseau, assisted in selecting
wallpaper for the room just inside
Gid you notice it?-and developed
boy pitcher with a ball that twists
around the bat like a COLES fracture
around splint!'
Wilson rose and flung his cigarette
into the grass.
II wish / understood ycu!" he said
irritably.
X. rose with him, and all the sup
pressed feeling Of the interview was
crowded into his last words.
''l'm not as ungratcful as you think,
Max" he said. "I-you've helped q
lot. Don't worry about me. I'm as
well off as l deserve to be, and better.
Good night"
"Good night"
Wilson's unexpected magnanimity
put K. in curious position-left
him, as it were, with q divided alle-
glance. Sidney's frank infatuation for
the young surgeon was growing. He
was quick to see it. And where before
he might have felt justified in going
to the length Of warning her, now his
hands were tied.
Sidney went on night duty shortly
after her acceptance. She tumbled
into her low bed at nine o'clock in the
morning, those days, with her splen-
did hair neatly braided down her back