Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1917-02-15
CHAPTER XVIII.

Sidney went into the operating room
late in the spring as the result of a
conversation between the younger VIII
son and the Head.
"When are you going to put my
protegee into the operating rOOmY
asked Wilson, meeting Miss Gregg in
a corridor one bright spring afternoon.
"That usually comes in the second
year, Doctor Wilson"
He smiled down at her. THAT isn't
a rule. is it?''
Not exactly. Miss Page is very
young, and of course there are other
girls who have not yet had The expe-
rtence. But if you make the request"
81 am going to have some good cases
soon. I'll not make a request, Of
course; but, if you see fit, it would be
good training for Miss Page
Miss Gregg went on, knowing per-
fectly that at his next operation Doc
tor Wilson would expect Sidney Page
in the operating room. The other doc
tors were not so eXigent. She would
have liked to have all the staff old and
settled, like Doctor O'Hara or the old
er Wilson. These young men came in
and tore things up.
Sidney went into the operating room
that afternoon. For her blue uni
form, kerchief, and cap she exchanged
the hideous operating-rOom garb: long,
straight white gown with short sleeves
and mob cap, gray-white from many
sterilizations. But the ugly costume
seemed to emphasize her beauty, as the
habit of a nun often brings out the
placid saintliness of her face.
The relationship between Sidney and
Max had reached that point that &C.
ours in all relationships between men
anG women: when things must either
go forward or go back, but cannot re-
main as they are. The condition had
existed for the last three months. 1t
exasperated the man.
AS a matter Of fact, Wilson could not
90 ahead. The situation with Carlotta
had become tense, irritating. He felt
that she stood ready to block any move
he made. He would rot go back, and
he dared not go forward.
If Sidney was puzzled, she kept it
bravely to herself. In her little room
at night, with the door carefully
locked, she tried TO think things out.
There were few treasures that she
looked over regularly: dried flower
from the Christmas roses a label that
he had pasted pIayfUlly on the back
sat down. After a moment: elias It
ever occurred to you how terribly
mixed up things are? Take this
Street, for instance. Can you think of
anybody on it that-that things have
gone entirely right with?"
cts a little world of it's own, of
course" said K, land it has plenty
Of contact points with life But wher-
ever one finds people, many or few,
one finds all the elements that make
up life-joy and sorrow, birth and
death, and even tragedy. That's rath-
er trite isn't it?'
Christine was still pursuing her
thoughts.
Men are different" she said. ''To
a certain extent they make their own
fates. But when YOU think of the
women on the Street-Harriet Ken
nedy, Sidney Page, myself, even Mrs.
ROsenfeld back in the alley-some-
body else molds things for Us, and all
we can do is to sit back and suffer.
| am beginning to think the world is
a terrible place, <. Why do people
so often marry the wrong people? Why
can't man care for one woman and
only one all his life? Why-Why is it
all so complicated?"
There are men who care for only
one woman all their lives"
You're that sort, aren't your
L don't want to put myself on any
pinnacle. II cared enough for wom-
an to marry her, I'd hope to But
we are being very tragic, Christine"
81 feel tragic. There's going to be
another mistake, X, unless you stop
/ it."
| He tried to Ieaven the conversation
with a little fun.
eff you're going to ask me to inter
fere between Mrs. Mckee and the
| deaf-and-dumb book and insurance
agent, I shall do nothing Of the sort.
| She can both speak and hear enough
/ for both of them"
81 mean Sidney and Max Wilson.
| He's mad about her, K; and, because
she's the sort she Is. he'll probably be