"How do you feel to-day?" asked the doctor.
"First rate! Oh, I'm all right. You see, I'm just going to eat a bite. Won't you join us?"
He sat down at the table and picked up the newspaper, while Annie busied herself with carrying in the dishes.
"No, thank you," laughed the doctor. "It's too early for me. I've only just had breakfast. I dropped in to see how you were." Taking up his bag, he said: "Good-by! Don't get up. I can let myself out."
But Annie had already opened the door for him, and smiled a farewell. When she returned to her seat at the head of the table, and began to pour out the coffee, Howard said:
"He's a pretty decent fellow, isn't he?"
"Yes," she replied absent-mindedly, as she passed a cup of coffee.
"He made a monkey of Captain Clinton all right," went on Howard. "What did he come for?"
"To see you—of course," she replied.
"Oh, I'm all right now," he replied. Looking anxiously at his wife across the table, he said: "You're the one that needs tuning up. I heard you crying last night. You thought I was asleep, but I wasn't. I didn't say anything because—well—I felt kind of blue myself."