“O, I know, Nurse, but I won’t excite him—I’ll go a long way toward curing him. You can trust me for that.”

Mr. Hertzog pushed himself into the sick-room and walked toward the bed, waving a telegram in his hand. Mr. Constable smiled feebly at his visitor.

“Now, old man, I’m the doctor to-day. Are you up to taking my prescription in the form of a story?”

The invalid nodded.

“Even if it’s about the—the Horton case?”

Mr. Constable nodded positively.

“Well, you remember, just before you were taken sick, I told you I thought they’d got a pretty good case——”

“Yes, yes.” The whisper was eager, expectant.

—“And the more I examined it the more positive I became that there was no chance for attacking it on the merits——”

The invalid lay back on the pillows and smiled foolishly at the man beside him.