“We couldn’t make that proposition, could we, Doctor?”
He was checkmated.
“Mrs. Richling,” he said suddenly, clasping the back of his chair as if about to rise, “tell me,—did you or your husband act this way for anything I’ve ever said or done?”
“No, Doctor! no, no; never! But”—
“But kindness should seek—not be sought,” said the physician, starting up.
“No, Doctor, we didn’t look on it so. Of course we didn’t. If there’s any fault it’s all mine. For it was my own proposition to John, that as we had to seek charity we should just be honest and open about it. I said, ‘John, as I need the best attention, and as that can be offered free only in the hospital, why, to the hospital I ought to go.’”
She lay still, and the Doctor pondered. Presently he said:—
“And Mr. Richling—I suppose he looks for work all the time?”
“From daylight to dark!”
“Well, the water is passing off. He’ll be along by and by to see you, no doubt. Tell him to call, first thing to-morrow morning, at my office.” And with that the Doctor went off in his wet boots, committed a series of indiscretions, reached home, and fell ill.