"Sarah," began the doctor looking down at her, "did you take a telephone message from Mrs. Anderson yesterday morning?"
Sarah looked obstinate.
"Did you?" her brother insisted. "Answer me," he commanded, pulling her to her feet.
"Yes I did," muttered Sarah. "Rosemary was busy practising and Winnie's bread was in the oven."
"Why didn't you tell me she wanted me to call there Saturday night?" demanded the doctor sternly.
"'Cause," murmured Sarah uneasily.
"You're ashamed to tell me, and I don't wonder," Doctor Hugh said crisply. "You'd let a miserable little thing like an apology you were forced to make her, interfere with your loyalty to service. I thought you were bigger than that, Sarah," he added.
Sarah said nothing.
"If you were a nurse in a hospital or a doctor's office, you'd be dismissed," her brother went on, "for all you know I might have been needed seriously. As it happened, no harm was done, but that doesn't excuse you. Hereafter you are not to answer the phone under any circumstances. You can't be trusted to deliver the messages you receive."
If he had only known it, Doctor Hugh had delivered a severe blow to Sarah's pride. She had been extremely proud of her ability to answer the telephone and welcomed the rare opportunities when Rosemary was out or busy with her beloved music. But she said nothing and after a day or two the doctor realized that she was not on "speaking terms" with him.