"How is that little fire hero?" he asked of the clerk.
"I'll 'phone up and see," was the reply.
"O, don't mind, I am going right up. I just asked because I thought you had news of him here."
"It's only the serious patients whose condition we have here, Father," answered the clerk.
"In that case," remarked the priest, "at least he is not seriously ill; that is some news anyway."
There was a sign on the door of the ward saying: "Closed, doctors visiting." He knew that this did not apply to him, as he was allowed entrance any hour of the day or night. Still, as it was not an urgent case, he decided to wait until the doctors came out. The nurse at the desk offered him her chair, which he declined with thanks.
"But, if you don't mind," he said, "I'll sit on the edge of this table."
"Certainly, Father," she replied, "until I run and get you a chair."
"No, no," he protested, "I like this much better."
So the ice was broken.