The successful working of the Hospital and Home was now assured beyond a doubt.
Atwater, gazing out into the glowing embers of the great fireplace, slowly said, as the musical chime of the silver bells of the mantel clock sounded ten:
"And now I feel that Messrs. Boardman and Warner can oversee your local Medical Board and keep the institution from lapsing into the dry rot of a purely charitable organization."
"I fear for nothing," he said, smiling faintly, "as long as you are here to watch it. And," he hastily added, "certainly you can trust Irma Gluyas! That poor woman finds a fiery zeal from her past sorrows spurring her on. She is a faithful assistant manageress.
"And even Leah Einstein has her humble merit as a sterling housekeeper.
But, you must have Jack carefully watch over that boy out in the
West. Young Emil needs a firm hand, and only Witherspoon can hold
him down to usefulness."
"Why are you telling me all these things?" suddenly said Alice
Worthington, her cheeks paling in a strange dismay.
"Because," said the young man, slowly, "I have long desired to follow out a special line of medical investigation in Vienna. I have the two years yet before I reach thirty, in which I propose to make my mark in original research, or else return to New York to my old routine, fortified by the contact of the ablest medical minds in the world."
"This is impossible! YOU SHALL NOT GO!" suddenly cried Alice Worthington, with pallid cheeks aflame with sudden blushes. Her bosom was heaving in some strange tumult as Atwater took her trembling hands in his own.
"It would be so hard for me to say 'Good bye," he almost whispered, "that I have decided to write you from New York. I have already secured my passage on the 'Paris.'"
"And you will not allow me to recompense you for all you have done?" whispered Alice, bravely struggling to keep back her tears.