"Marcia, many a time when I have an operation to perform, the issue of which seems to me to be a clear one of death, I grow faint-hearted and say to myself: 'I will let the trouble take its natural course--it is death in the end, and, at least, not under my knife.' Then I get a grip on myself; look my duty squarely in the face--and do the best that lies in my trained hand, in my keen sight, in my knowledge of this frail body in which we dwell for a time. And sometimes it happens, that, instead of the issue death, of which I felt certain, there is life as the desired outcome--and I rejoice. I asked an old soldier once, a veteran of the Civil War, a three years man,--he is still living and now a minister of God's word,--how he felt in battle? Could he describe his feelings to me? "'Yes,' he said, 'I can. I don't know how it is with other men, but I used to have but one fear, that of being a coward. I prayed not to be.' That is the way I feel now towards you in relation to this matter. But for the present we will drop the subject; we will not discuss it further." He changed the subject at once, and I was grateful to him. He began to speak of Jamie. "He is getting very restless. He told me you knew something of his plans. What do you think of them?" "You mean his returning to England and settling for the winter in London? He told me that before we left Lamoral. I suppose he ought to go. At any rate, he is much stronger, better, is n't he?" "He is n't the same man. The truth is he was plucked away from the white scourge as a brand from the burning. I really believe he will not go back in the matter of health, although I wish he might remain another year here to clinch the matter for his own sake, and mine--" "And mine. I shall miss him so!" The Doctor looked at me rather curiously, but did not comment on what I said. I was wondering if he were at work reasoning to my conclusion about Mrs. Macleod's leaving Lamoral. "Well, my dear girl, it's a break-up all round. That's the worst of this camping-out business. Jamie is going so soon-- "Soon? Do you mean he is going to leave Lamoral soon?" "Yes. He had letters last night from his publishers. The book requires his presence in London by September twenty-third. He will have to sail by the sixteenth. Mrs. Macleod is joyful at the prospect. Jamie told me to tell you. I think he hated to himself. He is very fond of you, Marcia." I smiled at my thoughts. "No fonder of me than I am of him. He has changed so much in these last nine months." "You, too, see that?" "Oh, yes, and his mother sees it. He has matured in every way." The Doctor smiled. "You talk as if you were his grandmother. I 'm proud of him, I confess. Had my boy lived--" His voice broke. "Dear Doctor Rugvie, it is all a wilderness, as Jamie said, is n't it? And we 're fortunate to find a trail, like this, that leads to camp--and friends," I said, pointing to the newly made path through the forest.