“I have discovered that he guards most jealously the back door of the cabin. When I first came to consciousness after my hurt, I saw what I took to be evidence that my strength of will was greater than his. I believe so yet; but he certainly has a way of baffling me and holding me in a position from which I cannot escape. I am curious to know a great many things; it is my right to know them. Why does he surround himself with a deafness that nothing can penetrate? Why and how does he make it impossible for me to ask him questions? And who ever heard of a man so supremely indifferent as not to ask a woman placed as I am a single question about herself, her life, her tastes, her family, her world? Why has he made it impossible for me to ask him any questions? At first he had placed my bed so that I could see the rear door by turning my head; but when he observed that I had become curious, he found an excuse to turn my bed so that it was impossible for me to see the door, and I was too proud to object. “I wish I could have respect for him. Of course he surmises that I am wealthy, and he must know that he will be handsomely paid for his services. I gave him to understand as much one day, and he looked at me in a blank way that was most disconcerting. But that did not deceive me. I do not wish to be unjust, but I know something about human nature. I think that the man’s whole course may be to impress me with his great solicitude and make his services appear the more valuable. Bah! he needn’t have gone to the trouble. “I am going to watch that door in spite of him. I know already that he keeps it carefully locked, and that when he goes out he bars it on the other side. Such distrust, when I am so unable to pry into his secrets, is unwarranted and offensive. Another thing I have noted. The back door leads into some kind of inner apartment. “How is he going to guard it when I am able to be about? Then his life will be a burden. I will make it so. “Gratitude? Oh, yes! I have heard of such a thing. But this is an obligation that money can discharge, and I will see that it does. Has he done anything more for me than a physician ought to do? I am familiar with the ways in which these gentry play upon the gratitude of their wealthy patients, and present bills that they think a sense of shame will accept. So long as the rich are the prey of the poor, the poor need not expect sympathy from the rich. I know the power of money to secure attendance of all sorts, and I can see its power manifested now.