"Some folks have, you know. Can't understand it myself. Why isn't it as high-toned to doctor teeth as it is to specialize an inch higher up, say, on the nose? Yet socially the nose-specialist gets the glad hand in places where the dentist couldn't break in with a Krupp gun. It makes me hot. But enough said along that line just now. What I started in to tell you is that there's an opening at the parlors." "For me--a girl?" "For a girl?" Paul pretended to weigh this handicap gravely. "Of course, a lady assistant is generally a man, but still--" Jean was unfamiliar with this adjunct of modern dentistry. "What must she do?" she asked. "Be a lady and assist. That sums it all up. Some old fogies would specify thirty summers and a homely face, but I believe in a cheery office straight through. We've been looking round for the right party lately--the girl who has the berth now is going to be married; but it never occurred to me to offer it to you until to-day. It would mean eight dollars a week right at the start, and a raise just as soon as they appreciate what an air you give the whole place. There'd be more still in it if you liked the work well enough to branch out." "Branch out? In what way?" "Operating-room. At first you'll act as secretary and cashier, receive patients, and see that the hulk of a janitor keeps the parlors neat. Then, if you get on as I think you will, you'll very likely have an assistant yourself, and put in most of your time elsewhere. A clever girl can be no end of help in the operating-room. Say, for instance, I'm doing a contour filling, which, let me tell you, needs an eagle-eye and the patience of a mule. Well, while I pack and figure how to do an artistic job, you anneal gold and pass it to me in the cavity. See what I mean? One bright little woman we had for a while drew thirty-five a week, but she was a trained nurse, too." Jean had doubts of her usefulness amid these technicalities, but the office work sounded simple, and she caught thankfully at the chance. The dentist waved aside her gratitude. "I'm simply doing a good stroke of business for the Acme Painless Dental Company," he said. "I'll tell Grimes in the morning that I've located the right party,--Grimes is the company, by the way, the whole painless ranch,--and you can drop in later and cinch the deal." Jean's thoughts took a leap ahead to ways and means, and she drew a worn shoe farther beneath her skirt. "You're sure I'll do?" she hesitated. "You! I only wish you could see some of the procession who've answered our ad." Then, almost as if he read her mind, he added with unwonted bashfulness: "If I were in your place, I'd borrow Amy's black feather boa for your first call. It suits you right down to the ground."