Mrs. Wyman looked gratified. The Professor commenced a long and rather incomprehensible talk, in which the words material and immaterial occurred at frequent intervals. There may have been some in the audience who understood him, but I was not one of them. "Do you understand him?" I asked the widow. "Not wholly," she answered, guardedly. I was forced to smile, for she looked quite bewildered. The Professor closed thus: "Thus you will see, my friends, that much that we call material is immaterial, while _per contra_, that which is usually called immaterial is material." "A very satisfactory conclusion," I remarked, turning to the widow. "Quite so," she answered, vaguely. "I thank you for your attention, my friends," said the Professor, with a bow. There was faint applause, in which I assisted. The Professor looked gratified, and we all rose and quietly left the hall. I walked out behind Miss Canby and the Disagreeable Woman. "How did you like the lecture, Miss Blagden?" I inquired. "Probably as much as you did," she answered, dryly. "What do you think of the Professor, now?" "He seems to know a good deal that isn't worth knowing." CHAPTER V. A CONVERSATION WITH THE DISAGREEABLE WOMAN. One afternoon between five and six o'clock I was passing the Star Theatre, when I overtook the Disagreeable Woman. I had only exchanged a few remarks with her at the table, and scarcely felt acquainted. I greeted her, however, and waited with some curiosity to see what she would have to say to me. "Dr. Fenwick, I believe?" she said. "Yes; are you on your way to supper?" "I am. Have you had a busy day?" As she said this she looked at me sharply. "I have had two patients, Miss Blagden. I am a young physician, and not well known yet. I advance slowly." "You have practised in the country?" "Yes." "Pardon me, but would it not have been better to remain there, where you were known, than to come to a large city where you are as one of the sands of the sea?" "I sometimes ask myself that question, but as yet I am unprepared with an answer. I am ambitious, and the city offers a much larger field." "With a plenty of laborers already here." "Yes." "I suppose you have confidence in yourself?" Again she eyed me sharply. "Yes and no. I have a fair professional training, and this gives me some confidence. But sometimes, it would be greater if I had an extensive practise, I feel baffled, and shrink from the responsibility that a physician always assumes." "I am glad to hear you say so," she remarked, approvingly. "Modesty is becoming in any profession. Do you feel encouraged by your success thus far?" "I am gaining, but my progress seems slow. I have not yet reached the point when I am self-supporting." She looked at me thoughtfully. "Of course you would not have established yourself here if you had not a reserve fund to fall back upon? But perhaps I am showing too much curiosity."