"He was sent for last thing by some people who live in that filthy alley--near the green pond. A child was choking. They thought it had swallowed a pin. When he got there, he found it was diphtheria at its most advanced stage. The child was at death's door. He had to perform an operation at a moment's notice, hadn't got the proper paraphernalia with him, and sucked the poison out himself." "Good heavens, Nick!" said Olga, turning very white. "And the child?" "The child is better. It is to be taken to the hospital to-day." "Will it--won't it--have an effect on him?" gasped Olga. "Heavens knows," said Nick. "And that's why he didn't come down to breakfast," she said. "How did you find out about it? He didn't tell you?" "He couldn't help it," said Nick. "He stole my bath this morning, and when I arrived he was lying in it face downwards boiling himself in some filthy disinfectant that made the bathroom temporarily uninhabitable. Naturally I lodged a complaint, and finally got at the whole story. By the way, he said I wasn' to tell you; but I told him I probably should. That's only a detail, but I mention it in case you should be tempted to broach the subject to him. I shouldn't advise you to do so, as I think you will probably find him rather touchy about it." "But, Nick!" Olga's eyes had begun to shine. "It was very--fine of him," she said. "I wish I'd known before I was so cross to him. I--I should have made allowances if I had known." "Quite so," said Nick. "Well, you can begin now if you feel so inclined, though I suppose the young man did no more than his duty after all." "Oh, Nick, a man isn't obliged to go so far as that!" she exclaimed reproachfully. "There are plenty who wouldn't." "Doubtless," agreed Nick, looking faintly quizzical. "It was the action of a fool--but a brave fool. We'll grant him that much, shall we?" She laughed a little, her cheek against his shoulder. "Don't poke fun at me! It isn't fair. You know he isn't a fool perfectly well." "By Jove! You are getting magnanimous!" laughed Nick. "No, I'm not. I'm only trying to be fair. One must be that," said Olga, whose honest soul abhorred injustice of any description. "Oh, of course," said Nick. "You'll have to spoil him now to make up for having been so--'horrid,' I think, is the proper term, isn't it? It's the most comprehensive word in the woman's vocabulary, comprising everything from slightly disagreeable to damned offensive." "Really, Nick!" Nick grinned. "Pardon my unparliamentary language!" "But Nick, I've never been--that!" protested Olga. "A matter of opinion!" laughed Nick. But Olga did not laugh, she only flushed a little and changed the subject. About an hour later, Max, taking his hat from a peg in the hall, preparatory to departing for the cottage-hospital, discovered the lining thereof to be pulled away in order to accommodate a twisted scrap of paper which had been pinned to it in evident haste.