The "Yahoos" had their own theory about St. Sector's, and allowed themselves to smoulder for a time, but every now and then they burst forth into eruption, and then the consequences were not pleasant to behold. Lecture night at St. Sector's, and a goodly gathering present to witness an operation performed by one of the greatest surgical _savants_ of the day. There were medical students present, but some of the cleverest surgeons of London and the country had made a point of being there to see the operation and learn how to combat a terrible disease which, up to that date, had been considered certain death to the unfortunate being who contracted that ill. The old _savant_ had thought, had experimented, and had given years of his life to studying that evil, and now, having proclaimed the result of his discoveries, and coming as the announcement did from a man of such weight in the profession, a strong band of the lights of surgical science had gathered together to witness the experiment; and also hear a paper read by a young surgeon from the country--Dr Horace North. Precedence was given to the paper, and a keen, intelligent, handsome young man of thirty stepped up to the lecturer's table with a roll of papers in his hand. He looked rather pale, and there was a slight twitching at the corners of his lips as he bowed to his audience, after a few words of introduction from the grey-haired chairman of the evening. Then the buzz of conversation, which had ceased for a few moments, began again. He felt that he had a task before him, that of stopping a gap in front of which an eager crowd were ready to clamour for the treat they had come to hear. Dr Horace North was nothing to them, and the young students voted his paper a bore. He began to read in a calm, clear voice, expounding his views, and the buzz of voices increased as first one and then another page was read and turned over, scarcely a word being heard. He stopped and poured out a glass of water, and the carafe was heard to clatter against the glass as the lecturer's hand trembled. This was the signal for a titter, which was repeated by some thoughtless student, as the reading was resumed without the water being tasted. Then five minutes of painful reading ensued, with the buzz of voices increasing. There was a sudden stoppage, and all were attentive. For, with an angry gesture, the young doctor rolled up his papers, threw them aside, and took a step forward. "Gentlemen," he cried, in a voice which rang through the theatre, "I am addressing you who in the conceit of youth believe that there is little more to learn, and who have treated my reading with such contempt." "Hear, hear!" cried the old chairman. Those two encouraging words touched the speaker, and, with a dramatic earnestness of manner, he exclaimed: "I have not much to say, but it is the result of years of study, and that you shall hear."