"You and I, from this time on, are a pair of friends," he told her. "Indeed, I'm acquainted with that huge beehive you came from, with its drones and its workers, its squanderers and its makers. I studied there for a couple of years, and I know why some of the women have a choice between the river and even fouler waters. But let me tell you what I think of this matter. The desperate effort you made to save yourself may not have been very good judgment. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred such an endeavor would be worse than jumping from the frying-pan into the fire. But at least it argues something strong and genuine in you. You came because you felt that you could not give up the fight without one last supreme trial. Such a thing would take a lot of pluck." He stopped for a moment, looking into the whites of her eyes. "And now you've made up your mind that all your struggle has been in vain and that the end is in sight. Now I can't tell where that end lies, Miss Nelson, but it looks to me as if it had retired into the far distance. You are going to keep on taking care of this man, of course. He needs you badly, in the first place, and the toil and stress of it will be good for your soul. And then saving a life is tremendously interesting. There's nothing like it. But your new life is only to begin when this job is finished." "I--I don't understand," said the girl, watching him eagerly. "When you're through with this case, Stefan will bring you back to Carcajou. There he'll put you on the train and send you to me. I can assure you that my wife will welcome you. She's that sort, strong and friendly and helpful. My poor little chaps don't see very much of their daddy, but they've got a mother who's a wonder, to make up for it. Now our village can't yet afford a trained nurse, though some day I'm going to have a little hospital and two or three of them. The railroad will help. But in the meanwhile you're going to work for me, at little more than a servant's wages. You're quick and intelligent and have a pair of gentle and capable hands. There are scores and scores of little houses and shacks where your presence would be simply invaluable. My wife tries it, but she can't do it all, with the kids and the husband to look after. I shall work you like a horse, when you get strong enough, but every bit of the work will help some poor devil. My wife can give you a bed, a seat at our table and plenty of good wise friendship. In all this you're going to give away a lot more than you will receive. How does it strike you?" But Madge was weeping silently, with her face held in her hands. The doctor had certainly not tried to make his proposition very attractive, and yet she felt as if she were emerging from deep waters in which she had been suffocating. Now there was pure air to breathe and there would always be God's sunlight to cheer one and bring blessed warmth. From the slough of despond she was being drawn into the glory of hope.