"You needn't worry, Mrs. Shultze," said O'Malley, gruffly. "You'll be paid and paid well, if you're good to the poor young thing upstairs." "Oh, you can be sure of that, sir," she said, beaming at him. "I'll treat her's if she was my own dau--sister, I mean. Yes, sir. Anything that Trudie Shultze can do for her is the same as done. I'll----" "Stevens is coming right down. He'll be here in a few minutes," said Donald, advancing quickly from the other end of the hall. "Won't you gentlemen come into my parlour and wait there?" said Mrs. Shultze, hospitably. "It's right here handy, on the ground floor." Donald shook his head and O'Malley declined politely. "We'll be all right here," he said, motioning to a plush-covered settle which stood against the wall. "And we won't keep you any longer, Mrs. Shultze." He said this pointedly, and the woman, realizing that she had no further excuse for lingering, only said sweetly, "If you need me, I'll be right on the job"; and went down the hall, disappearing through a door at the back. They were forced to recall her, however, when the doctor came. "Better have some woman, Don. I hadn't time to get hold of a nurse," he said. "Better have the woman of the house, especially since the patient is used to seeing her." So it was that Mrs. Shultze, as well as Donald and O'Malley, accompanied the doctor to the top floor. The woman knocked softly and went in alone. Presently she came back to the door, and beckoned to Doctor Stevens. Morris and O'Malley remained in the hall. The door was partly open, and they could hear the doctor's quiet, assured voice and an occasional low reply. In a little while they heard him speak quickly to Mrs. Shultze, and both of them came into the hall. The doctor was frowning, angrily. "When did she have something to eat?" he asked, sharply, jerking his head in the direction of the room they had just left. "Speak up, woman. When did she eat last?" "I--I don't know." Mrs. Shultze faltered under the doctor's steady glare. "She isn't boarding here any longer. She just has the room, and she owes me for that for more'n a week. I never thought----" "I guess that's the truth, anyway," said Doctor Stevens, angrily. "I don't believe you ever did before, but for God's sake, think now and think quick. Have you any bouillon--any milk in the house? The child's starving. I don't believe she's had a mouthful for days. We'll have to see about the other trouble later. She must have food now, and quickly. Don't stand there, woman. Get down to your kitchen as fast as the Lord'll let you, and bring me milk, some raw eggs, a little sherry or brandy----" "My God!" groaned Trudie Shultze. "There ain't been a drop of sherry or brandy in the house for two months--I got some gin----" "Get the other things quick," said O'Malley.