Aunt Jane's Nieces in the Red Cross

eakfast he called upon his old friend and physician, Dr. Barlow. After

s his business thoroughly, a sawbones with all the modern scientific di

mewhat from his astonishm

ould oblige him to abandon a large and lucrative practice in order to accompa

young fellow with

which need skillful handling. You might secure a young man, fresh from his clinics, who would prove a go

ow who has doctored the crew for years and kept 'em prett

trust your lives to one, in case you become ill. Believe me, a good physician is as necessary to

N

rd much of plagues and epidemics yet, in the carefully censored reports fro

. The thing was gr

s a wild goose chase

, to nurse the wounded, was Quixotic in the extreme. Some American women are doing it, I know, but I don't approve of it. On

e table with his fingers,

ould go. If you could win him

?" inquired

nd, by the way, nearly lost his life in the venture. Before that, he made a trip to the frozen North with a rescue party. Between times, he works in the hospitals, or acts as co

t," said Uncle John, much inte

t I'll call up Co

lephone receiver

idea-Eh? Sitting with you now? How lucky. Ask him i

with satisfaction. The doctor

a fine proposition for him.... Eh? He isn't interested in propositions?

Mr. Merri

to-night for the Maine woods. But I've an idea if yo

y where he is til

. Gys wanted to know who it was that proposed to visit him. John Merrick, the ret

otor car, where he ordered the driver to ha

a luxurious reception room and gave his name to a businesslike y

erating room-both vacant just now-and so into a laboratory that was calculated to give a well person the shivers.

ipped away as she closed the door. The man's back was turned part

s a chair in the

aited patiently a few moments an

rry to go fishing, why don't y

a chuckling laugh. The man laid down hi

th crooked and set in a sneering grin. One eye was nearly closed and the other round and wide open. A more for

sant. "I don't blame you and I'm not offended

epared," stamme

irst. I want to go fishing, and I haven't the money. None of my brother physicians will lend me another sou, for I owe them all. You are John Merrick, to whom money is of little conse

ter of fact, Uncle John was pleased with the fellow. A whimsical, irrational, unconventional appeal o

e money on one co

on," said Gys firmly. "C

s. When you hear it, if you are not anxious to take it up,

out of its former perfect contour. In Yucatan I tumbled into a hedge of poisoned cactus and had to operate on myself-quickly, too-to save my life. Wild with pain, I slashed my face to get the poisoned tips of thorn out of the flesh. Parts of my body are like my face, but fortunately I can cover them. It was bad surgery. On another I

been-eh-unfortunate,

the coat that hung on a peg beside him, and proceeding to open it. "H

ph curiously. It was a fine face, clean-cut, manly and

re you then

nty-

d n

w," reaching for the photograph and putting it carefully back in the book, "state yo

relating the incidents that led up to the enterprise and urging the need of prompt

lently. Then he picked up the

said. "I've got another job." Then he faced Mr. Me

my answe

en't talked

alary. I'm no

'm not

m going with you.

ery appealing from a hum

d for the biggest war the world has ever known; because I

el

myself to face the shell and shrapnel. That's the truth; I'm not a liar. And f

l, s

roused

n to die. No, I'm not morbid. I'm simply ruined, physically, for the practice of a profession I love, a profes