The Primrose Ring

. It would not have given him the faintest presentiment that at that very moment the Little People were busy pressing their cloth-o'-dream mantles and reblocking their wishing-caps; that the

tees sat looking straight at the primroses an

d together in a single unit of power. Besides the Oldest and the Meanest Trustees, there were the Executive, the Social, the Disagreeable, the Busiest, the Dominating, the Calculating, the Petty, and the Youngest and Prettiest. She came fluttering in a minute late from

forthcoming; and this was her first meeting. It was, in fact, her first visit to the hospital. She could never bear to come during her husband's trusteeship because, children having been denied her, she ha

ip: the little gray wisp of a woman was a nonentity-nothing more-with the spirit of a mouse. She held no position in society, and what she did with her time or her money

to enter the boardroom

ntly waited for him, fo

e the doors the

many of his own profession the leading man of his day. The trustees were as proud of him as they were of the hospital, and it has never been recorded in the traditions of Saint Margaret's that the Senior Surgeon

t next to the President; the House Surgeon sat where he could watch equally well the profiles of the Youngest and Prettiest Trustee and Margaret MacLean. His heart had always be

the meeting and take up at once the business in hand." He paused a moment, feeling the dramatic value of his next remark. "For some time the Senior Surgeon has seriously questioned the-hmm-advisability of continuing the incurable ward.

ward is costing a lot of unnecessary expense, I think," he barked out, sharply, "and it's

, watching, saw the profile of the Youngest and Prettiest Trustee become even prettier as it blushed and turned in witching eag

he could operate on critical issues quite as rapidly. Speed was his creed; therefo

ther observation or experimentation there. Every case in it at the present time, as well as every Case that is likely to com

on came from the set lips of

science? We prove it by un

ure of it. I was proved

ngs went against his liking. "You were a case in a thousand-in a lifetime. Because it happ

or not believing. Every one of those children, in the ward now might-yes, they might-be a cas

ense-stupid, irration

rgeon gla

ite forgiven the Old Senior Surgeon for his share in it. And to have her stand against him and his great desire, now, and actually throw this thing in his face, was more than he could endure. He did not know that Margaret MacLean was fighting for what she loved most on earth, th

ck breath the two faced each

President and the trustees his face wore a

deal of harm to the profession. As I was saying, the incurable ward is doing nothing, and we need it for surgical cases. Look over the reports for the last few months and y

but who would take the incurables? What would you do with the childre

heck an angry explosive and tur

enior Surgeon has finished I will call on those whom I feel have something of-hmm-importance to say. In the mean time,

omething hypnotic in the persistenc

as dead. She was wholly unaware that she had worked the Senior Surgeon into a state where he had almost lost his self-control-a condition heretofore unknown in the Senior Surgeon; that she had e

errible they are-five families in one garret, nothing to eat some of the time, father drunk most of t

th a complete silence,

ior Surgeon went on, a

possible good to the greatest number of children? Ah! I thought so. Well, do you not see how continuing to keep a number of incurable cases for two or three years-or as long as they live-

nother; it was as if they would say,

t it might easily grow, had it the room and beds. He showed indisputably what experimental surgery had done for science-what a fertile field it was; and wherein lay Saint Margaret's chance to plow a furrow m

usiastic chirp from the Youngest and Prettiest Trustee. She had never attempted to keep her interest for him concealed

t his head until he loses consciou

rful to be the means of discovering some great new thing in surgery. And as our own great surgeon has

o the nurse in charge of Ward C, and he found himself wondering if art had ever pictured a crucified Madonn

aming profile to the tense, drawn outline of mouth

that he lacked the cultured manner and the polished speech of the Senior Surgeon. He always crawled out of it whenever he could, putting some one else

m-that is your business as trustees of this institution. We don't need any more surgical laboratories just yet-they are getting along fast enough at Rockefeller, Johns Hopkins, and the Mayo clinic. What we scientific chaps need to remember-and it ought to be hammered at

ls and minds of human beings as well as their bodies. It seems to me that the man who founded this hospital intended it for humane rather than sci

infully conscious of its inadequacy. The Senior Surgeon excused himself and left the room, not, however, until he had given the H

boasted of its harmonious behavior and kindly feelings. In a like manner do those dwellers in the shadow of a volcano continue to boast of their safety and the ha

ill call upon the hospital committee now for their reports. Afterward we wi

e a raising of heads and a stiffening of backs and a setting of chins. She was very calm, the still calm of the China Sea before a typhoon

vantly, "for the first time in

under his breath: "Great guns!

clothes and the care, and later for the education that you paid for. This isn't true. I am grateful-very grateful-but it is a dutiful kind of gratitude which wouldn't have brought me back in a thousand years. I am so sorry to feel this way. Perhaps I would not if, in all the years that I was here as a child,

t very instant and tell the nurse in charge of Ward C what had happened and what he thought of her; but instead he dug his hands deep in his pockets. How in the name of the seven conti

too much the friendship and loving interest that, somehow, they expected from you. I wanted to try and make them feel that they were not case this and case that, abnormally diseased and therefore objects of pity and curiosity to be pointed out to sympathetic visitors, but children-just children-with a right to be happy and loved. I wanted to fill

u would never consider sending them away for a moment. And if, in addition to the splendid care you have given their bodies, you would only help to keep their minds and hearts sound and sweet, and shield them against curious visitors, why-why-some of them might t

ed to pass judgment on them; it was inconceivable-it was impertinent-it was beyond all precedent. Only the gray wisp of a woman sat silent, seeming to express no

ly, "after what I have said you would rat

Mr. President, I suggest that we act up

he Meanest Trustee, while the Oldest Trustee could

inue the incurable ward, and that Miss MacLean seems wholly unsatisfied with our methods and supervision here, I motion th

the Calculating, who happened to be sitting next: "So ill-bred. It jus

Will you please signify by raising your hands if it is you

ay wisp of a woman in the chair by the door

President's voice. He was a good man; but he belonged to that sect which holds as o

me when Miss MacLe

ered for herself. "On the last d

ank you for your very full and-hmm-comprehensive report. After

oard-room, while the primroses in the green Devo