“Yes, I thought I would.”

“I stayed until I was sure he was comfortable,” said Gordon.  He clambered over the wheel of the wagon like an old man.  When he was in the office with James, and the lamp was lit, he sank into a chair, and looked at the younger man with an expression almost of despair.

“He is not going to die of it?” asked James hesitatingly.

“No,” cried Gordon, “he shall not!” He looked up with sudden, fierce resolution and alertness.  “Why should he die?” he demanded.  “He is far from being old or feeble.  His vitals are not touched.  Why on earth should you think he would die?”

“I see no reason,” James replied hastily, “only—­”

“Only what, for God’s sake?”

“I thought you looked discouraged.”

“Well, I am, and tired of the world, but this man is going to live.  See here, boy, suppose you see if there is any hot water in the kitchen, and we’ll have something to drink, then we will go to bed, and God grant we don’t have a night call.”

After Gordon had drank his face lightened somewhat, still he looked years older than he had done at dinner time, with that awful aging of the soul, which sometimes comes in an instant.  When finally he went upstairs James noticed how feebly he moved.  It was on his tongue’s end to offer to assist him, but he did not dare.

The next morning, before James was up, he heard the rapid trot of a horse on the drive, and wondered if Doctor Gordon had had a call so early.  When the breakfast-bell rang only Clemency was at the table.  The maid had returned in season to get breakfast, and was waiting with a severely interrogative face.

She had noticed blood on the frozen surface of the drive and had stood surveying it before she entered.  She had asked Clemency if anything had happened, and the girl had told her that a man had fallen near the office door on the preceding evening and been injured, and Doctor Gordon had taken him home.

“What’s the man’s name?” Emma had inquired sharply.

“I don’t know,” said Clemency, and indeed she did not know, but there was something secretive in her manner.  Emma set her mouth hard and tossed her head.  Curiosity was almost a lust with her.  She was always enraged when it was excited and not gratified.

When James entered, she glanced severely at him and then at Clemency, as she passed the muffins.  She suspected something between them, and she was baffled there.

“Has Doctor Gordon gone out?” James asked.

“Yes, he went right out as soon as he got up.  Just had a cup of coffee; wouldn’t wait for breakfast,” replied Emma in a nipping tone.

Neither Clemency nor James made any comment.  Both knew where he had gone, and Emma, seeing that they both knew, grew more hostile than ever.  Her manner of serving the beefsteak was fairly warlike.

After breakfast Aaron told James of some parting instructions which Gordon had left with him.  He had the team harnessed, and was to take James to visit certain patients.