CHAPTER XXXVI

O

I

LGA kept her appointment with Lola and Richard, but not as had been expected. She was

tenderly conveyed to the Stewart house as soon as Dr. Thurber completed his examination and declared the wound not mortal, and there Lola and Richard watched by her bedside until she regained consciousness. When she opened her eyes that same accusing smile which penetrated Richard's heart seemed to rest upon her lips.

"Am I going to die?" she inquired simply.

"No, dear," Lola answered her; "you are going to live . . . that we may show how much we all love you." An expression of disappointment passed over Olga's face.

"I am sorry," she said quietly. "To have given my life for Richard would have made it worth while after all."

"It has been worth while in more ways than you will ever know," he replied with much feeling.

Dr. Thurber's entrance interrupted their conversation. With him was the great surgeon Barry had been rushed to bring from the metropolis for consultation.

The doctor's face lighted as he saw the patient's condition.

"Well,” he exclaimed to Olga . . . "here we all are again! The last time, we had this young man in bed and you anxiously watching over him; now the positions are reversed!"

"I am glad," she said, smiling weakly. "It is my turn to take his place.”

"She is much brighter, doctor," Mrs. Stewart said hopefully. "That is a good sign, isn't it?"

"Of course," he replied encouragingly. "Dr. Lamson and I will know all about it now in a few moments."

The moments seemed lengthened into hours to the Stewarts and Richard who waited below in the library for the surgeon's report. What the nurse had said made them anxious, but in the joy of again hearing Olga's voice their apprehensions were temporarily forgotten. When steps were heard descending the stairs every eye turned toward the door in breathless tension.

It was a moment which comes daily to every doctor, .. mercifully with sufficient rarity to the individual to have it epoch-making. Its dramatic value is no less than that of the jury's foreman when he pronounces the verdict of life or death, freedom or a life-long incarceration, simply because it is rendered in the privacy of a home rather than in the glare of the courtroom. Dr. Thurber tried to mitigate the force of the announcement by an attempt to smile, but the surgeon, with only a professional duty to perform, came directly to the point.

"She will never walk again," he declared bluntly.

"The wound has produced paralysis from the hips down. Without further comment the surgeon turned into the hall, and Dr. Thurber saw him to the door.

Barry, standing in the hallway, with his hands behind him, had an expression on his face which caused Richard to reassure him.

"She is badly injured, Barry, but she will live."

"I sure thank the good Lord!" was the heartfelt re

sponse.

Then Barry handed Richard a magnificent rose from the conservatory which he had kept concealed.

"Please give that to her yourself, Capt'n. Tell her it's from me, and ask her to notice particular how beautiful a flower is when its petals aren't bruised."

Left to themselves the little group glanced helplessly each at the other, tears forcing themselves into the eyes of all. Richard was the first to speak.

"This is what she did for me!" he said brokenly. "For us, dear," Lola corrected, with equal emotion. "This makes her forever a part of our lives."

"Unselfishness, sacrifice, service, love, . . the apotheosis of our creed," he added; "a living expression of all we have tried to put into words."

II

Richard stepped back into the hall to meet Dr. Thurber as he returned from the front door.

"How much do you care to tell me to explain this mystery?" the doctor asked abruptly.

"What mystery?"

"The interest you all have in this factory-girl. First

I find her with you in a flat down near the plant, living as Mr. and Mrs. Richards. Then she calls me to the jail on your account, and for the first time I discover your identity. Now I find her accepted in this household as a member of the family. I confess that my human curiosity makes me guilty of transgressing professional etiquette."

"Your question is a natural one," Richard admitted soberly; "and there are others who are entitled to hear my answer. Come with me."

When they were again in the library, Richard took Lola's hand in his, and repeated the doctor's question. Stewart showed instant resentment, but Richard's lifted hand caused him to refrain from what he would have said.

"What Dr. Thurber has asked requires an answer," Richard declared. "Lola has never raised the question, and never would. Unless it were asked, perhaps I should never have referred to it myself, but it is better for you all to know the exact facts. Circumstances brought this wounded girl and me closely together, more closely than convention would permit. She found me unconscious upon the floor of my chamber. She summoned the doctor. Fearful lest she lose the opportunity to nurse me, she let him think that we were man and wife. In France, during the war, nothing was thought of such companionship; at home, in peace, such a relation can have but one interpretation, . . such is the degree of perfection civilization has attained beyond the barbarism of war! If Dr. Thurber's question involved me alone, I would tell him to think what

he likes and be damned; for the only one concerned knows the answer before it is given. Since it affects the honor of that wonderful little girl upstairs, I will tell him that there are men and women in the world who are able to rise above the physical, to whom conventions represent limitations, and who have creeds and ideals of their own which to them are more sacred than the platitudinous hypocrisies amongst which they live." "I apologize, . . I'm sure," Dr. Thurber stammered; "I only asked . . .”

"You only asked what the world would ask," Richard interrupted; "you are merely its mouthpiece, and my answer is not to you personally, but to the world. I had hoped that one of the great results of this war would be the emancipation of the sexes. Over there, men and women served and lived as friends, as pals, as comrades, and they learned the happiness which comes from this natural companionship. Here it is tabooed. Men must herd with men and women with women. For a man to be intimate with a woman labels her as his wife or brands her as his mistress. I'll admit that I can't force the world to my viewpoint, but I'm not sorry to have proved to myself that the relation which the good Lord intended to have exist between men and women is not impossible in practice. The present incident is closed. One of the chief joys to which Lola and I look forward in our married life is the companionship of this wonderful woman, no longer a factory-girl, no longer, thank God! subject to the slanderous tongues of busy-bodies, but an integral part of our lives, which her presence will make richer and more beautiful."