in him of age and a life of immense strain and responsibility. From that
moment the activity of his opposition waned. She knew that her will had
conquered, and the knowledge distressed her so that she burst
into tears.

"My dear," said her father, "I once made a very terrible mistake of
judgment. There isn't a day of my life altogether free from remorse and
regret. I have given you money and position. It isn't enough, it seems.
My dear, take the benefit of the doubt into the bargain. If I am making
another terrible mistake, you must bear at least a portion of the
responsibility."

It is curious, or perhaps only natural, that Barbara was at the moment
more interested to know what her father's great mistake of judgment had
been than in the fact that her ambition had won his tolerance and
consent, if not his approval and support. If she had asked him then and
there, for he was still greatly moved, he might have told her, but
reticence caught the question by the wings, and the moment passed.

And they resumed together their life of punctilious thoughtfulness and
good manners. Dr. Ferris continued to cut up famous bodies for famous
fees, while Barbara continued to do what she could to reproduce the
bodies of more humble persons, for no reward greater than the voice of
her teacher with his variously intonated; "Go to eet, Mees Barbara!
go to eet."




VIII