"Why not?" said Nick.

"Oh, Nick, you don't! You know you don't! He's so cold-blooded and
cynical."

"Do you want to know what he was up to last night?" said Nick.

"Yes, tell me!" said Olga.

"He was sent for last thing by some people who live in that filthy
alley--near the green pond. A child was choking. They thought it had
swallowed a pin. When he got there, he found it was diphtheria at its
most advanced stage. The child was at death's door. He had to perform an
operation at a moment's notice, hadn't got the proper paraphernalia with
him, and sucked the poison out himself."

"Good heavens, Nick!" said Olga, turning very white. "And the child?"

"The child is better. It is to be taken to the hospital to-day."

"Will it--won't it--have an effect on him?" gasped Olga.

"Heavens knows," said Nick.

"And that's why he didn't come down to breakfast," she said. "How did
you find out about it? He didn't tell you?"

"He couldn't help it," said Nick. "He stole my bath this morning, and
when I arrived he was lying in it face downwards boiling himself in some