After a moment he snapped the bag shut. Damn it all, if Clark had
chosen to He up with a girl, that was on Clark's conscience, not his.

But he was vaguely uncomfortable.

"It's a queer world, Joe," he observed to the waiter, who had come
in for the breakfast dishes.


"Yes, sir. It is that," said Joe.




XII

DURING all the long night Dick sat by David's bedside. Earlier in
the evening there had been a consultation; David had suffered a light
stroke, but there was no paralysis, and the prognosis was good.
For this time, at least, David had escaped, but there must be no
other time. He was to be kept quiet and free from worry, his diet
was to be carefully regulated, and with care he still had long years
before him.

David slept, his breathing heavy and slow. In the morning there
would be a nurse, but that night Dick, having sent Lucy to bed,
himself kept watch. On the walnut bed lay Doctor David's portly
figure, dimly outlined by the shaded lamp, and on a chair drawn
close sat Dick.