"Tired? I noticed that you limped this morning. Is there anything
the matter with you?"

It was certainly an ungracious way of putting it. And her eyes,
while not exactly hostile, were ungracious, too. They would make
anyone with a spark of pride want to go away at once. The professor
told himself this. Besides, his only possible reason for wishing to
stay had been some unformed idea of being helpful to the girl
herself--ungrateful minx!

"If there is anything really wrong--" the cold incredulity of her
tone was the last straw.

"Nothing wrong at all!" said Professor Spence. He arose briskly.
Alas! He had forgotten his sciatic nerve. He had forgotten, too, the
crampiness of its temper since that glacial bath, and, most
completely of all, had he forgotten the fate of the man-who-didn't-
take-care-of-himself. Therefore it was with something of surprise
that he found himself crumpled up upon the floor. Only when he tried
to rise again and felt the sweat upon his forehead did he remember
the doctor's story. . . . Spence swore under his breath and
attempted to pull himself up by the table.

"Wait a moment!"

The cold voice held authority--the authority he had come to respect
in hospital--and he waited, setting his teeth. Next moment he set
them still harder, for Li Ho and the girl picked him up without
ceremony and laid him, whitefaced, upon the sprawling sofa.