The long face blazed up with humour again. "Do you mean that I haven't
asked you yet?" Crozier remarked, with a quizzical look, which had still
that faint hope against hope which is a painful thing for a good man's
eyes to see.

The Young Doctor laid a hand on Crozier's arm. "No, I didn't mean that,
patient. I'm in that state when every penny I have is out to keep me
from getting a fall. I'm in that Starwhon coal-mine down at Bethbridge,
and it's like a suction-pump. I couldn't borrow a thousand dollars
myself now. I can't do it, or I'd stand in with you, Crozier. No, I
can't help you a bit; but step inside. There's a room in this house
where you got back your life by the help of a knife. There's another
room in there where you may get back your fortune by the help of a wife."

Stepping aside he gave the wondering Crozier a slight push forward into
the doorway, then left him and hurried round to the back of the house,
where he hoped he might see Kitty.

The Young Doctor found Kitty pumping water on a pail of potatoes and
stirring them with a broom-handle.

"A most unscientific way of cleaning potatoes," he said, as Kitty did not
look at him. "If you put them in a trough where the water could run off,
the dirt would go with the water, and you would'nt waste time and
intelligence, and your fingers would be cleaner in the end."

The only reply Kitty made was to flick the broomhead at him. It had been
dipped in water, and the spray from it slightly spattered his face.