doctor motioned back Paolo, who would have rushed at once to the aid
of Maurice, and who was not wanted at that moment. So poor Paolo, in an
agony of fear for his master, was kept as quiet as possible, and had to
content himself with asking all sorts of questions and repeating all the
prayers he could think of to Our Lady and to his holy namesake the
Apostle.

The doctor wiped the mouth of the fisherman's bottle very carefully.
"Take a few drops of this cordial," he said, as he held it to his
patient's lips. "Hold him just so, Euthymia, without stirring. I will
watch him, and say when he is ready to be moved. The litter is near by,
waiting." Dr. Butts watched Maurice's pulse and color. The "Old
Medford" knew its business. It had knocked over its tens of thousands;
it had its redeeming virtue, and helped to set up a poor fellow now and
then. It did this for Maurice very effectively. When he seemed somewhat
restored, the doctor had the litter brought to his side, and Euthymia
softly resigned her helpless burden, which Paolo and the attendant Robert
lifted with the aid of the doctor, who walked by the patient as he was
borne to the home where Mrs. Butts had made all ready for his reception.

As for poor Lurida, who had thought herself equal to the sanguinary
duties of the surgeon, she was left lying on the grass with an old woman
over her, working hard with fan and smelling-salts to bring her back from
her long fainting fit.

XXIV

THE INEVITABLE.

Why should not human nature be the same in Arrowhead Village as
elsewhere? It could not seem strange to the good people of that place
and their visitors that these two young persons, brought together under
circumstances that stirred up the deepest emotions of which the human
soul is capable, should become attached to each other. But the bond
between them was stronger than any knew, except the good doctor, who had
learned the great secret of Maurice's life. For the first time since his
infancy he had fully felt the charm which the immediate presence of
youthful womanhood carries with it. He could hardly believe the fact when
he found himself no longer the subject of the terrifying seizures of
which he had had many and threatening experiences.

It was the doctor's business to save his patient's life, if he could
possibly do it. Maurice had been reduced to the most perilous state of
debility by the relapse which had interrupted his convalescence. Only by
what seemed al