tters from Wales, she would wait in a fever of anxiety till the
post arrived; when it brought no letter for her, she suffered acute
distress of mind.

Upon the fifth evening after her baby was born, Mrs Gowler thrust an
envelope beneath her door shortly after the postman had knocked. It was
a yellow envelope, on which was printed "On His Majesty's Service."
Mavis tore it open, to find her own letter to Perigal enclosed, which
was marked "Gone, no address." A glance told her that it had been
correctly addressed.

When, an hour later, Mrs Gowler came up to see if she wanted anything,
she saw that Mavis was far from well. She took her hand and found it
hot and dry.

"Does yer 'ead ache?" she asked of Mavis, whose eyes were wide open and
staring.

"It's awful."

"If you're no better in the morning, you'd better 'ave a shillingsworth
of Baldock."

If anything, Mavis was worse on the morrow. She had passed a restless
night, which had been troubled with unpleasantly vivid dreams;
moreover, the first post had brought no letter for her.

"Got a shillin'?" asked Mrs Gowler after she had made some pretence of
examining her.

"What for?" asked Mavis.

"Doctor's fee. You'll be bad if you don't see 'im."

"Is he clever?" asked the patient.

"Clever! 'E be that clever, it drops orf 'im."

When, with the patient's consent, Mrs Gowler set out to fetch the
doctor, she, also at the girl's request, sent a telegram to Mrs
Scatchard, asking her to send on at once any letters that may have come
for Mavis. She was sustained by a hope that Perigal may have written to
her former address.

"Got yer shillin' ready?" asked Mrs Gowler, an hour or so later. "'E'll
be up in a minute."

Two minutes later, Mrs Gowler threw the door wide open to admit Dr
Baldock. Mavis saw a short, gross-looking, middle-aged man, who was
dressed in a rusty frock-coat; he carried an old bowler hat and two odd
left-hand gloves. Mrs Gowler detailed Mavis's symptoms, the while Dr
Baldock stood stockstill with his eyes closed, as if intently listening
to the nurse's words. When she had finished, the doctor caught hold of
Mavis's wrist; at the same time, he fumbled for his watch in his
waistcoat pocket; not finding it, he dropped her arm and asked her to
put out her tongue. After examining this, and asking her a few
questions, he told her to keep quiet; also, that he would look in again
during the evening to see how she was getting on.

"Doctor's fee," sa