n this she might find such exercise of her heroic qualities that
she felt were within her, as would justify herself in her own esteem.
She met with a resolute glance his peevish eyes, and said;

"When the rules are communicated to me in a proper manner, I shall take
care to obey them, if they are just and proper; but I will not be spoken
to in that way by any man."

His eyes fell from the encounter with hers, and the dull mottle in his
cheek became crimson with a blush at this assertion of outraged womanly
dignity. He turned away, saying gruffly:

"Just as I expected. The moment a woman comes into the hospital, all
discipline is at an end."

He moved off angrily. All the inmates saw and overheard. If Rachel's
refreshing beauty had captivated them before, her dauntless spirit
completed the conquest.

A cheery voice behind her said, "Good morning." There was something so
winning in its tones that the set lines in her indignant face relaxed,
and she turned softened eyes to meet the frankly genial ones of Dr. Paul
Denslow.

"Good morning, Miss----," he repeated, as she hesitated, a little dazed.

"Bond--Rachel Bond's my name. Good morning, sir," she answered, putting
out her hand.

As he took it, he said: "I want to make an abject apology. We are
ill-prepared to entertain a lady here, and no one knew of your coming.
But we certainly intend to mitigate in some degree the desolation of the
room to which you were conducted. I left you for the purpose of seeing
what the store-room contained that would contribute a trifle toward
transforming it into a maiden's bower--"

"Cinderella's fairy godmother couldn't have made the transformation with
that room," she said with a little shrug of despair.

"Probably not--probably not--and I lay no claim to even the least of the
powers exercised by the old lady with the wand. But I allow no man to
surpass me in the matter of good intentions. That is a luxury of which
the poorest of us can afford an abundance, and I will not deny myself
anything that is so cheap."

Rachel was beguiled into smiling at his merry cynicism.

"Allusions to the pavement in the unmentionable place are barred in
this connection," he continued gayly. "On my way to carry out these good
intentions--at some one else's expense, remember, all the time--I was
called to the bedside of a dying man, and detained there some time. When
I at last returned to your room, I judged that you were fast asleep, and
I deci