think--do you think the poison has spent itself on me? Do you
think that if I had children they would suffer?"

"I can only give one answer to that. 'The third and fourth
generation,' says the trite old text. You may in time eliminate it
from your system, but many years must pass before you can think of
marriage."

"I am to be married on Tuesday," whispered the patient.

It was the doctor's turn to be thrilled with horror. There were not
many situations which would yield such a sensation to his seasoned
nerves. He sat in silence while the babble of the card-table broke in
upon them again. "We had a double ruff if you had returned a heart."
"I was bound to clear the trumps." They were hot and angry about it.

"How could you?" cried the doctor severely. "It was criminal."

"You forget that I have only learned how I stand to-day." He put his
two hands to his temples and pressed them convulsively. "You are a man
of the world, Dr. Selby. You have seen or heard of such things before.
Give me some advice. I'm in your hands. It is all very sudden and
horrible, and I don't think I am strong enough to bear it."

The doctor's heavy brows thickened into two straight lines, and he bit
his nails in perplexity.

"The marriage must not take place."

"Then what am I to do?"

"At all costs it must not take place."

"And I must give her up?"

"There can be no question about that."

The young man took out a pocketbook and drew from it a small
photograph, holding it out towards the doctor. The firm face softened
as he looked at it.

"It is very hard on you, no doubt. I can appreciate it more now that I
have seen that. But there is no alternative at all. You must give up
all thought of it."

"But this is madness, doctor--madness, I tell you. No, I won't raise
my voice. I forgot myself. But realise it, man. I am to be married
on Tuesday. This coming Tuesday, you understand. And all the world
knows it. How can I put such a public affront upon her. It would be
monstrous."

"None the less it must be done. My dear lad, there is no way out of
it."

"You would have me simply write brutally and break the engagement at
the last moment without a reason. I tell you I couldn't do it."

"I had a patient once who found himself in a somewhat similar situation
some years ago," said the doctor thoughtfully. "His device was a
singular one. He deliberately committed a penal offence, and so
compelled the youn