of her was an old violin stand. Upon it she put her notes. She then
raised her face; and even at the distance it appeared flushed.

"Fellow workers," she began.

At this point Henry broke into uncontrollable laughter. "Excuse me,
really, but it is too much. 'Fellow workers'--oh, dear me. Oh, oh, I am
afraid I can't stand it. You must excuse me, really. Oh, dear me," and
rising weakly, handkerchief in hand, he tottered from the room.

Nancy, the picture of resigned despair, gazed at Tom. He felt slightly
hysterical himself.

"What are we to do?" she asked helplessly. As they were nearly fifty
feet apart, the pitch of her voice was necessarily above that used in
ordinary conversation and gave to her words considerable melodramatic
force. A fresh shout of laughter descending from the stairs made the
situation none the easier.

Nancy was, indeed, thoroughly upset. What was to become of her
independent life if this failed? How else could she express herself? Was
it to collapse at the very start, before she could even approach her
dreams for the future? To have it end ridiculously, to have her become a
laughing stock, would be too cruel. No, she would fight for her liberty.

"Why, the thing to do is to go on," replied Tom. Had those words been
said at Marengo or Poitiers or Persepolis, they might today be learned
by school children. They were of the stuff that wins lost causes. They
stem defeat as effectively as fresh battalions.

"Fellow workers," Nancy began again, and this time there was only
respectful silence, "I have come to you today to tell you a little
something about the machines which are forever your property, which were
given to you by your Maker and which it is your sacred duty to keep in
as good condition as possible. I mean your own bodies." She paused, and
Tom nodded encouragement from the other room. "It has become my pleasant
duty to come to you and tell you how you may keep these God-given
machines. You are to regard me, in other words, as your friend and
sister." The lecturer was here threatened by a dry, pippy, cough and
the whole course was imperilled. However, she drove fiercely on.

"At the outset you should have a brief working knowledge of such things
as your heart and lungs, your pancreas, liver, big and little intestines
and their juices; and I shall, accordingly, give you a brief idea of the
various systems, beginning today with the circulatory and respiratory.
Next time I shall hope to