You--you are?" he gasped. "By Jove, I thought that your face was familiar.
I--"

"One of the best advertised faces in New York about two years ago," she
said, and he detected a plaintive note in the flippant remark. "Not so
well-known nowadays, thank God. See here, Dr. Thorpe, I hope you won't
think it out of place for me _to_ congratulate you."

"Congratulate me? My dear Mrs. Tresslyn, it is not I who am to be married.
You confuse me with--"

"I'm congratulating you because you're not the one," said she, her eyes
narrowing. "Bless your soul, I know what I'm talking about. But say no
more. Let's get back to the appendix. Will you do the job for me?"

"Now that we are acquainted with each other," he said, suppressing a
natural excitement, "may we not go over and join Simmy and the Fenns?
Don't you think you'd better consult with them before irrevocably
committing yourself to me?"

"Fine! We'll talk it over together, the whole lot of us. But, I say, don't
forget that I've known you for years--through the family, of course. I want
to thank you first for one thing, Dr. Thorpe. George used to tell me how
you took my part in the--the smash-up. He said you wrote to him from Europe
to be a man and stand by me in spite of everything. That's really what
I've been wanting to say to you, more than the other. Still, I've got to
have it out, so come on. Let's set a day. Mrs. Fenn will go up to the
hospital with me. She's used to hospitals. Says she loves them. She's
trying her best to have Mr. Fenn go in next week to have his out. She's
had five operations and a baby. I'm awfully glad to know you, Dr. Thorpe.
I've always wanted to. I'd like better than anything I know of to be your
first regular patient. It will always be something to boast about in years
to come. It will be splendid to say to people, 'Oh, yes, I am the first
person that ever had her appendix removed by the celebrated Dr. Thorpe.'
It will--"

"But I have removed a great many," he said, carried away by her sprightly
good humour. "In my training days, so to speak."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," she cried, disappointed. Then her face
brightened: "Still, I suppose you had to learn just where the thing is. It
wouldn't do to go about stabbing people in the wrong place, just as if the
appendix might be any little old where, would it?"

"I should say not," said he, arising and bowing very profoundly. Then he
followed close behind her trim, smart figure as they threa