t?"

"We are doing everything in our power to alleviate the
suffering,--everything that is known to science," he vouchsafed. "We can do
no more."

"How long will he live, Dr. Bates?" she asked, and instantly shrank from
the fear that he would misinterpret her interest.

"No man can answer that question, Mrs. Thorpe. He may live a week, he may
live six months. I give him no more than two."

"And if he were to consent to the operation that you once advised, what
then?"

"That was a year ago. I would not advise an operation now. It is too late.
In fact, I would be opposed to it. There are men in my profession who
would take the chance, I've no doubt,--men who would risk all on the
millionth part of a chance."

"You think he would die on the operating table?"

"Perhaps,--and perhaps not. That isn't the point. It would be useless,
that's all."

"Then why isn't Braden's theory sound and humane?" she demanded sharply.

He frowned. "It is humane, Mrs. Thorpe," said he gravely, "but it isn't
sound. I grant you that there is not one of us who would not rejoice in
the death of a man in Mr. Thorpe's condition, but there is not one who
would deliberately take his life."

"It is all so cruel, so horribly cruel," she said. "The savages in the
heart of the jungle can give us lessons in humanity."

"I daresay," said he. "By the same reasoning, is it wise for us to receive
lessons in savagery from them?"

Anne was silent for a time. She felt called upon to utter a defence for
Braden but hesitated because she could not choose her words. At last she
spoke. "I have known Braden Thorpe all my life, Dr. Bates. He is sincere
on this question. I think you might grant him that distinction."

"Lord love you, madam, I haven't the faintest doubt as to his sincerity,"
cried the old doctor. "He is voicing the sentiment of every honest man in
my profession, but he overlooks the fact that sentiment has a very small
place among the people we serve,--in other words, the people who love life
and employ us to preserve it for them, even against the will of God."

"They say that soldiers on the field of battle sometimes mercifully put an
end to the lives of their mutilated comrades," she mused aloud.

"And they make it their business to put an end to the lives of the
perfectly sound and healthy men who confront them on that same field of
battle," he was quick to return. "There is a wide distinction between a
weapon and an instrument, Mrs. T