. I didn't come to hear words of praise, Dr. Bates. I came to
release you from any obligation that you may--"

"Tut, tut! That's all right. We understand--perfectly. All three of us. I
have talked it over with Bray and Ernest. What happened up there yesterday
is as a closed book. We shall never open it. I will not go so far as to
say that we support your theories, but we do applaud your method. There
isn't one of us who would not have _felt_ like doing the thing you did,
but on the other hand there isn't one of us who could have done it. We
would have allowed him a few more days of life. Now that it is all over, I
will not say that you did wrong. I can only say that it was not right to
do the thing you did. However, it is your conscience and not mine that
carries the load,--if there is one. You may rest assured that not one of us
will ever voluntarily describe what actually took place."

"But I do not want to feel that you regard it your duty to protect me from
the consequences of a deliberate--"

"See here, my lad, do you want the world to know that you took your
grandfather's life? That's what it amounts to, you know. You can't go
behind the facts."

Thorpe lowered his head. "It would be ridiculous for me to say that I do
not care whether the world knows the truth about it, Dr. Bates. To be
quite honest, sir, I do not want the world to know. You will understand
why, in this particular instance, I should dread publicity. Mr. Thorpe was
my grandfather. He was my benefactor. But that isn't the point. I had no
legal right to do the thing I did. I took it upon myself to take a step
that is not now countenanced by the law or by our profession. I did this
in the presence of witnesses. What I want to make clear to you and to the
other doctors is that I should have acted differently if my patient had
been any one else in the world. I loved my grandfather. He was my only
friend. He expected me to do him a great service yesterday. I could not
fail him, sir. When I saw that there was nothing before him but a few
awful days of agony, I did what he would have blessed me for doing had he
been conscious. If my patient had been any one else I should have adhered
strictly to the teachings of my profession. I would not have broken the
law."

"Your grandfather knew when he went up to the operating room that he was
not to leave it alive. Is that the case?"

"He did not expect to leave it alive, sir," amended Braden steadily.

"You