over the other, his broad shoulders buried in the depths of the
chair.

Garth sat where he could feel the warm flame of the fire, pleasant in
the chill evening which succeeded the bright spring day. His chair was
placed sideways, so that he could, with his hand, shield his face from
his visitor should he wish to do so.

"Yes," Dr. Brand was saying thoughtfully, "I can easily see that all
things which reach you in that darkness assume a different proportion
and possess a greatly enhanced value. But I think you will find, as
time goes on, and you come in contact with more people, there will be a
great readjustment, and you will become less consciously sensitive to
sound and touch from others. At present your whole nervous system is
highly strung, and responds with an exaggerated vibration to every
impression made upon it. A highly strung nervous system usually
exaggerates. And the medium of sight having been taken away, the other
means of communication with the outer world, hearing and touch, draw to
themselves an overplus of nervous force, and have become painfully
sensitive. Eventually things will right themselves, and they will only
be usefully keen and acute. What was it you were going to tell me about
Nurse Rosemary not shaking hands?"

"Ah, yes," said Garth. "But first I want to ask, Is it a rule of her
order, or guild, or institution, or whatever it is to which she
belongs, that the nurses should never shake hands with their patients?"

"Not that I have ever heard," replied the doctor.

"Well, then, it must have been Miss Gray's own perfect intuition as to
what I want, and what I don't want. For from the very first she has
never shaken hands, nor in any way touched me. Even in passing across
letters, and handing me things, as she does scores of times daily,
never once have I felt her fingers against mine."

"And this pleases you?" inquired the doctor, blowing smoke rings into
the air, and watching the blind face intently.

"Ah, I am so grateful for it," said Garth earnestly. "Do you know,
Brand, when you suggested sending me a lady nurse and secretary, I felt
I could not possibly stand having a woman touch me."

"So you said," commented the doctor quietly.

"No! Did I? What a bear you must have thought me."

"By no means," said the doctor, "but a distinctly unusual patient. As a
rule, men--"

"Ah, I dare say," Garth interposed half impatiently. "There was a time
when I should have liked a soft little