Had the case been in his own hands he would have intervened before now.
Rogers, on the contrary, was still satisfied with the shape of
affairs--or made pretence to be. For, watching lynx-eyed, Mahony
fancied each time the fat man propelled his paunch out of the sickroom
it was a shade less surely: there were nuances, too, in the way he
pronounced his vapid: "As long as our strength is well maintained ...
well maintained." Mahony doubted Polly's ability to bear much more; and
he made bold to know his own wife's constitution best. Rogers was
shilly-shallying: what if he delayed too long and Polly slipped through
his hands? Lose Polly? Good God! the very thought turned him cold. And
alive to his finger-tips with the superstition of his race, he
impetuously offered up his fondest dream to those invisible powers that
sat aloft, waiting to be appeased. If this was to be the price exacted
of him--the price of his escape from exile--then... then ...

To come back to the present, however, he was in an awkward position: he
was going to be forced to take Polly's case out of the hands of the man
to whom he had entrusted it. Such a step ran counter to all the stiff
rules of conduct, the punctilios of decorum, laid down by the most
code-ridden profession in the world.

But a fresh visit to Polly, whose pulse had grown markedly softer, put
an end to his scruples.

Stalking into the sitting-room he said without preamble: "In my opinion
any further delay will mean a risk to my wife. I request you to operate
immediately."

Rogers blinked up from his cards, surprise writ across his ruddy
countenance. He pushed his spectacles to his forehead. "Eh? What? Well,
well ... yes, the time is no doubt coming when we shall have to lend
Mother Nature a hand."

"Coming? It's come ... and gone. Are you blind, man?"

Rogers had faced many an agitated husband in his day. "Now, now, Mr.
Mahony," he said soothingly, and laid his last two cards in line. "You
must allow me to be the judge of that. Besides," he added, as he took
off his glasses to polish them on a red bandanna; "besides, I should
have to ask you to go out and get some one to assist me."

"I shall assist you," returned Mahony.

Rogers smiled his broad, fat smile. "Easier said than done, my good
sir! ... easier said than done."

Mahony considerately turned his back; and kept it turned. Emptying a
pitcher of water into a basin he began to lather his hands. "I am a
qualified medical m