hout any
explanation, that he had chosen to be known in the obscure village by
only a part of his name, because that name was so notable that even the
two village doctors, the old one and the young, would have recognized it
and been at his heels, to the detriment of those months of rest from
surgery which he had dedicated to the exposition of his methods upon
paper. She was quick to perceive also that it would be easy enough for
Doctor Craig to prove as different from Mr. Jefferson in relation to his
acquaintance as he was different in his position in the world. What,
indeed, had Dr. Jefferson Craig and little Georgiana Warne in common?
Certainly far, far less than had had Mr. E. C. Jefferson and that same
Georgiana Warne.

He did not see her at once, for the father and mother of his patient met
him in the middle of the floor, and his first glance fell upon them and
remained there while he spoke to them of their daughter. Even in his
manner of speaking Georgiana felt a decided difference. There was a
curious crispness and succinctness of speech that marked the
professional man, which was decidedly different from the more expanded
conversational manner of Mr. Jefferson.

"Yes, she is sleeping quietly under the last effects of the anaesthetic,"
he was saying when Georgiana took note of his words once more. "We will
let her sleep. It will spare her some hours of consciousness."

"Will she suffer very much when she wakes, Doctor?" was the mother's
anxious question.

Doctor Craig's smile was the very one Georgiana had first liked about
him, for it transformed his face and gave it back the youth which his
early responsibility in a serious profession had done its best to age.
"We shall not let her suffer very much," he promised. "That's not
necessary nor desirable."

"When may we see her?" Mrs. Crofton pursued.

"You may all see her for a moment before she wakens, if you wish.
Afterward her mother and father for just a word, and--I am told she
expressed a very strong wish to see a young man who was on his way. Has
he come? For the sake of her contentment I have agreed to allow him a
word with her by and by--just a word, if he will be very quiet."

It was Uncle Thomas who turned to beckon James Stuart forward, and then
to nod at Georgiana. Immediately Stuart was presented to Doctor Craig,
who, looking intently into the young man's questioning face, said
straightforwardly: "Mr. Stuart and I have met before under quite
d