as keeping him so long? Why didn't he come?

The arrival of the trained nurse distracted Pierre for a few moments.
She went past him in her gray cloak, very quiet and earnest, and the
elevator lifted her out of sight.

"Were you in the theater to-night?" asked the girl at the desk, seeing
that he was temporarily aware of her again.

"Yes, ma'am."

She was puzzled by his appearance and the fashion of his speech. He
must be a gentleman, she thought, for his bearing was gentle and
assured and unself-conscious, but he wore his clothes differently and
spoke differently from other gentlemen. That "Yes, ma'am," especially
disturbed her. Then she remembered a novel she had read and her mind
jumped to a conclusion. She leaned forward.

"Say, aren't you from the West?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You weren't ever a cowboy, were you?"

Pierre smiled. "Yes, ma'am. I was raised in a cow-camp. I was a cowboy
till about seven years ago when I took to ranchin'."

"Where was that?"

"Out in Wyoming."

"And you've come straight from there to New York?" She pronounced it
"Noo Yoik."

"No, ma'am. I've been in Alasky for two years now. I've been in a
lumber-camp."

"Gee! That's real interesting. And you knew Miss West before she came
East, then?"

"Yes, ma'am." But there was a subtle change in Pierre's patient voice
and clear, unhappy eyes, so that the girl fell to humming and bottled up
her curiosity. But just as soon as he began to brood again she gave up
her whole mind to staring at him. Gee! He was brown and strong and thin!
And a good-looker! She wished that she had worn her transformation that
evening and her blue blouse. He might have taken more interest in her.

A stout, bald-headed man, bag in hand, stepped out of the elevator,
and Pierre rippled to his feet.

"Are you the doctor?"

"Yes. Oh, you're the gentleman who wanted to see Miss West. She's come
to, but she is out of her head completely ... doesn't know any one.
Can you step out with me?"

Pierre kept beside him and stood by the motor, hat still in his hand,
while the doctor talked irritably: "No. You certainly can't see her,
for some time. I shall not allow any one to see her, except the nurse.
It will be a matter of weeks. She'll be lucky if she gets back her
sanity at all. She was entirely out of her head there at the theater.
She's worn out, nerves frayed to a frazzle. Horribly unhealthy life
and unnatural. To take a country girl, an ignorant, untrained, he