been in abeyance too long, and was reluctant to loosen his clutches. Once made free of my flesh, he would listen to no reason. Presently there came a period of half-consciousness, through which I dimly heard father at the telephone, calling Dr. McAllister's number. I almost smiled, through the creeping faintness, to think how annoyed he would profess himself to be, "called out of bed at this ungodly hour!" and how once arrived, he would toil to help me. 15 15 When I opened my eyes again after what seemed years, it was with a vague sense of amazement that Doctor Mac had grown so young since last I had seen him. For he was slim, where once he had been inclined to rotundity, and ruddy-brown where once he had been sparse and grey. Upon my pulse was an unfamiliar hand, and a strange voice, close to me, was saying quietly. "She's coming round, Mr. Carroll." Somehow, this calm disposition of me was annoying. "I'm not," I heard myself contradict weakly. Two steel-blue eyes, set in a lean face, met mine. It was not a friendly encounter. "Please don't talk," ordered this new Doctor Mac briefly. Father laid his hand upon my forehead. "Is the pain better, dear?" he asked, with that break in his voice which always comes when he knows that I am suffering. I tried to flash triumph into the blue eyes, and responded, "Yes." Then, as My Demon's jaws took a fresh hold on my spinal column, "Oh—no—!" There was a low-voiced consultation, and then father said, reassuringly, "Don't talk, Mavis dear, and lie quiet. Doctor Denton is going to give you something to relieve you." I felt six years old again, and resentful to find father going over to the enemy. But I was grateful, that, after all, our own dear Doctor Mac had not been metamorphosed into an ogre with icicle eyes. As the tiny, merciful piston went home, I said feebly, with malice aforethought. "Hello—Doctor Jumpy!" And the last thing I saw before I fell asleep was his 16 startled face. And in my first half-dreams, I found myself repeating, childishly, "He did
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