old doctor was! He might as well have ordered champagne and oysters for a dweller in the slums. How could my parents afford to send me into the country for an indefinite period? Mother's face wore a troubled expression as she said gently:

"I understand, doctor. I will talk it over with her father, and we will see what we can do. I blame myself for not seeing that Annie was doing too much; but she takes such delight in her studies that I fancied they would not overtax her strength. You will not, then, give her medicine?"

"Yes," he said, "I will write a prescription for her that will steady her nerves and help her to sleep. You have not been sleeping well of late, my dear."

I looked at him, wondering how he knew this, for it was true. I had not been actually wakeful, but my work had followed me into the land of dreams, and I had been adding up never-ending columns of figures or struggling with incomprehensible problems in a state of semi-consciousness. Tears sprang to my eyes as I admitted that he was right.

"Never mind, my dear," said the old doctor as he patted me on the shoulder, and looked down on me with eyes full of sympathy. "You feel badly now, I know, but you'll soon be better. Do as I tell you, and in twelve or fifteen months' time you will be able to take up your work again."

Twelve or fifteen months! Had he the least idea how long a period that seems to a girl of nineteen? And I had so counted on the result of my examination. The aerial edifice I had reared on this foundation tumbled in ruins about me and I was in despair.

He must have discerned my state of mind, for he said quickly, "Now mind, you must not brood over your troubles, or you will retard your recovery. Find some light employment that will occupy your thoughts. Do you care for gardening?"

"I hate it," I said pettishly, as I recalled certain tiresome half-hours I had spent in pottering round his garden with Uncle George and undertaking irksome tasks at his request.

"Well, well," said the doctor soothingly, "you can't know much about it here in London. Are you fond of needlework?"

I shook my head with a sense of disgust, and mother laughed a low, mirthless laugh. She knew how I detested needlework.

Dr. Algar refrained from further suggestions, and presently took his departure. When he had gone mother and I looked at each other for a 

 Prev. P 5/160 next