"I've a grown-up girl
and I've had a husband. Don't pull at his vest like that. Go away. You
don't know how. I've had experience--my husband . . . There, wait
till I cut it away with the scissors. Cover him with the quilt. Now,
then, catch hold of his trousers under the quilt, and draw them off
slowly. . . . There you are--and nothing to shock the modesty of a
grown-up woman or any other when a life's at stake. What does the Young
Doctor say?"
"Hush! He's coming to," interposed the banker. It was as though the
quiet that followed the removal of his clothes and the touch of Mrs.
Tynan's hand on his head had called Crozier back from unconsciousness.
The first face he saw was that of the banker. In spite of the loss of
blood and his pitiable condition, a whimsical expression came to his
eyes. "Lucky for you you didn't lend me the money," he said feebly.
The banker shook his head. "I'm not thinking of that, Mr. Crozier. God
knows, I'm not!"
Crozier caught sight of Mrs. Tynan. "It's hard on you to have me brought
here," he murmured as she took his hand.
"Not so hard as if they hadn't," she replied. "That's what a home's for
--not just a place for eating and drinking and sleeping."
"It wasn't part of the bargain," he said weakly.
"It was my part of the bargain."
"Here's Kitty," said the maker of mineral waters, as there was the swish
of a skirt at the door.
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