The Argosy, Vol. 84 No. 1 — page 13: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THANKS TO ie B. = ¥, 3 ‘“ Dr. Bowen?” the housekeeper repeat- ed vaguely. “IT was coming here to live, you know!” Dr. Jim said amazedly. “ Didn’t you know? I gave up my practise up- State, such as it was, and I meant to work with Dr.*Rimborne and, eventually, to take over his work when he wished to re- tire. I was to be Dr. Rimborne’s assis- tant.” Mrs. Dunlap nodded without great concern. ‘““T remember now, sir,” she smiled, with faint apology, “ although with all the trouble I had forgotten about you, Dr. Bowen. Dr. Rimborne spoke about your coming,-sir, and said he’d have to tell me all about you—TI’ve only been with him for two or three months, you know. Why, it was yesterday, I believe, that he planned to select a room here for you and tell me what was to go in it; and now he’s—he’s—”’ Words failed her. Dr. Bowen nodded gloomily; and be it confessed that not quite all the gloom was born of grief at Dr. Rimborne’s actually passing. The best of us have a streak of selfishness, rendered more or less marked by circum- stance. Dr. Jim Bowen, as many up Hallas way could testify, was one of the most unselfish mortals alive; but certain phases of this situation were of acute personal interest to him. Twice he looked at the housekeeper and sought to speak; twice his lips closed, but the third time there did escape him: “ His—er—phractise!” “ Dr. Rimborne’s?”’ “Yes. You see, I—I—” The housekeeper stared at him. “ Tt’s too bad, sir, if you were planning to work into that,” she said coldly. « Why?” “Dr. Skilling will have that now, naturally—at least, I should think so. He is just two doors below, you know, and he has been in the neighborhood for nine years or more.” “And he is well liked?” “ You ee call him a general favo- rite, sir,” Mrs. Dunlap said heartily. ¢ Everybody knows him, and he has given Dr. Rimborne a hand more than once lately. I’m not sure, of course, but I think that—Dr. Rimborne being ad- vanced in years, and folks not liking to trouble him for night calls and so on— people have.been calling in Dr. Skilling for some time when they didn’t want to bother him.” She looked steadily at Dr. Jim Bowen, and without a trace of the sympathy of which, more and more every second, he was feeling the need. She was plainly a friend of this Dr. Skilling, and no friend at all of himself. Ten minutes ago, had he so rouch as known of her existence, Dr. Bowen would have expected to find himself issuing or- ders to Mrs. Dunlap in the matter of a week. Just now she had settled his whole case with two dozen words—and their very brief acquaintance, in all proba- bility, was over forever. Dr. Jim Bowen rose slowly and stiffly and even contrived a wan little smile. “This is no time to bother about such things, of course,” said he. ‘“ I’ll—make other plans.” The housekeeper, too, had risen. “Tt is unfortunate for you, doctor,” she said. “ Later on, I suppose, if you wish to try it, you’ll be able to lease this house from the estate. The two others that are rented on this block bring fif- teen hundred a year, I believe, and—” Something in Dr. Jim Bowen’s eye gave her pause. There was that in Dr. Jim Bowen’s flitting, ghastly smile that startled Mrs. Dunlap, too—because she had no means of knowing that Dr. Jim Bowen; without a friend in the Borough of Brooklyn, and not more than half a dozen acquaintances in the whole city of New York, was not contemplating fifteen hundred dollar houses that afternoon. — No means at all had Mrs. Dunlap of divining that Dr. Jim Bowen’s whole earthly capital, distributed between the lovely morocco wallet which Hallas town- EOPMIC LOOKS (E@)