Aunt Janes Nieces in the Red Cross | Page 8

your
present plan is worthy of admiration and applause, for it is eminently
practical if properly handled."

Dr. Barlow drummed upon the table with his fingers, musingly. Then
he looked up.
"I wonder," said he, "if Gys would go. If you could win him over, he
would fill the bill."
"Who is Gys?" inquired Uncle John.
"An eccentric; a character. But clever and competent. He has just
returned from Yucatan, where he accompanied an expedition of
exploration sent out by the Geographical Society--and, by the way,
nearly lost his life in the venture. Before that, he made a trip to the
frozen North with a rescue party. Between times, he works in the
hospitals, or acts as consulting surgeon with men of greater fame than
he has won; but Gys is a rolling stone, erratic and whimsical, and with
all his talent can never settle down to a steady practice."
"Seems like the very man I want," said Uncle John, much interested.
"Where can I find him?"
"I've no idea. But I'll call up Collins and inquire."
He took up the telephone receiver and got his number.
"Collins? Say, I'm anxious to find Gys. Have you any idea--Eh? Sitting
with you now? How lucky. Ask him if he will come to my office at
once; it's important."
Uncle John's face was beaming with satisfaction. The doctor waited,
the receiver at his ear.
"What's that, Collins?... He won't come?... Why not?... Absurd!... I've a
fine proposition for him.... Eh? He isn't interested in propositions?
What in thunder is he interested in?... Pshaw! Hold the phone a
minute."
Turning to Mr. Merrick, he said:
"Gys wants to go on a fishing trip. He plans to start to-night for the

Maine woods. But I've an idea if you could get him face to face you
might convince him."
"See if he'll stay where he is till I can get there."
The doctor turned to the telephone and asked the question. There was a
long pause. Gys wanted to know who it was that proposed to visit him.
John Merrick, the retired millionaire? All right; Gys would wait in
Collins' office for twenty minutes.
Uncle John lost no time in rushing to his motor car, where he ordered
the driver to hasten to the address Dr. Barlow had given him.
The offices of Dr. Collins were impressive. Mr. Merrick entered a
luxurious reception room and gave his name to a businesslike young
woman who advanced to meet him. He had called to see Dr. Gys.
The young woman smothered a smile that crept to her lips, and led
Uncle John through an examination room and an operating room--both
vacant just now--and so into a laboratory that was calculated to give a
well person the shivers. Here was but one individual, a man in his
shirt-sleeves who was smoking a corncob pipe and bending over a test
tube.
Uncle John coughed to announce his presence, for the woman had
slipped away as she closed the door. The man's back was turned
partially toward his visitor. He did not alter his position as he said:
"Sit down. There's a chair in the southwest corner."
Uncle John found the chair. He waited patiently a few moments and
then his choler began to rise.
"If you're in such a blamed hurry to go fishing, why don't you get rid of
me now?" he asked.
The shoulders shook gently and there was a chuckling laugh. The man
laid down his test tube and swung around on his stool.

For a moment Mr. Merrick recoiled. The face was seared with livid
scars, the nose crushed to one side, the mouth crooked and set in a
sneering grin. One eye was nearly closed and the other round and wide
open. A more forbidding and ghastly countenance Mr. Merrick had
never beheld and in his surprise he muttered a low exclamation.
"Exactly," said Gys, his voice quiet and pleasant. "I don't blame you
and I'm not offended. Do you wonder I hesitate to meet strangers?"
"I--I was not--prepared," stammered Uncle John.
"That was Barlow's fault. He knows me and should have told you. And
now I'll tell you why I consented to see you. No! never mind your own
proposition, whatever it is. Listen to mine first. I want to go fishing,
and I haven't the money. None of my brother physicians will lend me
another sou, for I owe them all. You are John Merrick, to whom money
is of little consequence. May I venture to ask you for an advance of a
couple of hundred for a few weeks? When I return I'll take up your
proposition, whatever it may be, and recompense you in services."
He refilled and relighted the corncob while Mr. Merrick stared at him
in thoughtful silence. As a