From the Housetops | Page 8

himself.
The announcement did not come as a surprise to old Mr. Thorpe. He

had been expecting it. He realised that Braden's dilatory tactics alone
were accountable for the delay in bringing the issue to a head.
"And when do you expect to be married?" he had inquired, squinting at
his grandson in a somewhat dubious manner.
"Within the year, I hope," said Braden. "Of course, I shall have to get a
bit of a start before we can think of getting married."
"A bit of a start, eh? Expect to get enough of a practice in a year to
keep Anne going, do you?"
"We shall live very economically."
"Is that your idea or hers?"
"She knows that I have but little more than two thousand a year, but, of
course, it won't take much of a practice to add something to that, you
know."
"Besides, you can always depend upon me to help you out,
Braden,--that is, within reason," said the other, watching him narrowly
out of his shrewd old eyes.
Braden flushed. "You have done more than enough for me already,
grandfather. I can't take anything more, you see. I'm going to fight my
own way now, sir."
"I see," said Mr. Thorpe. "That's the way to talk, my boy. And what
does Anne say to that?"
"She thinks just as I do about it. Oh, she's the right sort, granddaddy, so
you needn't worry about us, once we are married."
"Perhaps I should have asked what her mother has to say about it."
"Well, she gave us her blessing," said his grandson, with a happy grin.
"After she had heard about your plan to live on the results of your

practice?"
"She said she wasn't going to worry about that, sir. If Anne was willing
to wait, so was she."
"Wait for what?"
"My practice to pick up, of course. What do you mean?"
"Just that, of course," said the old man quickly. "Well, my boy, while I
daresay it isn't really necessary, I give my consent. I am sure you and
Anne will be very happy in your cosy little five-room flat, and that she
will be a great help to you. You may even attain to quite a fashionable
practice,--or clientele, which is it?--through the Tresslyn position in the
city. Thousand dollar appendicitis operations ought to be quite common
with you from the outset, with Anne to talk you up a bit among the
people who belong to her set and who are always looking for
something to keep them from being bored to death. I understand that
anybody who has an appendix nowadays is looked upon as exceedingly
vulgar and is not even tolerated in good society. As for a man having a
sound liver,--well, that kind of a liver is absolutely inexcusable.
Nobody has one to-day if he can afford to have the other kind. Good
livers always have livers,--and so do bad livers, for that matter. But,
now, let us return to the heart. You are quite sure that Anne loves you
better than she loves herself? That's quite important, you know. I have
found that people who say that they love some one better than anybody
else in the world, usually forget themselves,--that is to say, they
overlook themselves. How about Anne?"
"Rather epigrammatic, aren't you, granddaddy? I have Anne's word for
it, that's all. She wouldn't marry me if she loved any one more than she
does me,--not even herself, as you put it. I am sure if I were Anne I
should love myself better than all the rest of the world."
"A very pretty speech, my boy. You should make an exceptionally
fashionable doctor. You will pardon me for appearing to be cynical, but
you see I am a very old man and somewhat warped,--bent, you might
say, in my attitude toward the tender passion as it is practised to-day.

Still, I shall take your word for it. Anne loves you devotedly, and you
love her. The only thing necessary, therefore, is a professional practice,
or, in other words, a practical profession. I am sure you will achieve
both. You have my best wishes. I love you, my boy. You are the only
thing left in life for me to love. Your father was my only son. He would
have been a great man, I am sure, if he had not been my son. I spoiled
him. I think that is the reason why he died so young. Now, my dear
grandson, I am not going to make the mistake with his son that I made
with my own. I intend that you shall fight your own battles. Among
other things, you will have to fight pretty hard for Anne. That is a mere
detail, of course. You are a