A gentleman in the audience left his chair, and, walking over, spoke to
Mrs. White. He was Dr. Baker, one of the hospital staff.
"I think I know that child," he said. "Does she not live with an aged
couple named Manning?"
"I believe she does," replied Mrs. White, making a place for Dr. Baker to
sit down beside her. "My niece Dorothy is much interested in the
child--she seems to have a faculty for discovering genius, has Dorothy."
"Well, I have not seen little Mary for some years, but there is no
mistaking her. Her mother, an actress, died in one of the charity wards of
the hospital, and I am afraid the child has inherited the fatal malady
from her mother. She looks now like a consumptive."
Mrs. White was startled. Certainly Mary was delicate in appearance, but
she had not thought of her as having a disease.
"There's no time to spare in her case," said the physician in a low
voice. "Bring her to me as soon as you can."
"Dorothy did not expect to have a real case assisted so promptly,"
remarked Mrs. White. "It is rather out of the ordinary--a patient playing
for her own benefit."
"I suspect that your pretty niece brought this child out with the sole
purpose of making her happy," said Dr. Baker, "and she evidently has no
idea how much real happiness she is destined to confer on her. Perhaps a
month later it would have been too late to save her.
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