Page:Old ninety-nine's cave.djvu/172

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suffer defeat. You see, Miss Eletheer," he continued, "that is largely a question of business, with a business woman's responsibilities. A nurse must be just, loyal and self-sacrificing from an impersonal standpoint, believe in herself, and have perfect control over her emotions. She must 'take things as they are.'"

Dr. Herschel was a peculiarly gifted man aside from his professional attainments. A natural critic of human nature, wide experience had developed this trait into a seemingly occult power. He had also that tenderness, that charity of the strong for the weak, which constitutes the true man.

"Now here is our young friend's case. Very likely, to you his punishment seems disproportionate to the offense, and your doubt is a natural one; but finite minds cannot comprehend the Infinite, nor in instances like the present one, see justice. Nature does not specialize,—sin is sin. Sin and punishment spring from the same root. This is true of all the minor events of life; worrying over irre-