human
No, Doctor, said the young man,
gpt
I must begin sometime, and now's as good a time as any. So he struggled with the unwieldy sheets of paper, and finally managed to get his morning's reading done. When the time was up, he handed back his paper saying,
human
I see Tom Van Dorn is going on his vacation--does that mean Laura, too? The Doctor shook his head; and by way of taking the subject away from Laura he said:
gpt
Now about your damages, Grant--you know I'll stand by you with the Company, don't you--I'm no Van Dorn, if I am Company doctor. You ought to have good damages--for--
human
Damages! damages! cried Grant,
gpt
he looked lovingly at the stump beside him,
human
he said grimly.
gpt
Why, Doctor, if Uncle Dan and the other owners up town here only know what this stump will cost them, they would sue me for damages! I tell you those men in the mine there saved my life. Ever since then I've been trying to repay them, and here comes this chance to turn in a little on account, to bind the bargain, and now the men know how seriously I hold the debt. Damages? There was just a hint of fanaticism in his laugh; the Doctor looked at Grant quickly, then he sniffed,
human
Fine talk, Grant, fine talk for the next world, but it won't buy shoes for the baby in this,
gpt
Of course, said the Doctor,
human
Doctor, said the mother,
gpt
Well, that seems kind. I don't suppose you need read her the whole letter. Just tell her he is going to ask for a divorce--tell her it's incompatibility. But his letter isn't important.
human
Grant ought really to stay here another week--maybe we can stretch it to ten days--and let her have all the responsibility she'll take. It'll help her over the first bridge. Kenyon is taking care of Lila--I suppose?
gpt
Poor Laura--poor Laura--and Lila! You know when I had her down town with me yesterday, in the hallway leading to Joe Calvin's office, she met Tom-- The Doctor looked away for a moment.
human
It was pretty tough--her little heartbreak when he went by her without taking her up!
gpt
You can't tell me, my dear, that Tom isn't paying--I know how that sort of thing gets under his skin--he's too sensitive not to imagine all it means to the child. Mrs. Nesbit's face hardened and her husband saw her bitterness.
human
I know, my dear--I know how you feel--I feel all that, and yet in my very heart I'm sorry for poor Tom. He's swapping substance for shadow so recklessly--not only in this, not merely with Laura--but with everything--everything.
gpt
Good Lord, Jim, I don't see how you can agonize over a wool-dyed scoundrel like that--perhaps you have some tears for that Fenn hussy, too!
human
Well, squeaked the Doctor soberly--
gpt
I knew her father--a lecherous old beast who brought her up without restraint or morals--with a greedy philosophy pounded into her by example every day of her life until she was seventeen years old. There's something to be said--even for her, my dear--even for her.
human
Well, Jim Nesbit, answered his wife,
gpt
I'll go a long way with you in your tomfoolery, but so long as I've got to draw the line somewhere I draw it right there.
human
I suppose so-- he sighed, then lifted his head and said:
gpt
I was just trying to think of all the sorrows that come into the world, of all the tragedies I ever knew, and I have concluded that this tragedy of divorce when it comes like this--as it has come to our daughter--is the greatest tragedy in the world. To love as she loved and to find every anchor to which she tied the faith of her life rotten, to have her heart seared with faithlessness--to see her child--her flesh and blood scorned, to have her very soul spat upon--that's the essence of sorrow, my dear.