THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 337 
the afflicted Alice all the aid which skill and 
the most careful nursing could give. In pur¬ 
suance of his plan she had been removed to an 
institution in New York where cases kindred to 
hers were made a specialty. Her improvement 
had already been such as to give strong hope 
of a final and permanent restoration to health 
and strength. The doctor felt assured of this 
final happy consummation, and so wrote to 
Davidson when acknowledging his very accept¬ 
able letter. 
The prompt response to this was, as might 
have been expected: “ Let nothing be wanting 
that will contribute to a speedy and successful 
issue.” 
The reader is now asked to pass over a pe¬ 
riod of two years or more in the history of the 
personages who have figured in the preced¬ 
ing pages. During this time, however, some 
marked changes have taken place which must 
be noted. The two young men had success¬ 
fully graduated with honor—Davidson, as Ru¬ 
dolph predicted, at the head of his class, an 
unusually large and talented one. Rudolph 
was pursuing his legal studies, but had found 
29 w 
