Dr.Stiles had long been advocating such a campaign as an indispensable preliminary to improving Southern life.

But the humorous aspect of the hookworm always interfered with his cause; the microbe of laziness had at last been found! It was not until Dr.Stiles, in the course of this Southern trip, cornered Page in a Pullman car, that he finally found an attentive listener.

Page, of course, had his preliminary laugh, but then the hookworm began to work on his imagination.

He quickly discovered that Dr.Stiles was no fool; and before the expedition was finished, he had become a convert and, like most converts, an extremely zealous one.

The hookworm now filled his thoughts as completely as it did those of his friend; he studied it, he talked about it; and characteristically he set to work to see what could be done.