 Each night before they go to sleep, Dr. Larch says to the boys, "Goodnight you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England", as both encouragement and a kind of blessing.Homer, the oldest among the orphans, is very bright, helpful and even-tempered, so Larch trains him in obstetrics and abortions as an apprentice, despite Homer's never having attended high school.Homer disapproves of abortions, and, although he has been trained by Larch in the field, he refuses to perform them.