It was an appalling experience, that ride. Try it yourself. Ride through the streets with your eyes darkened: you will hear a thousand sounds you never heard before, even familiar sounds will be fearsome. Every jolt, every stoppage will seem momentous. I was glad the doctor did not come with me, glad that no one saw me so afraid. At last we stopped and I heard the cabby call. "Hey! there. Come out and take this man." I revolted at my helplessness, pushed the door open and stumbled as I stepped out. I would have fallen heavily, if an orderly had not been there to catch me. "You must be careful at first, Mister," he said. "You’ll get used to it in time." That was just what I was afraid of—getting used to the darkness! However, his words jogged my pride. The ways of the gods seemed funny to me again, and I joked with him as he led me up some stairs and into a receiving room. The house surgeon, to me only a voice, was nervously cheerful. He kept saying, "It’ll be all right." "It’ll be all right." He seemed to be dancing about in all directions. My ears had not become accustomed to locating sounds. I suppose he moved about normally, but he seemed to talk from a different angle every time. "This is Miss Barton," he said at last. "She is day nurse in your ward. She’ll make you comfortable." Mechanically I thrust my hand out into the darkness. It was met and grasped by something I knew to be a hand, but it did not feel like any hand I had ever seen. "I’m glad to meet you," I said. With some jest about people not usually being glad to meet nurses, she led me off to the elevator and my room. "You’ve quite a job before you—exploring this place," she said with real cheer in her voice. "There are all sorts of adventures in this _terra incognita_. Everything is cushioned so you can’t bang your shins, but watch out for your toes. At first you’d better stay in bed for a few days and rest. Have you all you need in your valise?" "I don’t know. A servant packed it." "Well then. That’s the first bit of exploring to do. I’ll help you." Her voice also jumped about surprisingly. There was something weird in being in a room with an utter stranger whose existence was only manifested by this apparently erratic voice and by hands which unsnarled my shoe laces, handed me my pajamas, and put me to bed. "I must run off now and attend to Mrs. Stickney, next door—she is very fussy. The night nurse, Miss Wright, comes on pretty soon, at six. She’ll bring you your supper. When you wake up in the morning, ring the bell, here over your head, and I’ll bring you breakfast. Good night." It was when she had gone and I alone there in the strange bed, that I first felt the awful void of the darkness. I do not like to think of it now.