Last night the room had been shadowed and dim, with only a little lamp
on the white reading-stand beside the bed, and he had gone to sleep
almost as soon as Mr. York and Steve had helped him between the cool,
soft sheets. Now, in the early morning light, the room looked much
larger, and so bright and cheerful that it was a pleasure to just lie
there and look about.
There were three windows on two sides of the spacious room, and through
each of them, below the shade, Sam could see blue sky between the green
branches of trees. On the reading-stand, beside the small lamp with its
pale-blue shade, lay two magazines and a book and a glass tray that
held a pitcher of water, a drinking-glass, and matches. The bed was
enamelled white and over the footboard lay a dainty cream-white puff
with blue poppies sprawling over it. Grey rag rugs with blue borders
were spread here and there on the polished floor. Two wicker chairs,
prettily cushioned in the prevailing colours, flanked a red brick
fireplace in the middle of the further wall, and a straight-backed
white-enamelled chair was half hidden under Sam’s clothes. A table
between two of the windows held his old-fashioned valise.
Sam sighed luxuriously and wondered what time it was. Not, however,
that it mattered much, he supposed, for he had been told that he was
not to get up this morning until he had had his breakfast and his
knee had been rebandaged. He snuggled his head more comfortably in
the generous pillow, inadvertently moving his knee and grimacing as
a result, and recalled last evening. The trip in Mr. York’s roadster
had occupied but a very few minutes, for which Sam had been very
thankful, since, in spite of all the trouble they had taken to arrange
him comfortably beside Mr. York, the jarring had set his knee thumping
painfully. Steve had ridden on the running-board and had helped lift
him in and out of the car. Sam remembered the big room into which they
had entered from the twilight darkness, a room of dark woodwork and red
hangings and cushions and many lamps which left the upper part of the
room in pleasant and mysterious gloom. He hadn’t been allowed to see
much down there, though, for they had at once carried him up a broad
flight of stairs and into this blue-and-white chamber, the like of
which Sam had never viewed. He remembered saying good night to Steve
and having his knee done up afresh in cool, wet cloths, and--well, not
much after that. He must have gone to sleep almost the next instant!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account