Social problems -- Fiction; War stories; World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
“It's all right,” said he. “People always make a fuss when they're
given an anaesthetic, so don't let it frighten you.” And he stood
there waiting, rigid, grim, while the sounds went on. Finally they
died away and silence fell--a long, long silence. He opened the
door and went back into the other room, and the two Jimmies were
left holding each other's shaking hands.
Now and then they heard a man speak in a low voice, or someone move
across the room; and always that ghastly, overpowering odour kept
creeping in, making them think they would die of suffocation, and
their three babies also. The suspense and horror had become almost
unbearable--when finally they began to hear Lacey Granitch again,
moaning, sobbing--most harrowing sounds. “My God! My God!” whispered
Lizzie, “What are they doing?” And when Jimmie did not answer, she
whispered again. “We ought to stop them! We ought to get help!”
But then once more the door opened, and “Paul” came in. “It's all
right now,” he said. “He's coming out.” Neither of the Jimmies had
the least idea what “coming out” meant, but they were reassured to
know that the masterful person at least was satisfied. They waited;
they heard Lacey vomiting, as it seemed--and then they heard him
cursing, in between his feeble gasps. He called the men the same
foul name that he had called Jimmie; and that somehow made the whole
affair seem better--it brought one down to earth again!
“Paul” went out and stayed for a while, and when he came back, he
said, “We're going now; and understand, there's nothing for you to
worry about. We shall leave the patient here, and as soon as we get
to a telephone, we'll notify the hospital to send an ambulance. So
all you have to do is to wait, and keep quiet and don't worry. And
here's something for the use of your house--” The man put out his
hand with a roll of bills, which Jimmie mechanically took--“and if
anybody asks you about what happened to-night, just say you didn't
see anything and don't know anything whatever about it. I'm sorry to
have troubled you, but it couldn't be helped. And now, good night.”
And so the masterful young man went out, and they heard him and his
companions tramping down the porch-steps. They listened, until they
heard the automobile start up and disappear in the darkness. Then
from the next room they heard a moan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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