"
He had no sympathy with men who lived the lives of swine: his heart was
with the workers.
Of course, Hilda Wade soon suggested that, as an operation was
absolutely necessary, Number Fourteen would be a splendid subject on
whom to test once more the effects of lethodyne. Sebastian, with his
head on one side, surveying the patient, promptly coincided. "Nervous
diathesis," he observed. "Very vivid fancy. Twitches her hands the right
way. Quick pulse, rapid perceptions, no meaningless unrest, but deep
vitality. I don't doubt she'll stand it."
We explained to Number Fourteen the gravity of the case, and also the
tentative character of the operation under lethodyne. At first, she
shrank from taking it. "No, no!" she said; "let me die quietly." But
Hilda, like the Angel of Mercy that she was, whispered in the girl's
ear: "IF it succeeds, you will get quite well, and--you can marry
Arthur."
The patient's dark face flushed crimson.
"Ah! Arthur," she cried. "Dear Arthur! I can bear anything you choose to
do to me--for Arthur!"
"How soon you find these things out!" I cried to Hilda, a few minutes
later. "A mere man would never have thought of that.
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