"Burke, is that dreadful man a doctor?"
"The only one I could get hold of," said Burke. "Yes, he's a
doctor all right. Saul Kieff his name is. I admit he's a
scoundrel, but anyway he's keen on his job."
"You think he'll save Guy?" she said tremulously. "Oh, Burke, he
must be saved! He must be saved!"
An odd look came into Burke's eyes. She remembered it later,
though it was gone in an instant like the sudden flare of lightning
across a dark sky.
"We shall do our best," he said. "You stay here till I come back!"
She let him go. Somehow that look had given her a curious shock
though she did not understand it. She heard the door shut firmly
behind him, and she huddled herself down upon the pillow and lay
still.
She wished he had not made her drink that fiery draught. All her
senses were in a tumult, and yet her body felt as if weighted with
lead. She lay listening tensely for every sound, but the silence
was like a blanket wrapped around her--a blanket which nothing
seemed to penetrate.
It seemed to overwhelm her at last, that silence, to blot out the
clamour of her straining nerves, to deprive her of the power to
think. Though she did not know it, the stress of that night's
horror and vigil had worn her out. She sank at length into a deep
sleep from which it seemed that nought could wake her.
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