Читать книгу On the Brink of a Chasm: A record of plot and passion онлайн

62 страница из 79

“‘You must not move him too much,’ I said; ‘in the state of his heart the least exertion is bad.’”

“Bad!” exclaimed Tarbot. “In the condition the child was in, the slightest movement might have proved fatal.”

Pelham’s face, already white, now looked ghastly. He ceased to touch little Piers’s curls. With his arms flung at his sides, he turned and faced the doctor.

“May I continue the story?” he asked abruptly.

“Certainly,” said Tarbot, turning and facing him.

“I thought the boy very bad; I noticed how weak he was and the blue look round his lips. I asked the nurse if he ought not to have some medicine. She told me that his medicine was finished, and that the chemist had not yet sent a fresh supply. I then asked her to give him brandy. She brought some. I endeavored to put a little between his lips. Nurse came up and watched me as I did so.

“‘He ought to have the proper medicine,’ she said.

“She asked me to fetch it. She gave me the address of the chemist, and I rushed off. I was absent about ten minutes. When I came back with the medicine the boy was looking very queer and white. Nurse took the bottle into the dressing-room and I accompanied her. She poured out a dose and gave it to me. She stayed in the dressing-room while I went back to the room. The light was dim, for the boy complained of it hurting his eyes. I raised him up and managed to get the medicine between his lips. I had scarcely done so before nurse came back. She said he ought to be better now, that the medicine was a very strong heart stimulant and ought to act immediately.