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

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“We will come in if you like later on to screw down the lid,” he said.

“The lid had better be screwed on now,” said the nurse. “There are signs of mortification already setting in, and it would be unwise to leave the coffin uncovered any longer. Miss Evershed or Mrs. Pelham might come up to see the corpse; it would not be safe, and I wish to have the lid screwed on at once.”

“All right, Miss, we’ll soon put things straight.”

The men put on the lid and screwed it down, and then they went away. The moment they did so a queer look came over Nurse Ives’s impassive face. She went quickly to the door of the room and locked it. Then, taking a turnscrew, she hastily unfastened the screws and removed the lid from the top of the coffin. Having done this, she lifted the body out.

Once again she laid it on the bed, and now she piled warm blankets over the little body, and put a hot bottle, which she had previously got ready, to the feet. Then, going to the dressing-room, she brought away a small box which contained capsules of amyl nitrite. She broke one of the capsules in a handkerchief, and, holding it close to the nostrils of the child, a strong and pungent odor filled the room. The face of the dead underwent no perceptible change at first, but then the faint color in the cheeks increased. A look of triumph filled the nurse’s eyes.