"
William King, standing behind the chair that held the forlorn and
quivering heap, ventured gently: "Samuel says that Sam was cleaning
his pistol, and--"
But Dr. Lavendar held up his hand and William was silent.
"Hold your tongue;" said Benjamin Wright. "Lavendar knows I don't like
lies. Yes; my fault. I've done it again. Second time. Second time.
Simmons! Get these--gentlemen some--whiskey."
Simmons, his yellow jaws mumbling with terror, looked at Dr. Lavendar,
who nodded. But even as the old man got himself together, the brain
flagged; William saw the twist come across the mouth, and the eyes
blink and fix.
It was not a very severe shock, and after the first moments of alarm,
the doctor said quietly; "He is not dying."
But he was, of course, perfectly helpless and silenced; his miserable
eyes seemed to watch them, fixedly, as they carried him to his bed,
and did what little could be done; but he could make no demand, and
offer no explanation.
It was not until late in the afternoon that William King had time to
go to the Stuffed Animal House. He had had a gravely absorbing day;
not only because of the Wrights' pitiful demands upon his time, but
because of the necessary explanations and evasions to Old Chester. To
his wife evasions were impossible, he gave her an exact statement of
the facts as he knew them. Martha, listening, and wiping her eyes, was
shocked into fairness and sympathy.
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