Four people are saved."
His breast swelled. His gray eyes seemed literally to send forth smoke;
they suggested some noiseless deadly weapon of war. He exclaimed aloud:
"My God! what a power to lie in the hands of one man! I stand here the
arbiter of five destinies. It is for _me_ to say whether four people
shall be happy or wretched, saved or ruined. I might say, with Nero, 'I
am God!'" He laughed. "I am famed for my power to save where others have
failed. I am famed in the comic weeklies for having ruined the business
of more undertakers than any physician of my day. That has been my role,
my professional pride. I have never felt so proud as now."
The woman, who had been moving restlessly for some time, twitched
suddenly and uncontrollably. She opened her eyes.
"Give it to me--quick!" she demanded. Her voice, always querulous, was
raucous; her eyes were wild.
"No," he said, deliberately, "you will have no more morphine; not a
drop."
She stared at him incredulously, then laughed.
"Stop joking," she said, roughly. "Give it to me--quick--quick! I am
very weak."
"No," he said.
Then, as he continued to hold her eyes, her own gradually expanded with
terror. She raised herself on one arm.
Pages:
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94