A woman's voice answered
him. A moment later, the door was opened by a nurse in plain hospital
dress.
"Good evening, nurse!" my companion said cheerfully. "This gentleman
would like to see Mr. Guest! Is he awake?"
The nurse opened the door a little wider, which I took for an invitation
to enter. She closed it softly behind me. My guide remained outside.
The room was a very small one, and furnished after the usual hotel
fashion. The only light burning was a heavily-shaded electric lamp,
placed by the bedside. The nurse raised it a little, and looked down upon
the man who lay there motionless.
"He is asleep," she remarked. "It is time he took his medicine. I must
wake him!"
She spoke with a pronounced foreign accent. Her fair hair and stolid
features left me little doubt as to her nationality. I was conscious of a
strong and instinctive dislike to her from the moment I heard her speak
and watched her bending over the bed. I think that her face was one of
the most unsympathetic which I had ever seen.
She poured some medicine into a glass, and turned on another electric
light.
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