What it cost her to keep them
in anything like order!
When she retired, I heard her expectorating
violently in the corridor; a habit with every inmate of this genial
hostelry.
When the worst of my fever had subsided, the difficulty was to
obtain any nourishment suitable to my state. The good doctor, who
had suggested beefsteak and Marsala when I was incapable of taking
anything at all, ruled me severely in the matter of diet now that I
really began to feel hungry. I hope I may never again be obliged to
drink goat's milk; in these days it became so unutterably loathsome
to me that I had, at length, to give it up altogether, and I cannot
think of it now without a qualm. The broth offered me was infamous,
mere coloured water beneath half an inch of floating grease. Once
there was a promise of a fowl, and I looked forward to it eagerly;
but, alas! this miserable bird had undergone a process of seething
for the extraction of soup. I would have defied anyone to
distinguish between the substance remaining and two or three old kid
gloves boiled into a lump. With a pleased air, the hostess one day
suggested a pigeon, a roasted pigeon, and I welcomed the idea
joyously. Indeed, the appearance of the dish, when it was borne in,
had nothing to discourage my appetite - the odour was savoury; I
prepared myself for a treat. Out of pure kindness, for she saw me
tremble in my weakness, the good woman offered her aid in the
carving; she took hold of the bird by the two legs, rent it asunder,
tore off the wings in the same way, and then, with a smile of
satisfaction, wiped her hands upon her skirt. If her hands had known
water (to say nothing of soap) during the past twelve months I am
much mistaken. It was a pity, for I found that my teeth could just
masticate a portion of the flesh which hunger compelled me to
assail.
Of course I suffered much from thirst, and Dr. Sculco startled me
one day by asking if I liked tea. Tea? Was it really procurable?
The Doctor assured me that it could be supplied by the chemist;
though, considering how rarely the exotic was demanded, it might
have lost something of its finer flavour whilst stored at the
pharmacy. An order was despatched. Presently the waiter brought me a
very small paper packet, such as might have contained a couple of
Seidlitz powders; on opening it I discovered something black and
triturated, a crumbling substance rather like ground charcoal. I
smelt it, but there was no perceptible odour; I put a little of it
to my tongue, but the effect was merely that of dust. Proceeding to
treat it as if it were veritable tea, I succeeded in imparting a
yellowish tinge to the hot water, and, so thirsty was I, this
beverage tempted me to a long draught.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 42 of 78
Words from 21303 to 21810
of 40398
