Page:Rowland--The Mountain of Fears.djvu/308

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

THE MOUNTAIN OF FEARS

blinded man, with his high vitality and potent perceptions, one could not conceive of such a thing as reconciliation, nor did it arrive as such. . . ."

"The first inkling I had of the change was while we were going down the Red Sea. I had gone to pay my usual afternoon visit; one of the mess boys was coming from Dalton's room, and as he stepped into the corridor I heard Dalton's voice say peevishly:

"'Be sure to get it well done and plenty of gravy . . . do you hear, plenty of gravy.'

"Ach! For no reason the words shocked me more than when he had told me of his wish to die! Plenty of gravy . . .! What could it matter to a man newly blind if his gravy were of gall and wormwood? What could it matter?"

"Dalton had before this time recovered from the physical effects of the shock; the epidermis of his face had not been deeply burned; the danger to his eyes was due to the fact that the irritation of the caustic had in-

[ 292 ]