only jest a
slit to the top to let a little streak of light in. "Set down a
minit," she says; an' when she let go of the trumpet her hand shook
so't I could see it. She opened the door in the back of the room, an'
I see there was a screen on the other side so I couldn't see the room,
but I got up an' tiptoed to the door. The carpet was awful thick there
an' in the hall, though it was old enough too.

'She hadn't shet the door tight, an' I heard her say, "Wake up, Bob."
An' then a sort of question; an' she says ag'in, "The nurse has come
after all, and you can go and sleep now." Then I heard a man say,
"What made the old gal so late, blast her eyes! I'd go an' give her a
good old blessin' if she wasn't sech a crank-mouthed jade." An' then
he seemed to be stirrin', an' I 'most thought he was comin' in; but
then he says, "Git her in here, an' then git me somethin' ter eat. I
can't sleep when I'm so holler." "Won't you come in an' speak to her,
Bob?" says the woman, "an' tell her 'bout the med'cin'; I'm so tired."

'Then I was scairt ag'in, though I declare I felt sorry fer that poor
crittur of a woman.

'But the man snarled at her, and says, "Naw, I won't; I'm tired's you
be. Hustle now, an' bring me the grub mighty quick."

'I scooted back to my chair then, and in a minit or so she come in an'
motioned me to come into the other room. I see they had mistook me for
some deef nurse, an' I begun to think I'd grabbed more'n I could hold,
an' to wish I was out. But I went in, an' if ever a woman was struck
all of a heap, 'twas me.'

She paused as if mentally reviewing the scene once more, and I fairly
quivered with anticipation and anxiety for what the next words might
develop.

'I had noticed that there was three winders on the alley side of the
house,' she resumed, 'an' there bein' only one in the front room, of
course I looked to see one sure in this, an' mebbe two, but there
wasn't a winder; the wall on that side was smooth, only at the winder
place was a kind of cubbard arrangement like, an' the room was lit by
a kerosene lamp. It was furnished quite good, too; but in a corner on
the bed laid a young man, as good-lookin' about as they make 'em; only
he was dretful pale an' thin, an' he 'peared to be sleepin'.

'"There's yer patient," says the woman, through the tube. "There ain't
nothin' to do now only ter give him drink, an' not let him talk if he
wakes. He sleeps a good deal, an' when he wakes up he's out of his