ork and who would be late for prayers.
When I talked about the cracks to my brother he said that perhaps
the ceiling would give way and fall on our heads. I thought about
this too, and found it quite easy to picture myself lying in the
bed with a smashed head, and blood all over the pillow. Then it
occurred to me that the plaster might smash me all over, and my
impressions of Farringdon Meat Market added a gruesome vividness
to my conception of the consequences. I always found it pleasant
to imagine horrible things; it was only the reality that made me
sick.

Towards nightfall I became a little feverish, and I heard the
grown-ups say that they would give me some medicine later on.
Medicine for me signified the nauseous powders of Dr. Gregory,
so I pretended to be asleep every time anyone came into the
room, in order to escape my destiny, until at last some one
stood by my bedside so long that I became cramped and had to
pretend to wake up. Then I was given the medicine, and found to
my surprise that it was delicious and tasted of oranges. I felt
that there had been a mistake somewhere, but my head sat a
little heavily on my shoulders, and I would not trouble to fix
the responsibility. This time I fell asleep in earnest, and woke
in the middle of the night to find my brother standing by my
bed, making noises with his mouth. I thought that he had gone
mad, and would kill me perhaps, but after a time he went back to
bed saying all the bad words he knew. The excitement had made me
wide awake, and I tossed about thinking of the cracked ceiling
above my head. The room was quite dark, and I could see nothing,
so that it might be bulging over me without my knowing it. I
stood up in bed and stretched up my arm, but I could not reach
the ceiling; yet when I lay down again I felt as though it had
sunk so far, that it was touching my hair, and I found it
difficult to breathe in such a small space. I was afraid to move
for fear of bringing it down upon me, and in a short while the
pressure upon my body became unbearable, and I shrieked out for
help. Some one came in and lit the gas, and found me looking
very foolish and my brother delirious. I fell asleep almost
immediately, but was conscious through my dreams that the gas
was still alight and that they were watching by my brother's
bedside.

In the morning he was very ill and I was no longer feverish, so it
was decided to move me back into my own bedroom. I was wrapped up in