Evening star., 1932-04-13
INSTALLMENT xxx.

T%HEN Martin went off in q deep
sleep for several minutes. as it
seemed to him, before he be-
came half awake again. He
slept and walked while he jour
neyed on as before, slept and walked,
always with a mist before his eyes in
a dense veil He was suffocated with
the drugs as if with pillows. But by
degrees the oppression lightened and
became easier to bear. And at last he
slept in earnest. He fell into light
and dreamleSS sleep, and when he
walked, it was a real awakening to
yellow sunlight that filled the ward
The sun shone in at an open window.
Trailers of wild vine hung in front OF
It. softly transfused with reddish
glow. Through them, something gilt
tered far away. 1t was the lake, and
something white and blue, rose above
the woods. This was the Iron Tooth.
There was even a piece of the sky, vast
and distant, to be seen through the
hospital window. Martin felt well, very
well, indeed, quite unusually well. Cau-
tiously, he turned his head a little
farther; and the next thing he saw
was a dog lying asleep on the floor at
his bedside. Tiger" Martin whispered.
The sight of Tiger touched him. Every
thing was still with the calm of utter
peace. And now the church clock
struck. The noise was almost too much
for his frayed and tattered nerves. He
could have burst into tears. Tiger
heard it in his sleep, and gently swiShed
his tail. Some one moved on chair
and wriggled quickly to her feet in an
apron much too large for her.
"Puck?" Martin said in tender de-
light and surprise.
"Well-do you feel better?" asked
Puck, as she laid her hand on his
temples and then in the hollow of his
neck, like an anxious mother. You
have no fever now. You've come
through"
Martin thought. He was conscious
of having something good behind and
also in front of him, and he was con-
scious of something bad; but what 1t
was he could not make out. He felt a
sharp but healthy and almost pleasant
pain in his shoulder.
Yes, I'm through now" he said
slowly, rejecting. His head was clear
but vacant. Have you been with me
all the time?" he asked gratefully.
"Oh, no. Not all the time. The two
of us have taken turns" Puck replied.
Isn't 1t raining?" Martin asked. as
he drew a breath of the air that came
in at the window, laden with the smell
of water and tarred boats and pine
woods and alpine meadows.
mo. It's quite fine said Puck smil-
ing. She stood a moment longer with
her hand on his hair, gazing at him
strangely with look of compoSure, a
look of absorption and even of resigna-
tion. Come along, Tiger. We must go
now" she said then. Tiger jumped up
e4r I,frocoif ur1d fa1lnxxraI
Puck out of the room without so much
as a glance at Martin. Martin, feeling
rather forSaken, was left alone with his
throbs of pain and his drowsy sense of
something he could not recall. A big
f1v came buzZing in from the green and
gold sunshine and kept him company.
He followed it with his eyes as it swung
out again.
. The door opened. "You must tell me,
Puck, what is really the matter with
me-" Martin murmured with a kind of
shame
1t was May who answered. There's
nothing the matter with you. Every
things all right"
Yes, it was May who made this
answer She stood in the middle of
the room, tall, erect, and smiling. She,
too, wore white apron, but for her it
was too short. Her eyes were golden
shells full of water, but, of course, she
disguised her tears and did not cry, as
she sat down on the edge of the bed as
naturally as if she had been married to
him for years and had Just come In to
see how he was. Martins heart beat
hard enough to burst his ribs.
What do you mean?" He had no
breath for more
''Well-iust that. The young baron
ess telegraphed for me that they were
going to amputate your arm and so
drove over without losing a moment
Not bad-340 kilometers in seven ana
a half hours-considering it was
through the mountains with scarcely
ever stretch Of straight road. I was
here before you came round"
"God-you're a dear" Martin
murmured. as he put his hands out 10