CHAPTER XIX.
BODY AND SOUL.
BALSAMO was punctual and found, at six o’clock, Marat and his servant, a woman of all work, decking up the room with flowers in a vase in honor of the visitor. At sight of the master, the surgeon blushed more plainly than was becoming in a stoic.
“Where are we first going?” asked Balsamo when they got down to the street door.
“To Surgeon’ Hall,” was the reply. “I have selected a corpse there, a subject which died of acute meningitis; I have to make some observations on the brain and do not wish my colleagues to cut it up before I do.”
“Let us to the hall, then.”
“It is only a couple of steps; besides, you need not go in; you might wait for me at the door.”
“On the contrary, I want to go in with you and have your opinion on the subject, since it is a dead body.”
“Take care,” said Marat; “For I am an expert anatomist and have the advantage of you there.”
“Pride, more pride,” muttered the Italian.
“What is that?”