"You would have been compelled to start back," he said.
"Yes," said I, "and I had no food, and should have been compelled to wait till night to make a start."
Dr. Khayme was exceedingly cheerful; he smoked incessantly and faster than he usually smoked. The last thing I can remember before sleep overcame my senses was the thought that the idol's head looked alive, and that the smoke-clouds which rose above it and half hid the Doctor's face were not mere forms that would dissipate and be no more; they seemed living beings--servants attendant on their master's will.
The next day was cold and damp. I went out but little. I wrote some letters, and rested comfortably. The Doctor gave me the news that Yorktown had been invested, and that there was promise of a siege instead of a battle.
"They have found the Confederate lines too strong to be taken by assault," said he; "and while McClellan waits for reënforcements, there will be nothing to prevent the Confederates from being reënforced; so mote it be."
"What! You are not impatient?"
"Certainly not."
"And you are willing for the enemy to be reënforced?"
"Oh, yes; I know that the more costly the war the sooner it will end."