Then he told me it was smallpox that destroyed his eyes, and he was only eighteen at the time.
"You must have suffered very much when they told you your sight was going?"
"Yes, sir. I had the hump for six weeks."
"What do you mean?"
"It doubled me up, that it did. I sat with my head in my hands for six weeks."
"And after that?"
"I didn't think any more about it—what was the good?"
"Yes, but it must be difficult not to think, sitting here all alone."
"One mustn't allow one's self to give way. One would break down if one did. I've some friends, and in the evening I get plenty of exercise."
"What do you do in the evenings?"