'At your sarvice, Ma'am—Sir,' replied Moore, with submissive alacrity.
'Come in here, then. Come in, will you?' cried the doctor, hauling him in with his great red hand.
'There now—there now—there—there,' he said gruffly, extending his palm to keep off poor Mrs. Sturk.
So he shut the door, and poor Mrs. Sturk heard him draw the bolt, and felt that her Barney had passed out of her hands, and that she could do nothing for him now but clasp her hands and gasp up her prayers for his deliverance; and so great indeed was her anguish and panic, that she had not room for the feminine reflection how great a brute Doctor Dillon was.
So she heard them walking this way and that, but could not distinguish what they said, only she heard them talking; and once or twice a word reached her, but not very intelligible, such as—
''Twas Surgeon Beauchamp's—see that'
'Mighty curious.'
Then a lot of mumbling, and
'Cruciform, of course.'
This was said by Doctor Dillon, near the door, where he had come to take an additional candle from the table that stood there; as he receded it lost itself in mumble again, and then she heard quite plainly—