"Aren't you well, Ernst?"
"I'm quite well."
"Then what is it?"
"What do you mean?"
"What was the matter with you last night?"
"Nothing. I was suffocating."
"Are you better now?"
"Yes."
He seemed to be speaking mechanically, under the influence of the last glimmer of intelligence, for his voice sounded uncertain and unreal, as though he were not quite conscious of what he was saying.
"Come, old chap," said Gerrit, with good-natured bluntness, laying his hand on Ernst's shoulder.