Ridley,
and were admitted by that gentleman, whose pale, haggard, frightened
face told of his anguish and alarm. They asked him no questions, and
he preceded them in silence to the chamber of his sick wife. It
needed no second glance at their patient to tell the two doctors
that she was in great extremity. Her pinched face was ashen in color
and damp with a cold sweat, and her eyes, no longer wild and
restless, looked piteous and anxious, as of one in dreadful
suffering who pleaded mutely for help. An examination of her pulse
showed the beat to be frequent and feeble, and on the slightest
movement she gave signs of pain. Her respiration was short and very
rapid. Mr. Ridley was present, and standing in a position that
enabled him to observe the faces of the two doctors as they
proceeded with their examination. Hope died as he saw the
significant changes that passed over them. When they left the
sick-chamber, he left also, and walked the floor anxiously while
they sat in consultation, talking together in low tones. Now and
then he caught words, such as "peritoneum," "lesion," "perforation,"
etc., the fatal meaning of which he more than half guessed.
They were still in consultation when a sudden cry broke from the
lips of Mrs. Ridley; and rising hastily, they went back to her
chamber. Her face was distorted and her body writhing with pain.
Doctor Hillhouse wrote a prescription hastily, saying to Mr.
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