"It is all over," said Doctor Hillhouse as the eyes of Mrs. Carlton
unclosed a little while afterward and she looked up into his face.
He was no longer the impassive surgeon, but the tender and
sympathizing friend. His voice was flooded with feeling and moisture
dimmed his eyes.
What a look of sweet thankfulness came into the face of Mrs. Carlton
as she whispered, "And I knew nothing of it!" Then, shutting her
eyes and speaking to herself, she said, "It is wonderful. Thank God,
thank God!"
It was almost impossible to, restrain Mr. Carlton, so excessive was
his delight when the long agony of suspense was over. Doctor
Hillhouse had to grasp his arm tightly and hold him back as he
stooped down over his wife. In the blindness of his great joy he
would have lifted her in his arms.
"Perfect quiet," said the doctor. "There must be nothing to give her
heart a quicker pulsation. Doctor Angier will remain for half an
hour to see that all goes well."
The two surgeons then retired, Doctor Kline accompanying Doctor
Hillhouse to his office. The latter was silent all the way. The
strain over and the alcoholic stimulation gone, mind and body had
alike lost their abnormal tension.
"I must congratulate you, doctor," said the friendly surgeon who had
assisted in the operation. "It was even more difficult than I had
imagined. I never saw a case in which the sheathings of the internal
jugular vein and carotid artery were so completely involved.
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