It has done so in
this case. Yes, Mr. Birtwell, three lives, and a fourth now
flickering like an expiring candle.
"I would spare you all this if I dared, if I could be
conscience-clear," continued Mr. Elliott. "But I would be faithless
to my duty if I kept silent. You know the sad case of Mrs. Carlton?"
"You don't mean to lay that, too, at my door!" exclaimed Mr.
Birtwell.
"Not directly; it was one of the secondary effects. I had a long
conversation with Dr. Hillhouse to-day. His health has failed
rapidly for some months past, and he is now much broken down. You
know that he performed the operation which cost Mrs. Carlton her
life? Well, the doctor has never got over the shock of that
catastrophe. It has preyed upon his mind ever since, and is one of
the causes of his impaired health."
"I should call that a weakness," returned Mr. Birtwell. "He did his
best. No one is safe from accidents or malign influences. I never
heard that Mr. Carlton blamed him."
"Ah, these malign influences!" said the clergyman. "They meet us
everywhere and hurt us at every turn, and yet not one of them could
reach and affect our lives if some human hand did not set them free
and send them forth among men to, hurt and to destroy. And now let
me tell you of the interview I had with Dr. Hillhouse to-day. He has
given his consent, but with this injunction: we cannot speak of it
to others."
"I will faithfully respect his wishes," said Mr.
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