Farewell Nikola: Chapter 09

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter nine, a Farewell Nicola by Guy boothby this LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. Chapter nine. With a
heart as heavy as lead, I made my way downstairs, and,
having charted a gondola, bade the man take me to
the palace for Ravicy with all possible haste. Old Gallaghatty

(00:23):
stood upon the steps, nodded vehement approval, and rubbed his
hands with delight as he thought of the triumph his
great doctor must inevitably achieve. As I left the hotel,
I looked back at it with a feeling of genuine sorrow.
Only a few days before our party had all been
so happy together, and now one was stricken down with

(00:44):
a mysterious malady that, so far as I could see,
was likely to end in her death. Whether the gondolier
had been admonished by Gallaghatty to make haste and was
anxious to do so in sympathy with my trouble, I
cannot say. The fact, however, remains that were pomplish the
distance that separated the hotel from the palace in what
could have been little more than half the time usually taken.

(01:07):
My star was still in the ascendant when we reached
the palace. But when I had disembarked at the steps,
the old man who did menial service for Niccola had
just opened it and looked out. I inquired whether his
master was at home, and if so, whether I could
see him. He evidently realized that my Italian was one
of the most rudimentary description, for it was necessary for

(01:28):
me to repeat my question three or four times before
he could comprehend my meaning. When at last he did so,
he pointed up the stairs to signify that Niccola was
at home, and also that if I desired to see him,
I had better go in search of him. I immediately
did so, and hastened up the stairs to the room
I have already described, and of which I entertained such

(01:49):
ghastly recollections. I knocked upon the door, and a well
known voice bade me in English to come in. I
was in too great a haste to fulfill my mission
to observe at the time, I am the significance of
these words contain. It was not until afterwards I remembered
the fact that, as we approached the palace, I'd looked
up at Nichola's window and had seen no sign of

(02:10):
him there, And as I had not rung the bell,
but had been admitted by the old man servant, how
could he have become aware of my presence? But as
I say, I thought of all that afterwards. For the moment,
the only desire I had was to inform Nichola of
my Errand upon entering the room, I found Nichola standing

(02:31):
before a table on which were glasses testubes of various
chemical paraphernamia. He was engaged in pouring some dark colored
fluid into a graduating glass, and when he spoke it
was without looking round at me. I am very glad
to see you, my dear Hatteras he said, it is
kind of you to take pity on my loneliness. If
you don't mind sitting down for a few moments and

(02:53):
lighting a cigar and find a box on the table,
I shall have finished this and then we can talk.
I'm afraid I can't wait, I answered, I've come on
the most important business. There's not a moment to lose
in that case. I supposed that Miss Trevor is worse,
he said, putting down the bottle from which he'd been pouring,
and afterwards replacing the glass stopper. With the same hand.

(03:15):
I was afraid it might be so. How do you
know that she is ill? I asked, not a little
surprised to hear that he was aware of our trouble.
I managed to know a good many things, he replied.
I was aware that she was ill and have been
wondering how long it would be before I was called in.
The other doctors don't like my interference. I suppose they
certainly do not, I answered, They have done no good

(03:36):
for her, and you think I may be able to
help you, he inquired, looking at me over the graduating
glass with his strange dark eyes. I certainly do, I replied.
I am your debtor for the compliment, and you will
come you really wish it. I believe it's the only
thing that will save her life, I answered, But you
must come quickly or it'd be too late. She was

(03:58):
sinking when I left the hotel. With a hand that
never shook, he poured the contents of the glass into
a small file and then placed the latter in his pocket.
I am at your disposal now, he answered. HE will
set off as soon as you like. As you say,
we must lose no time. But will it not be
necessary for you to take some drugs with you, I asked,

(04:18):
I am taking this one, he replied, placing his hat
upon his head as he spoke. I remembered that he
had been making his prescription up as I entered the room.
Had he then intended calling to see her? Even supposing
I had not come to ask his assistance, I had
no chance of putting the question to him. However, have
you a gondola below? He asked? As we went down

(04:39):
the stairs, I replied in the affirmative, And when we
gained the hall door, we descended the steps and took
our places in it. On reaching the hotel, I conducted
into the drawing room, where we found the Dean and
Glen Barth eagerly awaiting our coming. I presented the former
to Niccola and went off to inform my wife of
his arrival. She accompanied me back to the drawing room,

(05:01):
and when she entered the room, Nichola crossed it to
receive her. Though she looked at him in a frightened way,
I thought his manner soon put her at her ease.
Perhaps you will be kind enough to take me to
my patient, he said, When they had greeted each other,
as the case is so serious, I'd better lose no
time in seeing her. He followed my wife and the room,
and then we sat down to await his verdict. With

(05:24):
what anxiety you may imagine. Of all that transpired during
his stay with Miss Trevor, I can only speak from hearsay.
My wife, however, was unfortunately too agitated to remember everything
that occurred. She informed me that on entering the room,
he advanced very quietly towards the bed, and for a
few moments stood looking down at the frail burden that

(05:45):
supported and he felt her pulse, lifted the lids of
her eyes, and, for a space during which a man
might have counted fifty, slowly he laid his hand upon
her forehead. Then, turning to the nurse, who had of
course heard of the withdrawal of the other doctors, he
bade her bring in a wine glass of ice water.

(06:07):
She disappeared, and while she was absent, Nicholas sat by
the bedside, holding the sick girl's hand, and never for
a moment taking his eyes from her face. Presently, the
woman returned, bringing the water as directed. He took it
from her, and, going to the window, poured from a
file which he had taken from his pocket some twenty
drops of the dark liquid it contained. Then, with a

(06:29):
spoon he gave her nearly half of the contents of
the glass. This done, he once more seated himself beside
the bed and waited patiently for the result. Several times
within the next half hour he bent over the recumbent
figure and was evidently surprised at not seeing some change
which he expected would take place. At the end of

(06:51):
that time, he gave her another spoonful of the liquid,
and once more sat down to watch. When an hour
had passed, he permitted a sigh of satisfaction to escape him.
In turning to my wife, whose anxiety was plainly expressed
upon her face, he said, I think, Lady Hatteras, that
you may tell them that she will not die. There
is still much to be done, but I pledge my

(07:12):
word that she will live. The reaction was too much
for my wife. She felt as if she were choking.
Then she turned diddy, and was at last possessed with
a frantic desire to cry. Softly, leaving the room, she
came in search of us. The moment that she opened
the door of the drawing room, and I looked upon
her face. I knew that there was good news for us.

(07:33):
What does he say about her? Cried the Duke for
getting the deans present, while the latter rose and drew
a step nearer without speaking a word. There is good news,
she said, fumbling with a handkerchief in a suspicious manner.
Doctor Nicholas says she will live. Thank God. We all
sit in one breath, and Glen Barth murmured something more
than I did not catch. So implicit was our belief,

(07:56):
in Nicola, that, as you have doubtless observed, we accepted
his verdict without a second thought. I kissed my wife
and then shook hands solemnly with the Dean. The Duke could, meanwhile, vanish,
presumed ably, to his own apartment, where he could meditate
on certain matters undisturbed. After that, Phyllis left us and

(08:17):
returned to the sick room, where she found Niccola still
seated beside the bed, just as she had left him.
So far as she could judge, Miss Trevor did not
appear to be any different, and perhaps she did not
breathe as heavily as she had hitherto done. Niccola, however,
appeared to be well satisfied, he nodded approvingly to Phyllis
as she entered, and then returned to his contemplation of

(08:39):
his patient once more. In this fashion, hour after hour
went by me. Once during each my wife would come
to me with reassuring bulletins. Miss Trevor was, if anything,
a little better. She did not seem so restless as before.
The fever seems to be abating. And then towards nine
o'clock that night, at last Ghostwode was sleeping peacefully. It

(09:02):
was not, however, until nearly midnight, that Nicholla himself made
his appearance. The worst is over, he said, approaching the dean.
Your daughter is now asleep and will only require watching
for the next two hours. At the end of that
time I shall return. I shall hope to find a
decided improvement in her condition. I can never thank you enough,

(09:22):
my dear sir, said the worthy old clergyman, shaking the
other by the hand, while the tears ran down his
wrinkled cheeks. But for your wonderful skill, there can be
no sort of doubt that she will be lost to
us now. She is my only child. My you, lamb,
and may heave him Bless you for your goodness to me,
I thought. Niccola looked at him rather curiously as he
said this. It was the first time I had seen

(09:44):
Nichola brought into the society of a dignitary of the
English Church, and I was anxious to see how the
pair comported themselves. Under the circumstances. A couple more diametrically
opposed could be scarcely imagined. They were as oil and water,
and could scarcely be expected to assimilate. Sir, I should
have been less than human if I had not done

(10:06):
everything possible to save that beautiful young life, said Nichola,
with what was to me the suggestion of a double
meaning in his speech. And now you must me to
bid you good bye for the present two hours, I
shall return again. Thinking he might prefer to remain near
his patient, I pressed him to stay at the hotel,
offering to do all that lay in my power to

(10:28):
make him comfortable. But he would not hear of such
a thing. As you should be aware by this time,
I never rest away from my own house, he answered,
in a tone that settled the matter once and for all.
If anything should occur in the meantime, send for me,
and I will come at once. I do not apprehend
any change. However, when he had gone, I went in

(10:50):
search of the Duke and found him in his own room.
Dickie said, look at me and tell me if you
can see any difference. I feel as though I had
passed through years of suffering. Another week would have made
an old man of me. How is she now progressing famously?
I answered, you need not look so skeptical, for this
must surely be the case, since Nicholer has gone home

(11:11):
to take some rest and will not return for two hours.
He wrung my hand on hearing this. How little I dreamt?
He said, when we were confined in that wretched room
in Porte Saide, and when he played that trick upon
me in Sydney, that some day he was destined to
do me the greatest service any man has ever done
me in my life. Did I tell you that those

(11:31):
other medicals did not know what they were doing, That
Niccola is the greatest doctor in the world. I admitted
that he had given me the first assurance, but I
was not so certain about the latter. Then, realizing how
he must be feeling, I proposed that we should row
down the canal for a breath of fresh sea air.
At first, the Duke was refusing the invitation. Eventually, however,

(11:52):
he assented, and when we had induced the Dean to
accompany as we set off. When we reached the hotel
once more was to discover that Nichola had returned, and
that he had again taken up his watch in the
sick room. He remained there all night, passing an hour
after hour at the bedside, without so my wife asserted,
moving save to give the medicine, and without apparently feeling

(12:16):
the least fatigue. It was not until between seven and
eight o'clock the next morning that I caught a glimpse
of him. He was in the dining room, then partaking
of a small cup of black coffee into which he
poured some curious decoction of his own. For my part,
I've never yet been able to discover how Nichola managed
to keep body and soul together on his frugal fare.

(12:38):
How is the patient this morning, I asked, When we
had greeted each other out of danger, he replied, slowly
stirring his coffee as he spoke. She will continue to
progress now. I hope you are satisfied that I've done
all I can in her interests. I'm more than satisfied,
he answered, I'm deeply grateful. As her father said yesterday,
if it had not been for you, Nichola, she must

(12:59):
never vitably of succumbed. She will have cause to bless
your name for the remainder of her existence. He looked
at me very curiously as I said this. Do you
think she will do that? He asked, with unusual emphasis.
Do you think it will please her to remember that
she owes her life to me? I'm sure she will
always be deeply grateful, I replied, somewhat ambiguously. I fancy

(13:21):
you know that yourself and your wife? What does she say?
She thinks you are certainly the greatest of all doctors,
I answered, with a laugh. I feel that I ought
to be jealous, but strangely enough, I am not. And
yet I have done nothing so very wonderfully, continued, almost
as if he were talking to himself. But that those
other blind worms are content to go on digging in

(13:42):
their mud, and they should be seeking the light in
another direction. They could do as much as I have done.
By the way, have you seen our friend Don Martinos?
Since you dined together at my house. I replied to
the effect that I had not done so, but reported
that the don had sent repeated messages of sympathy to
us during Miss Trevor's illness. I then inquired whether Nichola

(14:04):
had seen him. I saw him yesterday morning, he replied.
We devoted upwards of four hours to exploring the city together.
I could not help wondering how the dawn had enjoyed
the excursion, but needless to remark, I did not say
anything on this score to my companion. That night, Nichola
was again in attendance upon his patient. Next day, she

(14:26):
was decidedly better. She recognized her father and her wife,
and every hour was becoming more and more like her
former self. Was she surprised when she gained consciousness to
find Nichola at her bedside. I inquired of Phyllis when
the great news was reported to me. Strangely enough, she
was not. Phyllis replied, I fully expected, remembering my previous

(14:46):
suspicions they would have a bad effect upon her. It
did nothing of the kind. It was just as if
she had expected to find him there. And what were
his first words to her, I hope you are feeling better.
Miss Trevory said. She REPLI I had much better. That
was all. It as commonplace as could be. Next day,
Nichola only looked in twice, the day after once, and

(15:09):
at the end of the week informed me that she
stood in no further need of his attention. How shall
we ever be able to reward you, Nikola, I asked,
for about the hundredth times we stood together in the
corridor outside the sick room. I have no desire to
be rewarded, he answered. It is enough for me to
see Miss Trevor restored to health. Endeavor if you can
to recall a certain conversation we had together respecting the

(15:32):
lady in question, on the evening that I narrated to
you the story concerning the boy who was so badly
treated by the Spanish governor. Did I not tell you
then that our destinies were inextricably woven together? I informed
you that it had been revealed to me many years
ago that we should meet. Should you feel surprised, therefore,

(15:53):
if I told you that I had also been warned
of this illness, once more I found myself staring at
him in amazement. You are surprised, believe me, However, astonishing
it may seem, it is quite true. I knew that
Miss Trevor would come into my life. I knew also
that it would be my lot to savor from death.
What is more, I know that in the end, one

(16:15):
thing which has seemed to me most desirable in life
will be taken from me by her hands. Afraid I
cannot follow you, I said, perhaps not, but you will
be able to some day. He answered that moment has
not yet arrived. In the meantime, watch and wait for
before we know it, it will be upon us. Then,

(16:35):
with a look that was destined to haunt me for
many a long day, he bade me farewell and left
the hotel. End of Chapter nine.