Nurse Hopkins, as she prepared to depart, said:
“Ah, he’s young! He hasn’t our experience.”
On which gloomy pronouncement she departed.
III
Dr. Lord raised himself up on his toes. His sandy eyebrows climbed right up his forehead till they nearly got merged in his hair.
He said in surprise:
“So she’s conked out—eh?”
“Yes, Doctor.”
On Nurse O’Brien’s tongue exact details were tingling to be uttered, but with stern discipline she waited.
Peter Lord said thoughtfully:
“Conked out?”
He stood for a moment thinking, then he said sharply:
“Get me some boiling water.”
Nurse O’Brien was surprised and mystified, but true to the spirit of hospital training, hers not to reason why. If a doctor had told her to go and get the skin of an alligator she would have murmured automatically, “Yes, Doctor,” and glided obediently from the room to tackle the problem.
IV
Roderick Welman said:
“Do you mean to say that my aunt died intestate—that she never made a will at all?”
Mr. Seddon polished his eyeglasses. He said:
“That seems to be the case.”
Roddy said:
“But how extraordinary!”
Mr. Seddon gave a deprecating cough.
“Not so extraordinary as you might imagine. It happens oftener than you would think. There’s a kind of superstition about it. People will think they’ve got plenty of time. The mere fact of making a will seems to bring the possibility of death nearer to them. Very odd—but there it is!”
Roddy said:
“Didn’t you ever—er—expostulate with her on the subject?”
Mr. Seddon replied drily:
“Frequently.”
“And what did she say?”
Mr. Seddon sighed.
“The usual things. That there was plenty of time! That she didn’t intend to die just yet! That she hadn’t made up her mind definitely, exactly how she wished to dispose of her money!”