Page:Broken Ties and Other Stories.pdf/144

 On getting back I found that my wife was in extreme pain. Feeling deeply repentant, I asked her: “Has your pain increased?”

‘She was too ill to answer, but only looked up in my face. I saw that she was breathing with difficulty.

‘I at once sent for the doctor.

‘At first he could not make out what was the matter. At last he asked: “Has that pain increased? Haven't you used that liniment?”

‘Saying which, he picked up the blue bottle from the table. It was empty!

‘Showing signs of agitation, he asked my wife: “You haven’t taken this medicine by mistake, have you?” Nodding her head, she silently indicated that she had.

‘The doctor ran out of the house to bring his stomach pump, and I fell on the bed like one insensible.

‘Then, just as a mother tries to pacify a sick child, my wife drew my head to her breast, and with the touch of her hands attempted to tell me her thoughts. Merely by that tender touch, she said to me again and again: “Do not sorrow, all is for the best. You will be happy, and knowing that I die happily.”