Page:Mashi and Other Stories.djvu/34

26 "All right, Baba! I will sit quietly in that corner."

"No, no! you must sit by my side. I can't let go your hand, not till the very end. I have been made by your hand, and only from your hand shall God take me."

"All right," said the doctor, "you can remain there. But, Jotin Babu, you must not talk to her. It's time for you to take your medicine."

"Time for my medicine? Nonsense! The time for that is over. To give medicine now is merely to deceive; besides I am not afraid to die. Mashi, Death is busy with his physic; why do you add another nuisance in the shape of a doctor? Send him away, send him away! It is you alone I need now! No one else, none whatever! No more falsehood!"

"I protest, as a doctor; this excitement is doing you harm."

"Then go, doctor; don't excite me any more!—Mashi, has he gone? . . . That's good! Now come and take my head in your lap."

"All right, dear! Now, Baba, try to sleep!"

"No, Mashi, don't ask me to sleep. If I sleep, I shall never wake, I still need to keep awake a little