Page:Mashi and Other Stories.djvu/49

Rh would kill a man. The subject was congenial and he would wax eloquent. These talks familiarized me with the idea of death; and so love and death were the only two things that filled my little world. My story is now nearly ended—there is not much left."

"Not much of the night is left either," I muttered.

"After a time I noticed that the doctor had grown strangely absent-minded, and it seemed as if he were ashamed of something which he was trying to keep from me. One day he came in, somewhat smartly dressed, and borrowed my brother's carriage for the evening.

"My curiosity became too much for me, and I went up to my brother for information. After some talk beside the point, I at last asked him: 'By the way, Dada, where is the doctor going this evening in your carriage? ’

"My brother briefly replied: 'To his death.'

"'Oh, do tell me,' I importuned. 'Where is he really going?'

"'To be married,' he said, a little more explicitly.