Round the Red Lamp

rd year's man was walking with the first year's man. Tw

ird year's man. "You have

ev

toric bar. A glass of sherry, please, for this g

not very strong

or this gentleman. We are going

ulders and made a gallant

g very

yes-pre

amput

bigger affai

they must be expe

n't go to-day, you must to-morrow. Bett

ght!" The smile

Now come on or we shall be late

at is not

men among them. You can tell them easily enough, can't you? If they wer

k I should lo

w with a face like plaster, and before the week is out he is eating his lunch in t

y swept in an unbroken, tumultuous stream from the university gate to the hospital. The figures and gait of the men were young, but there was little youth in most of their faces. Some looked as if they ate too little-a few as if they drank too much. Tall and short, twe

ssed excitement. "It is grand to see him at work. I've seen him jab all round t

g nerves. He was reassured to catch a glimpse of cheery fires, lines of white-counterpaned beds, and a profusion of coloured texts upon the wall. The corridor opened upon a small hall, with a fringe of poorl

?" asked the t

"We had a regular field day. A popliteal aneurism, a Colles' fracture, a spina

y'll come again, I suppose. Wha

o, and groaning. A woman beside him was trying to console him, patting his s

reciate them. "It's on his back and the passage is draughty, so we must not look at it, must we, daddy? Pemphigus,"

on!" and they rejoined the throng which was h

d saw vague curving lines of faces in front of him, and heard the deep buzz of a hundred voices, and sounds of laugh

r man whispered. "You'll h

od a large tin tray full of sawdust. On the further side, in front of the window, there was a board which was strewed with glittering instruments-forceps, tenacula, saws, canulas, and trocars. A line of knive

ting man, you know. And that's Anthony Browne, who took a larynx out successfully last winter. A

e two men a

Lister's antiseptic spray, you know, and Archer's one of the carbolic-acid men. Hayes is th

k. The face which looked out from it was that of a woman in the prime of her years, but drawn with suffering, and of a peculiar beeswax tint. Her head drooped as she walked, and one of t

her?" asked

right away back behind the carotids. There's hardly a man

clean-shaven face, of the naval officer type, with large, bright eyes, and a firm, straight mouth. Behind him came his big

tumour of the parotid, originally cartilaginous but now assuming malignant characteristics, and therefore requir

mesh of blue veins, and curving gently from jaw to chest. But the lean, yellow face and the stringy throat were in horrible contrast with the

ither we must be prepared to follow it. It is impossible to say how deep our dissection may carry us. Carbolic tray. Thank you! Dressing

up her knees, but two dressers restrained her. The heavy air was full of the penetrating smells of carbolic acid and of ch

ys, sa

fly w

tress of the

mistress

rgeon came across, still rubbing his hands, and

for the Gover

en is

hey'd do better to resign be

ould figh

the committee even if they got a vo

ady, sir," sa

"I propose," said he, passing his hand over the tumour in an almost caressing fashion, "to make a free incision over the posterio

which had already been tried once or twice that day, gave way utterly. His head swain round, and he felt that in another instant he might faint. He dared not look at the patient. He dug his thumbs into his ears lest some scream should come to haunt him, and he fixed his eyes rigidly

, too, breaking in upon him, and some other sound, some fluid sound, which was more dreadfully suggestive still? His mind would keep building up every step of the operation, and fancy made it more ghastly than fact could have been. His nerves tingled and quivered.

collar and shirt undone. The third year's man was dabbing a wet spo

ing up and rubbing his eyes. "I'm s

uld think," sai

th did you f

lp it. It was

oper

that c

was an operation at all! They found the patient didn't stand the chloroform well, and so the whole thing was off. Archer