And I stood there and watched, my mind awhirl, expecting every minute
to hear that they were all leaving, or to have some one forget and shake
both fists at once.
And that's how it ended finally--I mean, of course, that they said they
would all leave immediately, and that he ought to be glad to have
them go quietly, and not have him jailed for malicious mischief or
compounding a felony. The whole thing was an outrage, and the three
train would leave the house as empty as a squeezed lemon.
I wanted to go forward and drop on my knees and implore them to remember
the old doctor, and the baths they'd had when nothing went wrong, and
the days when they'd sworn that the spring kept them young and well, but
there was something in Mr. Pierce's face that kept me back.
"At three o'clock, then," he said. "Very well."
"Don't be a fool!" I heard Mr. Sam from the crowd.
"Is that all you have to say?" roared Mr. von Inwald. I hadn't noticed
him before. He had his sheet on in Grecian style and it looked quite
ornamental although a little short. "Haven't you any apology to make,
sir?"
"Neither apology nor explanation to you," Mr. Pierce retorted. And to
the other: "It is an unfortunate accident--incident, if you prefer." He
looked at Thoburn, who was the only one in a bath robe, and who was the
only cheerful one in the lot. "I had refused a request of the bath
man's and he has taken this form of revenge. If this gives me the
responsibility I am willing to take it.
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