"Will you take a composing draught if I mix it for you?" he said--"It is
harmless, and will give you a few hours' sleep."
"I would take poison from your hand!" I answered recklessly--"Why don't
you mix _that_ for me?--and then, ... then I should sleep indeed,--and
forget this horrible night!"
"No,--unfortunately you would not forget!" he said, going to his
dressing-case and taking out a small white powder which he dissolved
gradually in a glass of water--"That is the worst of what people call
dying. I must instruct you in a little science by-and-by, to distract
your thoughts. The scientific part of death,--the business that goes on
behind the scenes you know--will interest you very much--it is highly
instructive, particularly that section of it which I am entitled to call
the regeneration of atoms. The brain-cells are atoms, and within these,
are other atoms called memories, curiously vital and marvellously
prolific! Drink this,"--and he handed me the mixture he had
prepared--"For temporary purposes it is much better than death--because
it does numb and paralyse the conscious atoms for a little while,
whereas death only liberates them to a larger and more obstinate
vitality."
I was too self-absorbed to heed or understand his words, but I drank
what he gave me submissively and returned the glass,--he still watched
me closely for about a minute. Then he opened the door of the apartment
which adjoined his own.
"Throw yourself on that bed and close your eyes,"--he continued in
somewhat peremptory accents--"Till morning breaks I give you a
respite,--" and he smiled strangely--"both from dreams and memories!
Plunge into Oblivion, my friend!--brief as it is and as it must ever be,
it is sweet!--even to a millionaire!"
The ironical tone of his voice vexed me,--I looked at him half
reproachfully, and saw his proud beautiful face, pale as marble,
clear-cut as a cameo, soften as I met his eyes,--I felt he was sorry for
me despite his love of satire,--and grasping his hand I pressed it
fervently without offering any other reply. Then, going into the next
room as he bade me, I lay down, and falling asleep almost instantly, I
remembered no more.