ning, when he should have been free from all unusual effort and
excitement, but added to his disturbance.

Doctor Hillhouse knew all about the previous habits of Mr. Ridley, and
was much interested in his case. He had seen with hope and pleasure the
steadiness with which he was leading his new life, and was beginning to
have strong faith in his future. But when he met him on that morning,
he knew by unerring signs that the evening at Mr. Birtwell's had been
to him one of debauch instead of restrained conviviality. The extremity
of his wife's condition, and his almost insane appeals that he would
hold her back from death, shocked still further the doctor's already
quivering nerves.

The imminent peril in which Doctor Hillhouse found Mrs. Ridley
determined him to call in another physician for consultation. As twelve
o'clock on that day had been fixed for the operation on Mrs. Carlton,
it was absolutely necessary to get his mind as free as possible from
all causes of anxiety or excitement, and the best thing in this
extremity was to get his patient into the hands of a brother in the
profession who could relieve him temporarily from _all_ responsibility,
and watch the case with all needed care in its swiftly approaching
crisis. So he sent Doctor Angier, immediately on his return from his
visit to Mrs. Ridley, with a request to Doctor Ainsworth, a physician
of standing and experience, to meet him in consultation at ten o'clock.

Precisely at ten the physicians arrived at the house of Mr. Ridley, and
were admitted by that gentleman, whose pale, haggard, frightened face
told of his anguish and alarm. They asked him no questions, and he
preceded them in silence to the chamber of his sick wife. It needed no
second glance at their patient to tell the two doctors that she was in
great extremity. Her pinched face was ashen in color and damp with a
cold sweat, and her eyes, no longer wild and restless, looked piteous
and anxious, as of one in dreadful suffering who pleaded mutely for
help. An examination of her pulse showed the beat to be frequent and
feeble, and on the slightest movement she gave signs of pain. Her
respiration was short and very rapid. Mr. Ridley was present, and
standing in a position that enabled him to observe the faces of the two
doctors as they proceeded with their examination. Hope died as he saw
the significant changes that passed over them. When they left the
sick-chamber, he left also, and walked the flo