Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must have
been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that it was
still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very tightly round
the wrist and braced it up with a twig.
Excellent! You should have been a surgeon.
It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own
province.
This has been done, said I, examining the wound, by a very heavy and
sharp instrument.
A thing like a cleaver, said he.
An accident, I presume?
By no means.
What! a murderous attack?
Very murderous indeed.
You horrify me.
I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered it
over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back without
wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time.
How is that? I asked when I had finished.
Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. I was
very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through.
Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently trying
to your nerves.
Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; but,
between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing evidence of this
wound of mine, I should be surprised if they believed my statement, for
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