They meant, in effect, that save for the few scores of thousand
dollars he had made, he was now where he was when he came West.
When Jim had finished reading them, Ingolby sank back on the pillows and
said quietly:
"All right, Jim. Put them in the drawer of the table and I'll answer
them to-morrow. I want to get a little more sleep, so give me a drink,
and then leave me alone--both nurse and you--till I ring the bell.
There's a bell on the table, isn't there?"
He stretched out a hand towards the table beside the bed, and Jim softly
pushed the bell under his fingers.
"That's right," he added. "Now, I'm not to be disturbed unless the
doctor comes. I'm all right, and I want to be alone and quiet. No one
at all in the room is what I want. You understand, Jim?"
"My head's just as good to get at what you want as ever it was, and you
goin' have what you want, I guess, while I'm on deck," was Jim's reply.
Jim put a glass of water into his hand. He drank very slowly, was indeed
only mechanically conscious that he was drinking, for his mind was far
away.
After he had put the glass down, Jim still stood beside the bed, looking
at him.
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