第47章

andthatIshallperhapsneveruse!Everythingisofimportanceinthedelicateoperationsofourart!But，deviltakeit!onemustmakedistinctions，andnotemployforalmostdomesticpurposesthatwhichismeantforpharmaceutical!Itisasifoneweretocarveafowlwithascalpel；asifamagistrate——“

“Nowbecalm，“saidMadameHomais。

AndAthalie，pullingathiscoat，cried“Papa!papa!“

“No，letmealone，“wentonthedruggist“letmealone，hangit!

Myword!Onemightaswellsetupforagrocer。That’sit!goit!

respectnothing!break，smash，letloosetheleeches，burnthemallow-paste，picklethegherkinsinthewindowjars，tearupthebandages!“

“Ithoughtyouhad——“saidEmma。

“Presently!Doyouknowtowhatyouexposedyourself？Didn’tyouseeanythinginthecorner，ontheleft，onthethirdshelf？

Speak，answer，articulatesomething。“

“I——don’t——know，“stammeredtheyoungfellow。

“Ah!youdon’tknow!Well，then，Idoknow!Yousawabottleofblueglass，sealedwithyellowwax，thatcontainsawhitepowder，onwhichIhaveevenwritten’Dangerous!’Anddoyouknowwhatisinit？Arsenic!Andyougoandtouchit!Youtakeapanthatwasnexttoit!“

“Nexttoit!“criedMadameHoinais，claspingherhands。“Arsenic!

Youmighthavepoisonedusall。“

Andthechildrenbeganhowlingasiftheyalreadyhadfrightfulpainsintheirentrails。

“Orpoisonapatient!“continuedthedruggist。“Doyouwanttoseemeintheprisoner’sdockwithcriminals，inacourtofjustice？Toseemedraggedtothescaffold？Don’tyouknowwhatcareItakeinmanagingthings，althoughIamsothoroughlyusedtoit？OftenIamhorrifiedmyselfwhenIthinkofmyresponsibility；fortheGovernmentpersecutesus，andtheabsurdlegislationthatrulesusisaveritableDamocles’swordoverourheads。“

Emmanolongerdreamedofaskingwhattheywantedherfor，andthedruggistwentoninbreathlessphrases——

“Thatisyourreturnforallthekindnesswehaveshownyou!ThatishowyourecompensemeforthereallypaternalcarethatI

lavishonyou!Forwithoutmewherewouldyoube？Whatwouldyoubedoing？Whoprovidesyouwithfood，education，clothes，andallthemeansoffiguringonedaywithhonourintheranksofsociety？Butyoumustpullhardattheoarifyou’retodothat，andget，as，peoplesay，callositiesuponyourhands。Fabricandofitfaber，agequodagis。*

*Theworkerlivesbyworking，dowhathewill。

HewassoexasperatedhequotedLatin。HewouldhavequotedChineseorGreenlandishhadheknownthosetwolanguages，forhewasinoneofthosecrisesinwhichthewholesoul