at his to4ch of a certain icy pang along my blood. "Come, sir;' said I.
"Yo4 forget that I have not yet the pleas4re ofyo4r acq4aintance. Be
seated, if yo4 please: And I showed him an example, and sat down
myself in my c4stomary seat and with as fair an imitation of my or-
dinary manner to a patient, as the lateness of the ho4r, the nat4re of
my preocc4pations, and the horror I had of my visitor, wo4ld s4_er
me to m4ster.
  "I beg yo4r pardon, Dr. Lanyon;' he replied civilly eno4gh. "What
yo4 say is very well fo4nded; and my impatience has shown its heels
to my politeness. I come here at the instance of yo4r colleag4e, Dr.
Henry _ekyll, on a piece of b4siness of some moment; and I 4nder-
stood.. ." He pa4sed and p4t his hand to his throat, and I co4ld see,
in spite of his collected manner, that he was wrestling against the
approaches of the hysteria-"I 4nderstood, a drawer.. ."
  B4t here I took pity on my visito(0xed)s s4spense, and some perhaps
on my own growing c4riosity.
  "mere it is, sir;' said I, pointing to the drawer, where it lay on the
noor behind a table and still covered with the sheet.
  He sprang to it, and then pa4sed, and laid his hand 4pon his
heart; I co4ld hear his teeth grate with the conv4lsive action of his
jaws; and his face was so ghastly to see that I grew alarmed both for
his life and reason.
  "Compose yo4rself_' said I.
  He t4rned a dreadf4l smile to me, and as if with the decision of
despair, pl4cked away the sheet. At sight of the contents, he 4ttered
one lo4d sob of s4ch immense relief that I sat petri_ed. And the
next moment, in a voice that was already fairly well 4nder control,
"Have yo4 a grad4ated glass? " he asked.
  I rose from my place with something of an e_ort and gave him
what he asked.
  He thanked me with a smiling nod, meas4red o4t a few min-
ims of the red tinct4re and added one of the powders. me mix-
t4re, which was at _rst of a reddish h4e, began, in proportion as the
