Then, with eyes and ears on the
alert for the first suspicious sight or sound, he waited. He could hear
the distant tramping of the guards as they paced about the institution.
"It's just like a prison," the boy thought. "What a horrible place
to stay in!"
A clock, somewhere in the institution, struck the hour of ten, the sound
being plainly audible through the opened windows. Frank started to his
feet. As he did so he heard someone approaching along the gravel path.
His heart was beating with quick, hard throbs.
"Is the young man, who wanted to see me, here?" asked a voice.
"Yes, I am here," replied Frank.
"What do you want? You are a stranger to me. I do not know what whim made
me agree to meet you here. I am not usually well enough to see visitors.
Indeed I never have any. What do you wish?"
"I have come to take you away from here!"
"Take me away from here?" and the patient spoke the words as though they
frightened him. "I can't go. I must stay. Sometimes, when I am feeling
well, as I do now, I might wish that; but those times are rare. Mostly I
am very ill. My head hurts me, and I cannot think.
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