Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/20

Mechanically Rondelet changed his dress; and as he was about to go forth, he paused irresolute, unlocked a drawer beneath the bookshelves, and took out a case of surgical instruments. The dust was thick upon the box. He touched the spring, to make sure that everything was in its place; and at the sight of the shining steel the old repugnance came over him with stronger force than ever. He closed the box with a quick movement of disgust, and threw it back into the drawer. At that moment the stranger's words echoed in his ear: "Some one less timid than himself." That decided him. He slipped the instruments into the pocket of his over-coat and ran lightly down stairs into the street. It was very cold; the wind spitefully wrenched open the garments of the few people who were abroad, and rattled the great iron gates of the ancient court-house. It had come from the northern ice-fields, and gloried that the South could not rob it of all its fierce pain. Enough was left to pinch the faces of the poor folk, wretchedly housed for such weather, and to make the rich wish regretfully that their fireplaces were more in accordance with Northern notions. At Mr. Darius Harden's comfortable house on Esplanade Street, however, there was little needed to complete the air of warmth and cheer.