In the room itself the wing of a fly could have been heard, so breathless was the silence that prevailed.

The patient's eyes had been bandaged, under pretext of concealing from her sight the surgical instruments and preparations for the operation.

The real design, however, was to hide the operator, whom Mrs.Becker supposed to be an expert practitioner from Europe; for it was not thought advisable that a mother's anxieties should be superadded to the patient's sufferings.
At the moment of trial the few persons present had sunk on their knees; Jack alone remained standing at the bedside of his mother.

The Jack of the past had entirely disappeared; he was somewhat pale, very grave, but collected, firm, and resolute.

It was, perhaps, the first instance on record of a son being called upon to lacerate the body of his mother.