The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fruit of the Tree, by Edith Wharton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Fruit of the Tree Author: Edith Wharton Illustrator: Alonzo Kimball Release Date: September 6, 2006 [EBook #19191] Language: English *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FRUIT OF THE TREE *** Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE FRUIT OF THE TREE He stood by her in silence, his eyes on the injured man He stood by her in silence, his eyes on the injured man THE FRUIT OF THE TREE BY EDITH WHARTON WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALONZO KIMBALL NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS MDCCCCVII COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS mark ILLUSTRATIONS He stood by her in silence, his eyes on the injured man Frontispiece "No—I shall have to ask you to take my word for it" Facing p 82 Half-way up the slope they met 130 THE FRUIT OF THE TREE I IN the surgical ward of the Hope Hospital at Hanaford, a nurse was bending over a young man whose bandaged right hand and arm lay stretched along the bed His head stirred uneasily, and slipping her arm behind him she effected a professional readjustment of the pillows "Is that better?" As she leaned over, he lifted his anxious bewildered eyes, deep-sunk under ridges of suffering "I don't s'pose there's any kind of a show for me, is there?" he asked, pointing with his free hand—the stained seamed hand of the mechanic— to the inert bundle on the quilt Her only immediate answer was to wipe the dampness from his forehead; then she said: "We'll talk about that to-morrow." "Why not now?" "Because Dr Disbrow can't tell till the inflammation goes down." "Will it go down by to-morrow?" "It will begin to, if you don't excite yourself and keep up the fever." "Excite myself? I—there's four of 'em at home——" "Well, then there are four reasons for keeping quiet," she rejoined She did not use, in speaking, the soothing inflection of her trade: she seemed to disdain to cajole or trick the sufferer Her full young voice kept its cool note of authority, her sympathy revealing itself only in the expert touch of her hands and the constant vigilance of her dark steady eyes This vigilance softened to pity as the patient turned his head away with a groan His free left hand continued to travel the sheet, clasping and unclasping itself in contortions of feverish unrest It was as though all the anguish of his mutilation found expression in that lonely hand, left without work in the world now that its mate was useless The nurse felt a touch on her shoulder, and rose to face the matron, a sharpfeatured woman with a soft intonation "This is Mr Amherst, Miss Brent The assistant manager from the mills He wishes to see Dillon." John Amherst's step was singularly noiseless The nurse, sensitive by nature and training to all physical characteristics, was struck at once by the contrast between his alert face and figure and the silent way in which he moved She noticed, too, that the same contrast was repeated in the face itself, its spare energetic outline, with the high nose and compressed lips of the mover of men, being curiously modified by the veiled inward gaze of the grey eyes he turned on her It was one of the interests of Justine Brent's crowded yet lonely life to attempt a rapid mental classification of the persons she met; but the contradictions in Amherst's face baffled her, and she murmured inwardly "I don't know" as she drew aside to let him approach the bed He stood by her in silence, his hands clasped behind him, his eyes on the injured man, who lay motionless, as if sunk in a lethargy The matron, at the call of another nurse, had minced away down the ward, committing Amherst with a glance to Miss Brent; and the two remained alone by the bed After a pause, Amherst moved toward the window beyond the empty cot adjoining Dillon's One of the white screens used to isolate dying patients had been placed against this cot, which was the last at that end of the ward, and the space beyond formed a secluded corner, where a few words could be exchanged out of reach of the eyes in the other beds "Is he asleep?" Amherst asked, as Miss Brent joined him Miss Brent glanced at him again His voice betokened not merely education, but something different and deeper—the familiar habit of gentle speech; and his shabby clothes—carefully brushed, but ill-cut and worn along the seams—sat on him easily, and with the same difference "The morphine has made him drowsy," she answered "The wounds were dressed about an hour ago, and the doctor gave him a hypodermic." "The wounds—how many are there?" "Besides the hand, his arm is badly torn up to the elbow." Amherst listened with bent head and frowning brow "What do you think of the case?" She hesitated "Dr Disbrow hasn't said——" "And it's not your business to?" He smiled slightly "I know hospital etiquette But I have a particular reason for asking." He broke off and looked at her again, his veiled gaze sharpening to a glance of concentrated attention "You're not one of the regular nurses, are you? Your dress seems to be of a different colour." She smiled at the "seems to be," which denoted a tardy and imperfect apprehension of the difference between dark-blue linen and white "No: I happened to be staying at Hanaford, and hearing that they were in want of a surgical nurse, I offered my help." Amherst nodded "So much the better Is there any place where I can say two words to you?" "I could hardly leave the ward now, unless Mrs Ogan comes back." "I don't care to have you call Mrs Ogan," he interposed quickly "When do you go off duty?" She looked at him in surprise "If what you want to ask about is—anything connected with the management of things here—you know we're not supposed to talk of our patients outside of the hospital." "I know But I am going to ask you to break through the rule—in that poor fellow's behalf." A protest wavered on her lip, but he held her eyes steadily, with a glint of goodhumour behind his determination "When do you go off duty?" "At six." "I'll wait at the corner of South Street and walk a little way with you Let me put my case, and if you're not convinced you can refuse to answer." "Very well," she said, without farther hesitation; and Amherst, with a slight nod of farewell, passed through the door near which they had been standing Sanctuary ILLUSTRATIONS BY W APPLETON CLARK "This is a striking little book— striking in its simplicity and penetration, its passion and restraint."—London Times [12mo, $1.25] The Touchstone "Its characters are real, their motives and actions thoroughly human And the author's art is sufficient to bring out the strength of every situation."—The Argonaut [12mo, $1.50] The Descent of Man CONTENTS The Descent of Man The Mission of Jane The Other Two The Quicksand The Dilettante The Reckoning Expiation The Lady's Maid's Bell A Venetian Night's Entertainment "It is, of course, the extraordinary directness with which Mrs Wharton's probe goes to the spot under inspection, the deftness with which she is able to bring to the light of day what we had hidden even from ourselves, that account for the admiration with which we regard her short stories." —London Academy BOOKS BY EDITH WHARTON [8vo, $2.50 net Postage 17 cents] Italian Backgrounds ILLUSTRATED BY PEIXOTTO CONTENTS An Alpine Posting Inn A Midsummer Week's Dream The Sanctuaries of the Pennine Alps What the Hermits Saw A Tuscan Shrine Sub Umbra Liliorum March in Italy Picturesque Milan Italian Backgrounds "Belongs in that small class of books of observation which are also books of artistic and spiritual interpretation; which not only describe places and monuments, but convey an impression of peoples, a sense of society, with the elusive atmosphere in which everything of historical or artistic value is seen by those who have the gift of sight."—The Outlook [12mo, $1.25 net] The Joy of Living (Es lebe das Leben) A play in five acts, by HERMANN SUDERMANN Translated from the German by EDITH WHARTON [Large 8vo, $2.50 net] The Decoration of Houses With 56 full-page illustrations, by EDITH WHARTON and OGDEN CODMAN, JR End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fruit of the 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He stood by her in silence, his eyes on the injured man Frontispiece "No—I shall have to ask you to take my word for it" Facing p 82 Half-way up the slope they met 130 THE FRUIT OF THE TREE I IN the surgical ward of the Hope Hospital at Hanaford, a nurse was bending over... the only building in Westmore on which fresh paint was freely lavished—then the company "store," the machine shops and other out-buildings, the vast forbidding bulk of the factories looming above the river-bend, and the sudden neatness of the manager's... *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FRUIT OF THE TREE *** Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Melissa Er-Raqabi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE FRUIT OF THE TREE