256 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



he slowly walked through the little garden and gazed 

 for the last time at the home that we were leaving 

 for the unknown. . . . He looked worn and bent 

 under the weight of suffering, but he was quite calm, 

 and his eyes, though firm and gentle, already seemed 

 to me to be looking very far away. 



The automobile bore us slowly from Sevres to the 

 Pasteur Institute, and we found ourselves in the 

 small flat which had been inhabited by the young 

 doctor who had been killed in the war. He had only 

 spent a short stage of his life there. How long should 

 we remain ? And what road should we take when 

 we left it ? We tried to smile, though our hearts 

 were terribly heavy, in order to cheer each other. 



But, in the course of the day, we were surrounded 

 by friends full of solicitude, the tension relaxed, and 

 we felt a growing sense of comfort and security. No 

 more nights of mortal dread and loneliness, with no 

 help at hand ! That thought alone inspired courage 

 and hope. In case of need, I had only to send down 

 to the next floor to ask for a doctor. 



For a few days, Elie felt much better, perhaps on 

 account of the mental relief, but his heart was weak 

 and his pulse extremely rapid. Drs. Widal, Martin, 

 Veillon, Salimbeni, and Darre came to see him every 

 day ; during the whole of his long illness, they never 

 ceased to show him the most attentive and devoted 

 care. They attempted by every means to save him 

 from pain, for, alas, they had no hope of curing him. 

 Nothing was neglected, and many still greater suffer- 

 ings were spared him. 1 



1 For instance, Dr. Widal, very early in his illness, had advised a saltless 

 diet, which caused the infiltration in the tissues to remain comparatively 



Blight. 



