د سړکونو سره د ازدواج وړاندیز

The Moors and the Fens, volume 1 (of 3) - Chapter XIII: The Spider and the Fly Astounding Stories of Super-Science February, 2026, by Astounding Stories is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . here د super-science حیرانتیا تاریخونه فبروري 2026: The Moors and the Fens، volume 1 (of 3) - فصل XIII The Spider and the Fly By J. H. Riddell The Moors and the Fens, volume 1 (of 3) - Chapter XIII: The Spider and the Fly Astounding Stories of Super-Science February, 2026, by Astounding Stories is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . here here Astounding Stories of Super-Science February 2026: The Moors and the Fens, volume 1 (of 3) - Chapter XIII The Spider and the Fly By J. H. Riddell Malcolm Frazer was quite correct in his supposition that Miss Caldera was the cause of the sage advice Mina had been pleased to give him; and had his own reason not told him there was some sense in it, he would have valued it accordingly. For it is a fact that Malcolm, so good-natured, and Miss Caldera, so prudent, could not, for some sufficient cause, contrive to “get on together;” and for every little disagreement which Mina and she were wont to have, he and she had fifty. په حقیقت کې، Malcolm هغه ته هڅه کړ؛ هغه ممکن یې د هغه د افراغیت، ناڅاپي، او ناڅاپي په لټه کې ونیسئ، - هغه د هغه په خوښۍ سره د هغه د خوښۍ په لټه کې احساس کړ، کله چې هغه د خوښۍ په لټه کې راځي، خو کله چې هغه په واقعیت کې د رخصتۍ کڅوړه کې د هغه ورته ناڅاپي، ناڅاپي په لټه کې راځي، کله چې د هغه د خنده په لټه کې د 243 په لټه کې خوشحاله ونیسئ؛ کله چې هغه او د هغې مادرم د سوداګرۍ په لټه کې په لټه کې ونیسئ او دا په کم وخت کې د هغه په لټه کې راځي، او کله چې هغه هیڅکله دا وړاندیز نه کوي چې په کور کې په They disagreed, whenever they met, on every conceivable point,—religion, politics, the news of the day, dress, education, music, books, amusements: these topics furnished them incessantly with occasions for what Malcolm styled, “little tiffs;” and he so enjoyed putting the worthy governess out of temper, that he frequently said precisely the opposite of what he thought, that Miss Caldera might be thus, innocently trapped into an argument, which furnished him with opportunities for laughing at her. The theme matrimonial was, however, the grand battle-ground on which the two delighted to fling decided opinions at each other’s heads; for Miss Caldera, 244with all her sense, was one of those people who appear to imagine the feminine portion of the creation have been sent on the earth for no other purpose save to marry: and, to superficial observers, it really seemed as if she had remained a spinster solely from a philanthropic desire to have more time at her disposal to assist her fellow mortals to fulfil their destinies in this particular. Original sense and later experiences were perpetually battling together in her mind, and she strove so hard to persuade herself and all whom it might concern that a “good settlement” was the great prize on which, from infancy, a female ought to fix her eyes, that she talked her theoretical set of opinions at every mortal who dared her to contradiction, with a pertinacity which ought, at least, to have convinced her own mind of the truth of her perpetual assertion, “That the only thing a woman can and ought to do to help herself, is to marry.” خو د بیلګې په توګه: ځینې سخت او لومړني افکار، چې هغه د خپل والد د رنګ باغ د رنګونو او د والد د کتابتون لاتین کتابونو په منځ کې راټول شوي، چې هغه ښځو کولای شي په دې نړۍ کې د هغې د پرمختګ په ترڅ کې د هغه څه په اړه فکر کوي چې د یو شوونکي "کښوي" په دې نړۍ کې، به په خپل ناڅاپي دل کې چټک وده ورکړي؛ او، که څه هم هغه سخت هڅه وکړه چې د دې بیلګېونو په منځ کې وده ورکړي، د هغې ټول هڅو د خوښۍ او هغه څه چې هغه خوشحاله وه، خو ډېر کم کار لري، ځکه چې د نړۍ سره د اړیکو له هغه نوي نظرونه چې هغه یې زده کړې، د ښځو د پسرونو موقعیت په اړه هغه څه غلطه نه وه، مګر موږ په دې موقعیت کې Some specimens of the “fine old English gentleman” are still to be met with in rural districts, who assert that fox-hunting is the noblest pursuit which can employ the faculties of man; and really to have heard Miss Caldera converse, it might occasionally have been imagined she thought husband-hunting the grandest chase that could by possibility occupy the mind of woman, and her knowledge of the difficulties and troubles besetting every step of a female’s life had made her think it, as she said, “a very necessary chase,” though, to do her justice, she 246never could so far get over some of her original ideas as to feel that a marriage without affection is preferable to labouring solitarily for daily bread, or that any amount of hundreds or thousands per annum could have induced her, even though so weary of her situation, to take, for better, for worse, one whom she could not respect and love. په خپل ذهن کې د احساساتو او اړتیاوو په منځ کې د اټکل په منځ کې د اټکل په منځ کې د اغیزمنو په منځ کې ډیری متناوب پایلې پیدا کړ؛ د نورو په منځ کې، د غیرقانونیت چې هغه، د سپینټر حکومت، چې په پایله کې د هر څوک سره چې هغه په تماس کې راځي "د دوی د سرنو پوره کړي" ته هڅه کړ، د هغه له دې امله چې هغه لندن ته راځي، هغه څه چې د هغې د ملګري، د ښوونځي، خوشحاله وه چې دا د یو غټ، غیرقانوني، د شاملو عاشق لخوا د ټولو "جواز وړاندیز" لخوا راځي. (کولې غواړم چې د بیوی په توګه د ګمرک په توګه وکاروي، او فکر کړم چې ماډل به یوازې مناسب وي)، په ساده توګه ځکه چې هغه د قدیم موډل مخنیوی (د هغې د نوي موډل باورونو له الرې) چې هغه څوک چې هغه د خوښۍ په لټه کې نه وي، چې هغه په لټه کې نه وي، چې هغه په لټه کې نه وي: او په هرصورت، هغه د دې کوچني دلیل له امله د کور څخه مخنیوی دی. او هغه ځان دا فکر کوي؛ مګر هغه د مخنیوی په لټه کې نه وي، او له دې امله د نورو خلکو ته د اصلي مشورې ورکوي، چې هغه د ځان په لټه کې نه وي. نندارې 247 بیا بیا بیا، تر هغه وخت چې د خپل محدود چرچ د معلوماتو په منځ کې هر ښکلي نجلۍ "کښته" وي، هغه نه ورځ او نږدې خپل آرام ورکړ، تر هغه چې هغه د "د خانم" سره یو نوی نوم ورکړئ؛ هغه هغه وايي، که هغه په چټکۍ سره د یو ښکلا مناسب وړاندیز څخه راټول شي چې "او له هغې څخه ښه خوشحاله چمتو کړ" او "د هغه وړاندیز له خواړه چې هغه هرڅه ولري؛" او په پایله کې، کله چې هغه، د دوستانو او کورنۍ سره په ګډه، آسمان او ځمکې حرکت کړ ترڅو هغه ته د ژوند لپاره د ځمکې د ځمکې د ځمکې لپاره د ځمکې یا ژمنه لګښت سره تړل کړي، هغه ټوټې ته ورسیږي، او پیل شو Many reasons induced her to desire that Mina should marry Mr. Westwood: first, she liked him, and thought there was no cause to fear its proving an unhappy union; secondly, that gentleman had been at great pains to convince her that Mina’s chance of fortune from her uncle was by no means certain; that he might choose a wife for himself; that he might quarrel with Malcolm, who was a most provoking young fellow; that he might even fail; that a thousand reverses might arise to blast her prospects; that, in fact, her only hope of a tranquil 248existence was changing her Scotch name for his English one; and his hints to Miss Caldera had grown so alarmingly strong after Malcolm’s finishing exploit, that at length the worthy governess became a sight perfectly dreaded by Mina, who was half frightened by the pictures of poverty occasionally presented for her contemplation, but who was wholly determined to have her own way, spite of the combined efforts of the entire universe, always supposing she could manage to get it. On the Sunday previous to the dialogue between Malcolm and his sister, it had chanced that Mr. Alfred Westwood, instead of walking peaceably home from church to his house in Belerma Square, turned his steps in an opposite direction, and proceeded to that tenanted by Miss Caldera and her cousin, both of whom he encountered on the pipeclayed steps. "کیا تاسو کولی شئ زما سره د پنج دقیقې په انفرادي خبرې کولو سره مرسته وکړئ؟" هغه وايي، چې په دې پایله کې بڼه ښکاره کوي، د قوي ذهني ښوونځي، چې څومره په دې پایله کې وي چې د نړۍ به ډیر خوشحاله وي که ډیری ښکلي ژمنې او ګرځنده ماشومانو اجازه نلري چې د هغه په چټکۍ سره د هغې په چټکۍ سره مخه ونیسئ، د خوښۍ، خوښۍ، د مو د تیلو او روښانه، لکه څنګه چې د 249 گناهونو په منځ کې چې په اسانۍ سره د انډولډ ویستوډ راټول کړي، او د هغه په لټه کې ناڅاپي ملکیت ترلاسه کړ. “Miss Caldera,” began that individual, who could speak perfectly straightforwardly when he chose to do so, “will you try to bring Mina to reason. I want to marry her, and settle the business without delay.” “You ought to try yourself,” replied the lady, who was pretty nearly weary of her fruitless endeavours. “I have, till I am tired,” he answered; “but I have now more pressing reasons than ever: if you will use your best influence, you shall never have cause to repent; if she marry me I will make her happy—on my soul I will; her uncle’s consent is certain, will you try to gain her’s?” "د هغه ښکاري چې تاسو په ډیری توګه د فکر نه کوي؛ دا د سوداګرۍ سخت برخه ده،" د کالډرا خانم وايي. “But it is her to care for me,” retorted Mr. Westwood, “and if you point that out to her, the rest is easy; no woman is insensible to that.” interest د brought a flush into the lady’s pale cheek as she answered warmly, د بدن د روح «مننه ده چې د د ژوند په هر اړیکو کې هغه څه چې د ښځو په نظر کې لري، او هیڅ مړنی په هر وخت کې د مانا Frazer په پرتله د نړۍ په پرمختګ کې د 250 څخه کم فکر نه کوي؛ هغه غلطیونه لري، شاید د خپل خوشحاله لپاره ډیر، مګر د بیلابیلو روح د هغوی څخه نه دی؛ زه د هغې په اړه فکر نه کولی شي، لکه څنګه چې زه د هغه په اړه فکر کولی شي، که هغه چټک او محاسبه کوي؛ تاسو هم نه کولی شئ. " last Mr. Westwood smiled as he replied, “Perhaps not,” but it was not a pleasant smile; in truth, he had about as much opinion of women as of men, and that was none: but he had a strange sort of attachment for Mina; a dim unacknowledged idea that there was some kind of good in her, although at the same time he thought she refused him, not because she was blind to his fascinations—that being impossible—but because she expected to be a great heiress, and to marry, perhaps, in time, a pauper lord. He saw the pride and folly of both mother and son, and concluded that underneath Mina’s reserve, pride as great, and folly nearly as ridiculous, were resolutely lurking; therefore, he imagined if she thought herself likely to be poor, she would accept him, and that was all he wanted her to do; he would manage all the rest quietly and dexterously himself. In this endeavour, who so likely to aid him as Miss Caldera, his staunch friend and ally? wherefore he had come to her, and so, instead of treating her to his opinion of the entire 251feminine sex, he said, in answer to her rather angry speech, the two words previously recorded, “Perhaps not.” “I am sure not,” responded the governess earnestly. ویډیوډ د خنده کوي. " زه غواړم چې تاسو ځینې وسایلو ته ونیسئ ترڅو هغه زما لپاره مراقبت وکړئ؛ باور وکړئ چې هغه په ښه توګه لري." There was a significance in the tone of the latter portion of the sentence that struck Miss Caldera so much as to cause her to inquire what he meant. “That it will be well with mother, brother, and sister if she do; that it will be worse for all if she do not,” was the rejoinder. “You do not wish me to understand that, even if Mina persist in her refusal, you would be so ungenerous as to endeavour to turn Mr. Merapie’s heart against them,” she said, hurriedly. “Heaven forbid!” replied Mr. Westwood; “but in the one case I should use all my influence to advance their interests, and in the other I should merely let matters take their course, without interfering. I don’t pretend to Quixotism, Miss Caldera: if she marry me, I will do her and her’s good; 252if not, I would not stir ten paces out of my way to serve her; she had better consider fifty times before she says ‘no.’” “But do you mean to imply that Mr. Merapie takes Malcolm’s breach of discipline in such an angry spirit that he will never forgive it,—that the silly boy has endangered, not merely his own prospects but those of his sister?” she inquired in surprise. “I think you must be mistaken. I can scarcely believe that he will ever forget to provide for Mina, at all events.” “I neither imply nor ask you to believe anything,” said Mr. Westwood deliberately; “but I say what I ، چې هغه د خپل ناڅاپي په اړه ډیر ستونزه کوي ، او د نورو موضوعاتو په اړه اندیښنه او درملنه کوي ، چې د مینا Frazer لګښت به نږدې نږدې نږدې نږدې نږدې نږدې نږدې نږدې نږدې نه وي ، او هغه څه چې زه فکر کومه ، زه فکر کومه ، دا ډاډمن وي ، او په پای کې ، زه پوه چې هغه ښه یې زما سره ونیسئ ، او زه غواړم چې تاسو هڅه ونیسئ او دا وکړئ: که هغه اوس خپل لګښت نه لري ، دا ممکن نه وي. " know There was a something almost triumphant in the tone in which these words were spoken, and Miss Caldera felt a vague alarm steal over her as she asked, "چې تاسو په دې ډول خبرې وکړئ؛ is she less likely 253to be wealthy a few years hence than now? Why are you in such haste to have matters arranged?” why “Because life is always uncertain, and business is even more so; because, in ten words, ‘it is well to strike while the iron is hot,’” was his brief reply. د کالډرا میس بیلګه او د هغه په څیر لیدل، لکه څنګه چې هغه فکر کوي چې د هغه په چمکه کې د هر ځانګړنو څخه ډیر معلوماتو ترلاسه کیدی شي چې د هغه د دهان څخه؛ مګر هغه د هغې په چیرته سره په دې ډول غیر متحرک ډول د چمکونو نښلوي، چې په پایله کې د هغې په چمکه او مخکښ هوا کې د هغې په چمکه کې ونیسئ: نو هغه، سره د خوښۍ سره، راځي ته راځي. “I am not jesting,” he remarked, by way of a departing hint. “I see you are not,” she answered. “And I trust to your friendship and good sense,” he added. “I suppose,” began Miss Caldera, “it would be useless to ask you any questions on the subject, for——” “For, although it is impolite not to answer any questions a lady may propound, you think, in this instance, I should feel inclined to do so,” he interposed, resuming his usual manner, and laughing so as to display the whiteness of his regular teeth. “No, no, please not to place me in such a disagreeable 254position, because I cannot tell even you; and indeed I should not like to refuse. I have said, perhaps, even more than I ought, but I rely implicitly on your discretion.” And Mr. Westwood, who was evidently most anxious to get out of the house, shook hands quite vehemently with the governess and departed, leaving her, for the first time since she had seen his clever handsome face, a little dissatisfied with the possessor of it. For a few minutes she actually wondered if Mina were not right, if a marriage between the shrewd, calculating, middle-aged man and the impetuous, generous, passionate, self-willed girl, were likely to produce happiness; and then Miss Caldera “pshawed” down the thought, and decided that, if there were the least risk of Mina ever being poor, she ought to wed Mr. Westwood at once, who was just as good as most men, and far better than many. د ویستوډ صاحب یوازې ته د خطر یا د مخامخولو په لټه کې دی؛ مګر د هغه غږ په ټون کې حقیقت شتون لري، لکه څنګه چې دا په خپل گوشونو کې تکرار شوی. هغه پیل کړ چې د دې باور په بشپړه کچه په پام کې ونیسئ، او د دې باور په بشپړه کچه، هغه په راتلونکي 255 مياشت کې د بیلرما پړاو ته راځي، او د مینا سره یو اوږد خوښۍ خبرې وکړ، چې د دې پایله ده چې د هغې د لومړي پوهیږو په توګه په عادي توګه د خوښۍ کې وده ورکړي، او د هغه په پرتله یو ګټه ته ورسیږي، اعلان کړ چې "او به د دې پیژندنې له خوا نه ونیسئ؛ چې هغه به د ویستوډ صاحب سره ونیسئ؛ چې Then the governess, who, though sensitive to a look from most people, knew Mina’s love for her so well as never to feel offended even at her angriest expressions, put her arms around the girl’s waist, and, even though Mina strove to push her away, besought her, for the sake of former times, to, listen to her. And then she told her old pupil all that Mina subsequently repeated to her brother, and a great deal more besides—which brought tears into the rebellious eyes and a swelling into the wilful heart—about how earnestly she desired her happiness, and of what an interest she had taken in her from the first day, and how she had loved the pale slight child at the beginning, solely because of the vehement love she had evinced for the land of her birth and the people who dwelt there. 256“You may be angry or not, Mina,” the faithful friend said at length, “but so long as I speak to you, I will say just what I think; for many reasons, I believe you are wrong to be so stiff towards Mr. Westwood, who is so fond of you. Mina, for my sake, will you reflect on all I have said?” “Good gracious!” said the girl, squeezing back, after her determined fashion, a tear that almost trembled on her eyelashes, “good gracious! you have made me think about Mr. Westwood and ‘marrying and giving in marriage’ till I am sick of the theme, and the conclusion I long ago arrived at, Malcolm, you remember, put into words for me the other day. He said, men considered matrimony, when they reflected upon it at all, as a thing which might come, not as women did, as a thing which must come; that it is one incident in the drama of men’s lives, but forms the entire plot in the drama of ours; that, if you would let me think of it as of an event which, if it suited, was well, and if it did not, why well still,—it would be better and happier and more respectable altogether. He says, that’s the way he contemplates the step matrimonial, and that he does not see why, simply because I am his sister, I should not view it in the same light.” “Malcolm can push his way in the world, if he 257will; he must never be a dependant amongst strangers: he is a man and may struggle; you could not.” “I could,” retorted Mina, “but I need not, for my uncle will always provide for me.” “Mina Frazer,” said Miss Caldera, laying an earnest hand on her shoulder and looking half sorrowfully into the flushed youthful face, “do not be too sure of that; life’s chances and changes are awful to contemplate. I once would have laughed, had any one told me I should ever have to work for my daily bread; but desolation came into my home. You have not the patience or the nature to bear, as it has been my lot imperfectly to do; you would not like to think you would ever be situated as I am; but remember, dear, when reverses come, that, though a woman tenderly trained and matured finds it hard to toil and work, yet that still she must live. I had a father to leave a competence to his only daughter, and yet you know a little of the burden I have borne.” “I am as sure,” said Mina, gazing up sadly into the countenance of the weary woman, “I am as sure of Uncle John as I could be of my dear father if he were now alive.” او همدارنګه، مینا، د هغه عشق د تیری خوښۍ څخه ساتل کیدی شي؛ دا قوي وه، زه شک نه لرم، مګر دا د هغه په ژوند کې د هغه لارښوونې او عشق او د تیری لپاره مبارزه کولو قدرت نه لري. " There was a pause, and then Mina said in a subdued voice, “I wish I could do any one thing to show how I love you, except marry that horrid man, indeed I would do it.” “Will you be a little more polite to him then, Mina, and endeavour to get Malcolm to be so too?” implored Miss Caldera. " زه به، یوازې تاسو ته د خوښۍ لپاره،" هغه ځوانان وايي؛ "چې تاسو یو ګټور، مهرباني، ثابت، هڅوي پیرمرد دی، کوم چې زه به په هر وخت کې د یو ساعت څخه زيات په لټه کې نه ونیسئ، هرڅه نه!" او کله چې خانم Frazer په دې وخت کې د کمرې ته ورسیږي، د مینا په ډیری وختونو کې په خوښۍ سره او په ډیری وختونو کې د معمول څخه ډیر فکر کوي. Indeed she reflected so much on the subject that she resolved to warn her brother at the very first opportunity, and, as we have seen, did warn him; but her words, instead of soothing that young gentleman, only moved his spirit unto irritation, all the greater, perhaps, because he felt them to be true; and he resolved, during the course of his walk, that, instead of speaking to his uncle, as he had intended, 259immediately on Mr. Merapie’s return from Holland, he would go to Scotland until, as he mentally expressed it, “the storm blew over,” and take Mina with him. “Then,” he concluded, as he paced home through Arras Street, in the fading light of a January afternoon, “he will have forgotten all about my unlucky exploit, and I will promise to be his dutiful nephew, and turn out a pattern of obedience and grace and so forth, and he will buy me a commission; and, if Westwood be not ‘settled’ some way by that time, why of course, when I am more in favour, I can speak with a better chance of success than would be possible at present: that is just what I will do forthwith,—write to Craigmaver and tell Allan and the laird what I want.” And, having sketched out this vague beautiful design, Malcolm Frazer raised his eyes from the slippery pavement and noticed casually, as people do notice such things in London, that a tall gentlemanly looking man was walking slowly and thoughtfully a few steps before him. “Decidedly an aristocrat,” was the result of Malcolm’s brief survey, for he had imbibed from his mother, the city merchant’s daughter, an idea that fine figures and long pedigrees are inseparable; and 260having arrived at this conclusion, the young Scotchman, who had a love for Aristocrats, second perhaps only to his love for himself, continued to scrutinize the stranger with some interest. That individual was so much engrossed with his own reflections, that he never noticed one of those slides which, spite of the police, mischievous boys will make for their amusement in quiet streets, and, walking unsuspectingly upon it, down he came; before he was aware he had slipped, he was lying full length on the pavement at Malcolm’s feet. “Halloa!” cried out that young gentleman in true sailor fashion, and “Halloa!” echoed a cabman, who was slowly coming down the narrow street, and who pulled up and jumped off his box to the rescue. "په معلومه کې چې هغه په بریالیتوب کې شتون لري،" هغه به د مالکلم سره وايي، "به هغه لاره چې زه د هغه سر په ځمکه کې راځي وګورئ." “A deuced ugly business,” remarked Malcolm; “his head is cut, and, it seems to me, his arm broken.” “Is he a friend of your’s, sir?” inquired a person who now joined the group to render assistance, as the Londoners always do on such occasions with 261hearty good will; “the fall has completely stunned him: is he a friend of your’s?” “Never saw him in my life before,” was the rejoinder. “Better put him in the cab, then, and drive without delay to the nearest hospital,” suggested a clergyman, standing amidst a knot of passers by and idlers, who had by this time collected to enjoy the excitement. "د هغه په جیب کې غوره وګورئ چې یو پته ونیسئ او هغه ته راځي،" یو پولیس کارپوه، چې له خوا په څیړنې کې مرسته وکړي. “No, no!” cried a doctor; “the hospital’s close at hand, drive him there.” “Shall I, sir?” demanded the cabman of Malcolm, to whom he somehow looked for his fare. “No,” said the latter angrily; “stand back,” he continued, addressing the crowd generally, and the policeman particularly: “I am a gentleman myself, and I won’t submit to see a gentleman’s pockets rummaged or himself dragged off to an hospital. I’ll take the charge of him on myself: help me to lift him into the cab, driver; so,—now walk your horse very slowly over to number 12, Belerma Square;” and, as he spoke, Malcolm Frazer, who, spite of his absurd speech, would have done the same good turn 262for the meanest gillie that ever crossed a Highland moor, and who was possessed of an honest manly heart, and any amount of sailor frankness, entered the vehicle and strove with tenderness and solicitude, such as a woman might have displayed, to prevent the jolting injuring the sufferer, who, at the moment, however, was insensible to everything. “Now you just be off about your business,” said the policeman savagely to a lot of boys who remained looking after the cab with open mouths, “be off about your business, if you have any, and if you haven’t, you had best make it one to be moving, or I may make it mine to stir you,” which vague threat produced so speedily the desired effect, that in five minutes he found himself pacing along the street utterly alone in his glory. Mina was standing at one of the drawing-room windows as the cab stopped before the door of number 12; and, when she beheld her brother assisting the driver to lift something wonderfully resembling a human being out of the vehicle, and up the half dozen stone steps, she, moved by that curiosity which her mother Eve had transmitted to her, and also by that pity which every woman feels for the suffering and the afflicted, hastily quitted her post of observation, and ran down into the hall to ascertain 263what this new arrival meant, and if anything dreadful had occurred. “Malcolm, what the matter?” she inquired. is “Don’t torment me, Mina,” rejoined Malcolm, who, on the strength of being desperately out of breath, and in a profuse perspiration from his late philanthropic labours, felt himself raised on a sort of moral eminence above his sister. “Don’t torment me, Mina, but open that door, and send one of the servants over for Dr. Richards, and don’t talk, but come and make yourself useful if you can.” And thus fraternally exhorted, Mina—whilst her brother paid the cabman so liberally, as not merely to extort three touches of the hat and two “thank you, sirs” from that individual, but also to cause him to mutter, as he drove off, in confidence to his horse, that he was a gentleman and no mistake, though he lived in such a place—did make herself useful; and truly there was need that she should, since Mrs. Frazer could not bear the sight of a wound, and the housekeeper was, if possible, worse than her mistress, and her assistant was out in quest of a doctor, and Miss Caldera was giving a French lesson some two miles off: there was need that she should. “Bad case,” said the doctor when he entered. 264“Not hopeless, though,” exclaimed Malcolm. “Well, no; but he must not be moved again: pity you had not carried him upstairs at once.” “There is no necessity,” interposed Mina; “a bed can be made up here.” "په هغه وخت کې،" د ډاکټر ریچاردز، د خپل مسلکيانو ترټولو مختصر او سختو څخه یو، وايي؛ مګر کله چې مینا د کمرې څخه راځي چې د هغه امرونو په لټه کې وي، هغه اضافه کړ، د مالکلم ته د تایید په لټه کې، "په هر وخت کې معلومه کړه چې هغه د ناڅاپي ډول نه دی." And Mina got matters arranged so speedily and satisfactorily, that even the acid man of medicine was moved unto complimenting her; and he turned every mortal out of the room save Malcolm and herself, and made her hold a candle for him whilst he bandaged, and set, and went so rapidly and (Mina thought) so roughly through all sorts of surgical processes, that the girl at last grew quite faint and sick, and would fain have abandoned her post; but the doctor and Malcolm both telling her, though in somewhat various modes, that as she had been sent on the earth she must make herself useful there, she remained at their bidding to do all she could for the sufferer, who, when he was at all restored to consciousness, first groaned in perfect agony, and then inquired, 265“Where am I?” "مخرم،" د ډاکټر ریچاردس په لټه کې و، "کیا تاسو غواړئ، که تاسو غواړئ، د خپل ځان په سکوت کې ونیسئ، او د یو کلمه نه ونیسئ؛" د ناروغ د دې امر په داسې حال کې چې د هغه په لاس درد د هغه په سکوت کې ونیسئ، مګر د یو وخت په آرامۍ کې، هغه د مینا ته وشی، کوم چې د ډاکټر له خوا د هغه سره د ځینې مرکب سره د هغې په چټکۍ کې ونیسئ، “Do tell me what place this is?” "ما د ټانک،" هغه ځوانان، په یو غږ کې چې د هغه د باور څخه ډاډ کړي، د 50 څخه زيات تضمینونه کولای شي، چې هغه په هر هوايي او هیوادونو او ټولګيونو او ټولګيونو کې شتون لري؛ په هغه خلکو کې چې د ژوند خوښۍ ته وده ورکوي، او د ژوند د خوښۍ د نرمولو لپاره؛ په هغه خلکو کې چې موږ په هر ځای کې ځینې لرو، او د خوښۍ څخه ځي، او خوښۍ سره سپارښتنه کوي، او د سپارښتنه سره د باور وړ دلونو - دوستانو. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. Release date: February 14, 2026, from * This book is part of the public domain. Astounding Stories. (2009). ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE, FEBRUARY 2026. USA. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/77931/pg77931-images.html#Page_99 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 , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. Release date: February 14, 2026, from * This book is part of the public domain. Astounding Stories. (2009). ASTOUNDING STORIES OF SUPER-SCIENCE, FEBRUARY 2026. USA. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/77931/pg77931-images.html#Page_99 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 , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html