At half-past twelve Doctor Hillhouse, in company with Doctor Kline, arrived at Mr. Carlton’s.  The white face and scared look of the female servant who admitted them showed how strongly fear and sympathy were at work in the house.  She directed them to the room which had been set apart for their use.  In the hall above Mr. Carlton met them, and returned with a trembling hand and silent pressure the salutation of the two physicians, who passed into a chamber next to the one occupied by their patient and quickly began the work of making everything ready.  Acting from previous concert, they drew the table which had been provided into the best light afforded by the room, and then arranged instruments, bandages and all things needed for the work to be done.

When all these preparations were completed, notice was given to Mrs. Carlton, who immediately entered from the adjoining room.  She was a beautiful woman, in the very prime of life, and never had she appeared more beautiful than now.  Her strong will had mastered fear, strength, courage and resignation looked out from her clear eyes and rested on her firm lips.  She smiled, but did not speak.  Doctor Hillhouse took her by the hand and led her to the table on which she was to lie during the operation, saying, as he did so, “It will be over in a few minutes, and you will not feel it as much as the scratch of a pin.”

She laid herself down without a moment’s hesitation, and as she did so Doctor Angier, according to previous arrangement, presented a sponge saturated with ether to her nostrils, and in two minutes complete anaesthesis was produced.  On the instant this took place Doctor Hillhouse made an incision and cut down quickly to the tumor.  His hand was steady, and he seemed to be in perfect command of himself.  The stimulants he had taken as a last resort were still active on brain and nerves.  On reaching the tumor he found it, as he had feared, much larger than its surface presentation indicated.  It was a hard, fibrous substance, and deeply seated among the veins, arteries and muscles of the neck.  The surgeon’s hand retained its firmness; there was a concentration of thought and purpose that gave science and skill their best results.  It took over twenty minutes to dissect the tumor away from all the delicate organs upon which it had laid its grasp, and nearly half as long a time to stanch the flow of blood from the many small arteries which had been severed during the operation.  One of these, larger than the rest, eluded for a time the efforts of Doctor Hillhouse at ligation, and he felt uncertain about it even after he had stopped the effusion of blood.  In fact, his hand had become unsteady and his brain slightly confused.  The active stimulant taken half an hour before was losing its effect and his nerves beginning to give way.  He was no longer master of the situation, and the last and, as it proved, the most vital thing in the whole operation was done imperfectly.