AFTER SUPPER

By E. M. BELL

THE round-shouldered probationer collected the last of the supper cups on to her trolley and rattled and clanked her way through the door. The swing doors flapped to behind her and the men in the ward felt that the evening had begun.

There were thirty of them, chiefly engaged in conversation, so the noise was considerable, and those with headaches fidgeted restlessly, though they did not begrudge the cheerful exclamations of the four at the table who were playing cards. The fat man in the orange pyjamas, whose voice, which he used unremittingly, was harsh and disagreeable, was a considerable annoyance to his left-hand neighbour who had been deprived of a kidney the day before and was irrit- able and in pain. The man on his right, who looked like a professional pugilist but was actually an engine driver, preserved an appearance of interest and attention by a vocal offering of " Hell, is that so " or " You don't say " from time to time, with which the fat man was quite content. The fat man appeared to have led a varied and heroic life, to have stood more drinks than he had ever been repaid, and to be the idol of the female population round his home. The man without the kidney said " Damn " rather bitterly but with no effect.

On the opposite side of the ward a little boy with his legs slung up in the air was telling himself a story in a sing- song voice, and next to him a young policeman, who had, with the assistance of a lorry, personally proved the scientific fact that no two objects can occupy the same space at the same point in time, dozed fitfully, waking every few minutes in a frightened sweat. Further up the ward a man with no feet and a man who would in all probability soon have no left hand were discussing the rival merits of their firms' insurance companies. At the very end, behind a screen, was a man who was still under the influence of an anaesthetic, and showed signs from time to time of bursting into song. He sounded cheerful and oblivious, like one in his cups, and more than one man in the ward was secretly envious.

The probationer brought the fat man some water for his ablutions and he made a lewd and speculative remark to see its effect, but the nun next to him, looking more like a professional pugilist than ever, said sharply, " None o' that 'ere, now," so that he decided discretion was the better part of valour and lay down.

Somebody put the lights on and the evening darkened outside. The young policeman opened his eyes again for the hundredth time, and for the hundredth time tried to keep them open. Every time he closed them he found himself at a cross-roads watching the imminent and head-on collision of two buses and a tram, and when they crashed he woke.

The man behind the screen lifted up his voice at last, " For she is my - lil - ly - of - Lugan - o ! She is my - lil - ly - and my - " here the sister, a tall woman with large feet at right angles, went behind his screen and he was quiet.

The only man in the ward who was quite silent moved up and down his bed on his haunches like a restless Turk, his expression varied strangely by an invisible pain. When it became intolerable he paused at the end of his bed, with his legs, which hung over the edge and out of his regulation nightshirt, twisting together like two pale snakes.

When the evening was beginning to seem intolerably long the ward maid shuffled in with her broom to sweep the floor, and some cheerful witticisms helped to pass the time. She was fifteen and undersized, but she looked older, for her work was heavy, and she spent but seven hours of the twenty-four in bed. She swept carefully, avoiding the sister, heaping a great deal of dust on her feet, and stopping to hitch up her stockings from time to time. At the police- man's bed she slipped on some water and sent her broom crashing into the iron. He opened his eyes and said, " Thank you, my dear," without sarcasm, because his buses had been about to collide.

At half past seven a few visitors came in, and the young policeman's wife sat down beside his bed. After a while he opened his eyes, said " Hullo, Glad " and shut them again. She pushed the parcels she had brought a little nearer and waited until she saw him looking at her, when he said with surprise, " Well, Glad, nice to see you " and promptly went to sleep. The third time he opened his eyes he said, " Glad ! Well I never," and she, who had never seen him but in full possession of his health and sense, withdrew some chocolate from one of the parcels and turned her attention to the little boy. They ate it together, dis- cussing the weather and the little boy's legs. When she wanted to go she waited until her husband woke to say " Good-bye," to which he replied, " Hullo, old girl—going ? " before he went to sleep. She went away thoughtfully, puzzled by the lump on his head.

The fat man in the orange pyjamas had his wife to see him too, and he greeted her with such an audible kiss that the little boy interrupted his conversation to see what was going on. She had brought a great deal of food which she littered on the bed and for some time he held forth upon the rival merits of peaches and grapes, explaining why she should really have brought the latter.

A fellow-worker of the man with no feet lumbered up the ward; they exchanged badinage, railing each other " mate."

An Irishman, embarrassed by a visit from his priest in conjunction with the fact that he had not confessed his sins for some time, racked his brains for his stock of stories, which was considerable, and their laughter echoed down the ward. When the fat man saw the priest pass the end of his bed he turned to the engine-driver and said loudly : " Personally I don't 'old with all this religion—what I say is lead a good life and that's everything." The engine-driver raised a satirical eyebrow and vouchsafed no reply.

The visitors departed, and suddenly the man behind the screen burst forth again : " She is my lily of-Lug-a- no- " with renewed energy. The little boy said : " Aw, give us another ! " and started to whistle " Annie Laurie."

At eight o'clock the sister announced that it was time for prayers, and having extinguished the lights knelt down and voiced the rather excessive request that whatsoever things were lovely and of good report might there for ever flourish and abound.

There was a rustling of bedclothes, and the men settled down, some of them to sleep and some of them to wait until it grew light.