A Sense of Reality [antikvár]

'I". I UNDER THE GARDEN part one 1 It was only when the doctor said to him, 'Of course the fact that you don't smoke is in your favom-,' WUditch realized what it was he had been trying to convey with such tact. Dr Cave had lined up along one wall a series of X-ray photographs, the whorls of which reminded the patient of those pictures of the earth's surface taken from a great height that he had pored over at one period during the war, trying to detect the tiny grey seed of a launching ramp. Dr Cave had explained, 'I want you clearly to understand my problem.' It was very similar to an intelligence briefing of such 'top secret' importance that only one oflScer could be entrusted with the information. Wilditch felt gratified that the choice had fallen on him, and he tried to express his interest and enthusiasm, leaning forward and examining more closely than ever the photographs of his own interior. 'Beginning at this end,' Dr Cave said, 'let me see, April, May, June, three months ago, the scar left by the pneumonia is quite obvious. You can see it here.' 'Yes, sir,' Wilditch said absent-mindedly. Dr Cave gave him a puzzled look. 'Now if we leave out the intervening photographs for the moment and come straight to yesterday's, you will observe that this latest one is almost entirely clear, you can only just detect ' 'Good,' Wilditch said. The doctor's finger moved over what might have been tumxili or traces of prehistoric agriculture. 'But not entirely, I'm afraid. If you look now along the whole series you will notice how very slow the progress has been. Really by this stage the photographs should have shown no trace.' 'I'm sorry,' Wilditch said. A sense of guilt had taken the place of gratification.