Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

It was the wardrobe that made Canon Pennyfather anxious.He was uneasy before he was fully awake, and then he forgot about it and fell asleep again.But when he opened his eyes again, the wardrobe over there was still in its wrong place.He is lying on his left side facing the window, and the wardrobe should be leaning against the left wall between him and the window.But it's not, it's against the right wall.It made him uneasy.It made him so uneasy that he felt tired.He realized that he was suffering from a terrible headache and, to add insult to injury, the wardrobe was not in the right place.At this moment, his eyes were closed again.

When he woke up again, the room was much brighter.It was not yet the light of day, but only the faint light of early morning. "Gee," said Canon Pennyfather to himself, suddenly solving the wardrobe problem, "look what a fool I am! Sure, I'm not in my own house." He moved his body carefully, no, this is not his own bed.He is not at home.He's - where is he?Oh, of course, he went to London, didn't he.He was staying at Bertram's Hotel - oh no, he wasn't at Bertram's Hotel either.At the Bertram Hotel, his bed was facing the window, so there was something wrong with the bed.

"Well, where am I?" said Canon Pennyfather. Then he remembered that he was going to Lucerne. "Sure," he thought, "I'm in Lucerne." He began to think about the paper he was going to give at the conference.He didn't think long.Thinking about the thesis gave him a headache, and he fell asleep again. When he woke up again, his mind was much clearer, and there was more light in the room.He was not at home, not at Bertram's Hotel, and he was sure he was not in Lucerne.This is not a hotel room at all.He looked at it carefully.It was a completely unfamiliar room with almost no furniture in it.A cupboard (which he began to use as a wardrobe) and a window through which light streamed in through flowered curtains.A chair, a table and a chest of drawers.In fact, that's all.

"My God," said Canon Pennyfather, "this is very strange. Where am I?" He was about to get up and investigate, but when he sat up in bed his headache returned and he lay down. "I must be ill," concluded Canon Pennyfather. No. Maybe it's...the flu?" It's often said that the flu comes very suddenly.Maybe, just maybe at dinner at the "Temple of Athena".Yes, that's right.He remembered that he had dined at the "Temple of Athena". There were sounds of people coming and going in the house.Perhaps he was sent to a small private hospital.But no, he didn't think it was a hospital.As the light increased, he saw that it was a rather shabby, poorly furnished small bedroom.The sound of walking continued.A voice from downstairs called, "Goodbye, sweetie. Sausage and mash tonight."

Canon Pennyfather thought for a moment.Sausage and mash.There is something alluring about these words. "I think," he said to himself, "I'm hungry." The door opened, and a middle-aged woman came in. She went straight to the window and opened the curtains a little, then turned towards the bed. "Ah, you're awake," she said, "how do you feel now?" "Honestly," said Canon Pennyfather feebly, "I don't really know." "Ah, I think so. You know, you were in pretty bad shape. You got hit by something and got a bad concussion—that's what the doctor said. Those drivers, they couldn't even stop after they knocked you over. non-stop."

"Have I had an accident?" Canon Pennyfather asked. "A traffic accident?" "Yes," said the middle-aged woman, "we found you on the side of the road when we got home, and thought you were drunk at first." She giggled happily at this thought, "My husband said he was the best Go check it out. He said it might have been an accident. No smell of alcohol, no blood, but you're lying there like a log. So my husband said 'we can't let him lie there like this. ' and carried you here. Do you understand?" "Ah," said Canon Pennyfather weakly, in a sense overwhelmed by these narratives. "What a good Samaritan."

"Seeing you're a clergyman, my husband said 'very respectable.' Then he said he'd better not go to the police, because as a clergyman, you probably don't like that. That is, if you're drunk— No smell of alcohol though. Then it occurred to us to ask Dr. Stokes to come and see you. We still call him Dr. Stokes, even though he has been removed. He is a very nice man, of course suffering a bit from being removed. In fact he was just doing a lot of girls a disservice out of kindness. Without his help these girls would be just as bad. He's a pretty good doctor anyway, so we'll ask him to show you .He said you weren't really hurt, just a mild concussion. All we're going to do is lay you on your back in a room with no light.'Note,' he said, 'I'm not giving any opinion blah blah blah, this is informal, I have no right to prescribe it or say anything. But to be fair, I think you guys should report this to the police, but if you don't want to, then why would you?' Give this Poor old monster one chance, that's what he said. Forgive me for being rude. The doctor is a rude and helpful man, and he is. How about some soup now? Or warm bread and milk?"

"Whatever," said Canon Pennyfather weakly, "any kind." He leans back on the pillow.ACCIDENT?That's it.There was an accident, but he couldn't remember it at all!A few minutes later, the kind woman returned with a steaming bowl on a tray. "You'll feel better after this," she said. "I'd like to put some whiskey or brandy in it, but the doctor says you can't drink any of that." "Of course not," said Canon Pennyfather. "Because of the concussion, no. Certainly not." "Shall I put another pillow under your back, baby? How does it feel like this?"

Canon Pennyfather was a little taken aback by being called "Baby."The implication, he said to himself, was friendly. "Standing you up," the woman said, "that's it." "Yes, but where are we?" said Canon Pennyfather. "I mean, where am I? What is this place?" "Milton St. John," said the woman, "you know that?" "Milton St. John?" said Canon Pennyfather.He shook his head. "I've never heard of this place name before." "Oh, it's not really a place name, it's just a small village."

"It's very kind of you," Canon said.Father Penny said, "May I ask your name?" "Mrs. Wheeling, Emma Wheeling." "It's very kind of you," said Canon Pennyfather again, "but an accident like this happened, and I don't even remember--" "Don't think about it any more, dear, and you'll feel better, and you'll get your memory back." "Milton St. John," said Canon Pennyfather to himself, in a tone of wonder, "that name means nothing to me. How strange it is!"