The Bone Counters
Mr. Ludgrove, as Hanslet had said to Dr. Priestley, bore the shock of the finding of the numbered counter extremely well. He had refused to make any alteration in usual habits, and it was with the greatest difficulty that Whyland could persuade him to allow a constable to sleep in the house at night.
“I can assure you that this mysterious warning does not terrify me,” he had said. “I am an old man, and death cannot be far off in any case. I am not sure that I should not prefer a violent end to some lingering illness which might leave me helpless for months before it killed me. But, if you think that by keeping a close watch over me you can gain some clue to the distributor of these counters, by all means do so.”