200.Chapter Eighteen（1）

thedoorwasajar；theyentered。***“john！”

fromthebathroomcameanunpleasantandcharacteristicsound。

“isthereanythingthematter？”helmholtzcalled。

therewasnoanswer。theunpleasantsoundwasrepeated，twice；therewassilence。

then，withaclickthebathroomdooropenedand，verypale，thesavageemerged。“isay，”helmholtzexclaimedsolicitously，“youdolookill，john！”“didyoueatsomethingthatdidn’tagreewithyou？”askedbernard。

thesavagenodded。“iatecivilization。”

“what？”

“itpoisonedme；iwasdefiled。andthen，”headded，inalowertone，“iatemyownwickedness。”

“yes，butwhatexactly？…imean，justnowyouwere…”

“nowiampurified，”saidthesavage。“idranksomemustardandwarmwater。”

theothersstaredathiminastonishment。“doyoumeantosaythatyouweredoingitonpurpose？”askedbernard。

“that’showtheindiansalwayspurifythemselves。”hesatdownand，sighing，passedhishandacrosshisforehead。“ishallrestforafewminutes，”hesaid。“i’mrathertired。”

“well，i’mnotsurprised，”saidhelmholtz。afterasilence，“we’vecometosaygood-bye，”hewentoninanothertone。“we’reoffto-morrowmorning。”

“yes，we’reoffto-morrow，”saidbernardonwhosefacethesavageremarkedanewexpressionofdeterminedresignation。“andbytheway，john，”hecontinued，leaningforwardinhischairandlayingahandonthesavage’sknee，“iwanttosayhowsorryiamabouteverythingthathappenedyesterday。”heblushed。“howashamed，”hewenton，inspiteoftheunsteadinessofhisvoice，“howreally…”