The Count of Monte Cristo

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So sudden and violent was the fit that the unfortunate prisoner was
unable to complete the sentence; a violent convulsion shook his whole
frame, his eyes started from their sockets, his mouth was drawn on one
side, his cheeks became purple, he struggled, foamed, dashed himself
about, and uttered the most dreadful cries, which, however, Dantes
prevented from being heard by covering his head with the blanket. The
fit lasted two hours; then, more helpless than an infant, and colder and
paler than marble, more crushed and broken than a reed trampled under
foot, he fell back, doubled up in one last convulsion, and became as
rigid as a corpse.

Edmond waited till life seemed extinct in the body of his friend, then,
taking up the knife, he with difficulty forced open the closely
fixed jaws, carefully administered the appointed number of drops, and
anxiously awaited the result. An hour passed away and the old man gave
no sign of returning animation. Dantes began to fear he had delayed too
long ere he administered the remedy, and, thrusting his hands into his