Imaginary wars and battles -- Fiction; Science fiction
"Doctor, I am desirous that you should see my daughter. I fear that you
can do little more than palliate her condition, but even that would be
very much for us. She is a great sufferer, and I shall be extremely
grateful for anything you can do for her."
The Doctor immediately signified his readiness to see her whenever it
pleased the Count.
"That north wind is still howling, and I am only too happy to be of
service to your daughter, or any of God's suffering children while I am
with you. Keep me busy as you like, Count. My greatest delight is to
cure the sick, and the world is my field since I started on this trip
for the Pole."
The Count touched a bell, and a female servant entered. He gave her some
orders in Russian.
She returned in a few moments and spoke to him.
"My daughter is ready to receive us. Will you go up to her now, sir?"
"This is my daughter Feodora, Doctor Jones," said the Count as they
entered her room. A tall, graceful young lady of twenty arose from a
couch upon which she had been lying, and extended a thin feverish hand
to the Doctor. She spoke to him in beautiful English, and Dr. Jones
expressed surprise in his face so that the Count said:
"I spent several years in London, and Feodora became very proficient in
the language there."
They were all seated, and, after a few casual remarks, Dr. Jones
requested Feodora to relate to him the history of her illness, and as
she did so, he carefully noted her symptoms in his case-book. He
interrupted her as little as possible, preferring to take down the
history in her own language. After she had finished he made a physical
examination of her chest. First, he carefully percussed both lungs; that
is, laid the fingers of the left hand upon the chest and tapped them
lightly with the finger ends of the right hand, thus producing a more or
less resonant or hollow sound. He could thus detect any consolidated
tissue that might be in the lung, or abnormal resonance where there
chanced to be a cavity. He then, with a stethoscope, ausculated the
lungs, or listened to the respiratory sounds. He noted the temperature;
rate and other qualities of the pulse; looked at the tongue and sputa.
Having now a complete picture of the case or what he termed the
"totality of the symptoms," he said:
"I must consult my library a few moments. I will be back within an
hour."
He hastened to the cage, ascended to the cabin, and in a few moments was
oblivious to everything but the salvation of this precious young life.
He transcribed from his case-book to a sheet of paper the most
prominent, unusual, and persistent symptoms. They were:
1. Weeps much, and cannot bear to be left alone. Fears she will die.
2. Great difficulty in breathing; worse from exertion and after
coughing.
3. Dry, teasing cough, more or less day and night. In paroxysms from
tickling in the throat, with tenacious mucus, which she cannot raise,
and must be swallowed. Sputa sometimes consists of pus, mixed with
blood.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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