The coachman and hostler were summoned, and the unconscious man
was borne to the Hunt cottage and laid upon Phillip Stanley's bed.
Here an examination revealed that the left leg had been broken
above the knee; but, before an hour had passed, this was
skillfully set and the patient made as comfortable as possible for
the night.
Dr. Stanley would not permit his sister to be inconvenienced in
any way by this addition to their family, but took it upon himself
to minister to the sufferer's requirements, which he did with all
the ease and skill of a trained nurse.
During the first day or two the young man preserved a sullen
silence; but as his attendant manifested only good will and
invariably treated him with the utmost courtesy and kindness, his
reserve gradually wore away and he became more communicative.
"This has proved a pretty unlucky trip for me," he observed, on
the third morning after the accident, and thus introducing a
subject which Dr. Stanley had studiously avoided.
"Possibly; but you are coming on all right. You have had no fever,
no pain," the physician replied.
"No, and I don't understand that part of it at all," remarked his
patient, thoughtfully. "I have always supposed it was a terrible
experience to have a broken bone set."
"Well, Willard, I have a confession to make to you about that,"
his companion returned; "you were in such a state of collapse
Tuesday night I felt you were unfit to decide any question for
yourself, and, as I had no anaesthetics at hand, I asked Mrs.
Minturn to give you a Christian Science treatment while I
performed my duties, and since then I have been trying to work,
under her direction, to keep the claims of inflammation and fever
from manifesting themselves."
"Christian Science!" repeated the patient, with a short laugh.
"Well, I've heard that it would do great things, but I never took
any stock in it; it seemed like so much twaddle to me. You are
sure you're not guying me, doctor?"
"Indeed, I am not; you can rely on what I have told you."
"All right; the method doesn't signify, so long as I was spared
the pain."
"Then, are you willing to keep on under the same treatment?"
inquired his companion.
"I'll be blamed! I believe you're turning Scientist yourself!"
exclaimed Willard, with a broad grin. "But it makes no difference
to me what you do, so I get results. You're a first-class doctor,
and would be sure to know if anything was going wrong. But--
confound the luck!--I don't want to be laid up here for three
months," he concluded, impatiently.
"There will be no need of that. I think by the end of another week
you can be put upon a Pullman and go home," was the encouraging
response.
"Home!" was the bitter retort. "You know I can't go there,
Stanley."
"Well, you are going to be well taken care of, anyway. I shall
attend to that," said Dr. Stanley, kindly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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