The priest brought a stool for Curtis' foot, and lifted the wounded member tenderly thereon. The windows and doors were darkened by the wondering population. Two or three leading citizens pushed through into the room and commenced talking in chorus. All gesticulated wildly. Lindbohm knelt down and began to remove the stocking. "I know something of medicine," he said. "Do I hurt you?" "Go on," replied Curtis; "that's a mere detail." Lindbohm poked the puffy sole here and there until his patient gave a jump, as when the dentist finds a nerve. "There it is," cried Curtis. "There's something in it." Further examination discovered the head of a black sliver, which, after several attempts with a penknife blade and his thumbnail, the Lieutenant succeeded in extracting. The curiosity of the throng, that now packed the room almost to suffocation, found expression in a storm of volubility. The sliver was passed from hand to hand. Curtis thought he detected again and again the syllables, "many, many." He forgot they were speaking Greek. "Do they say there are others?" he asked. "No," replied Michali; "they say '_kaiemene_,' which means poor fellow!" "O, tell 'em it's nothing. Just a sliver in my foot. I'll be all right in an hour." "On the contrary, I regret to say that you a sore foot may have during two or three weeks. It is a spine of the _achinoos_." "O, the sea hedgehog. Is it poisonous?" "Not exactly poisonous, but it will make much irritation. You should have spoken of him immediately, then it would not have been so bad. Did it not hurt very bad?" "Why, it hurt some, of course, but I thought I had scratched my foot on a stone. I wasn't going to delay the game for a little scratch." "Well, by Jupiter!" cried Lindbohm, "you Americans have plenty of gravel." "Plenty of what?" "Plenty of gravel. Isn't that what you say? I heard the expression once." "Perhaps you mean sand?" "Maybe it is. At any rate, you've got it." At this moment a tremendous hubbub arose. The demarch lunged through the crowd, and, throwing his constituents to right and left, made way for the entry of an old woman, who stabbed the ground at every step with a long, quivering staff. She was bent like the new moon, and her wrinkled skin was the color of a mild cigar. In her left hand she held, a wisp of dried herbs. The cries of relief and joy which her presence evoked reminded Curtis of the arrival of a tardy fire engine. "Who's this?" he asked. "She is the wise woman," replied Michali. "She will put something on the foot that will cure him very quick." Her orders, delivered in a shrill voice, resulted in the immediate production of warm water, a towel and a basin. The old woman made the sign of the cross over the foot. She then washed it, applied the leaves and bound them on with rags. "That does feel nice," said Curtis. "How much ought I to offer her?" "Money?" asked Michali. "Yes, of course."