The Argosy, December 1905 — page 118: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

96 keep the drops back. The eyes over- flowed, and, drop by drop, tears ran down the pallid cheeks. ‘The man was crying, weeping like a child, but without a sound. Nothing which had occurred since he had struggled with the patient and strapped him to the couch had so moved Burress. This newly awakened con- sciousness, this utterly strange person- ality that possessed his old friend, did not even know how to weep as humanity usually weeps. It made the utter helplessness of Lloyd vastly more real to Burress. The poor fellow was unable to make a single want known. He must be taught to use some series of signs or gestures to ex- press his wishes. Burress bent the powers of his own mind upon the seeking of a reason for those tears. It was not fear that had excited the flow, for fear had made Lloyd struggle and cry out. Then this must be pain. The straps were at fault. Burress rose and bent over him. Again alarm showed in his eyes and he recoiled from the physician. ‘The tears ceased flow- ing, for to the helpless one fear took precedence over pain. The physician loosened the strap passing around Lloyd’s body and arms, and relief was apparent at once in the sufferer’s countenance. He removed the one about the leg altogether, and then began rubbing the limbs to restore a more vigorous circulation of the blood. Lloyd’s actions denoted fear when the physician began, but gradually he seemed to comprehend that the relief afforded him was caused by the contact of the hands from which he so naturally shrank. When Leslie Searle returned, he seemed quite calm, and Burress dared leave her alone with him while he ate. Lloyd had fallen asleep when Burress came back to the sick-room; neverthe- less, the latter prepared some nourish- ment, and had it ready when he roused again later in the evening. There was another struggle then, and one which Burress deplored greatly; the patient had to be strapped down THE ARGOSY. before anything could be forced between his lips. The physician found Leslie of very little assistance to him, after all, for Lloyd seemed more afraid of the girl than of Burress himself! He winced whenever Leshe came near him, and plainly was alarmed by either her dress or personal appearance. ‘The girl was deeply hurt because of ‘this very evident distaste expressed by her lover, but Burress comforted her as best he might. Later in the evening Orrin Paddock came in again and offered to sit up with the patient.- Burress had had no sleep the night before, and the racking inci- dents of the day had worn him greatly. He welcomed the old herbalist, for Or- rin was well versed in nursing. ‘The girl begged hard to remain with Betty, and the doctor sent her to bed. He had his own couch brought into the sick- room, and lay down in his clothing for short naps during the night. But there was little rest for anybody in the house. Lloyd’s state made him a very difficult patient, and he was in a feverish and most serious condition before the early morning train brought Dr. Munhall and Professor Oglethorpe. “The old doctor,” as Betty called Burress’ predecessor, was an_ old- fashioned country practitioner—one of those Heaven-inspired disciples of Galen who learned their trade long before the word “ specialist” came much into use in the medical profession. Munhall was surgeon, oculist, aurist, dentist, and general adviser for the en- tire countryside, and although he had never had any practical experience in such a case as Lloyd’s, even the college lecturer, Oglethorpe, deferred to the older physician’s judgment upon some points. It had been exceedingly difficult to force any nourishment upon the patient, although he was evidently suffering se- verely from the pangs of hunger. It was Dr. Munhall who succeeded in placing the liquid prepared so far back in the pharynx that Lloyd was obliged to swallow it. Meanwhile, Professor Oglethorpe listened gravely to Burress’ report of CORmMICLOOOKS (C@