ANOTHER FEVER VICTIM
The account the doctor gave Nurse Blunt of the deplorable state
of the sickness in Willowton would have made a weaker woman
quail, but Nurse Blunt was strong in body and mind.
"I mayn't sit up night, sir, as you know," she said, "but I'll do
my best all day; and I'll begin at six o'clock to-morrow morning
if you'll give me list of the most urgent cases."
The doctor took out his pocket-book.
"Four cases in Gravel-pit Lane," he read, "two in the main
street, three in the back alley. None of these are particularly
dangerous ones, but they all require great care, as you know, and
the difficulty is to prevent their relations feeding them with
forbidden things."
"I know that well, sir," said the nurse sorrowfully; "I've had a
great many sad experiences of that. Many a poor thing has died
through being given solid food at a time when nothing but milk
should have been allowed."
"Yes," assented the doctor, "of course, it is as you say; and it
has been the cause of death to several of our people. I cannot
make them see the necessity for following my orders implicitly;
they think it does not matter, or I won't find out. Well, perhaps
I don't, but nature does, and we soon see the result."
"Where shall I go first?" asked nurse.
"Well, there is a new case declared only this afternoon--a Mrs.
Lummis, a nice woman, a widow. She has no one really to look
after her but a lazy ne'er-do-weel of a son. Perhaps you had
better go there first. She will not keep you long. Everything
will be neat; and though very poor, I fancy she knows what ought
to be. If wanted, I'll give you an order for milk. Major Bailey
has telegraphed from South Africa that his dairy (and he keeps a
lot of cows) is at our disposal. You'd better tell her son he
must go for it every morning." He wrote out an order as he spoke.
"The others have all got them," he continued.
And after receiving a few more important directions, the nurse
took her leave and strolled back through the village to her
lodgings.
Milly and her grandfather were still up when she got back, though
they usually "turned in" earlier. Milly, of course, waited to
hear whether her lodger wanted anything before she retired for
the night.
"Nothing, thank you," she said in answer to her inquiries; "but
if you'll let me have breakfast at eight o'clock I should be
glad. And perhaps you can tell me which of these places comes
first. I like to take my patients as they come; it saves time and
trouble, and they get to know when to expect me."
She handed Milly the doctor's paper, and Milly explained. Nurse
took out a pencil and made some notes on the margin.
"Oh! and then there's Mrs. Lummis," she said.
"I am to go there first. Where does she live?"
"Mrs. Lummis!" echoed Milly with surprise. "Is she ill?"
"So the doctor says. And it appears she has no one to look after
her but a good-for-nothing son. Poor woman! I'm sorry for her,
for I shan't be able to give her much of my time with a list like
this!"
Milly would have liked to say something in defence of George
Lummis, for she had, or fancied she had, seen something of
another side of his character when he had jumped across the
stream and stood beside her so meekly while she spoke to him
about his wasting his time on the bridge. She had fancied there
was something rather fine about him, he had looked so strong and
honest and capable for the moment; but then a little later how
different had been his appearance! The remembrance of that kept
her quiet; she had nothing to say.
Old Jimmy woke up just in time to hear nurse's remark. "Yes," he
said, "a good-fur-northin', idlin' young fule." And if Milly had
not stopped him with a timely reminder that it was nearly
half-past nine, he would have plunged into the history of all
poor Geo's antecedents for several generations. As it was, nurse
was not particularly interested, and backed up Milly's suggestion
that it was high time all good people went to bed.
In the meantime, in the little house on the hill that lazy, idle
good-for-nothing was making ready for the night.
He pulled down the little blind over the open window, and set a
jug of milk and water with a glass by his mother's bedside, and
smoothed the sheet over her hot and tossing limbs.
"You just sing out, mother, if you want anything," he said,
speaking in a comfortable, low-toned voice that did not jar on
her aching nerves. "Or if you can't sleep. I'll come and set by
you. I'd like to do that now if you'd let me."
"No, no, Geo my boy, that I won't; I'm quite comfortable as far
as that goes. If it wasn't for the heat, maybe I'd get some sleep
myself. You go to bed now, and when you wake come in and see
after me. I'll call you sure enough if I want you."
So Geo came away, and throwing himself on his bed was soon sound
asleep.
In the house next door a girl was ill. Mrs. Lummis had been
helping to nurse her. If only she could be left, her mother would
come and see after her, she well knew; for the poor are always at
their best in times of illness, and the way they help each other
is a pattern to those above them. But the girl was very bad
indeed, not likely to recover, and Mrs. Lummis could not look for
help from the nearly worn-out mother. It was a comfort that Geo
seemed to be so handy. She was lucky, she thought, to have such a
son; but she felt anxious, knowing that her illness was likely to
be a long one. She knew not of the likelihood of the nurse
coming to her. Like everybody else in the village, she knew of
her advent, but nobody had told her she had really come. If she
had she would have passed a less miserable night, perhaps; for,
of course, nothing was farther away from her than sleep.
After all she had heard, nurse was rather surprised, when she
knocked at the door about seven o'clock next morning, to find it
opened to her by a pleasant, bright-faced young man, who looked
as if he had just dipped his head into a tub of cold water, so
fresh was his colour.
"_You_ haven't been up all night, I'll be bound," she inwardly
ejaculated; "but you look different from what I expected."
"I am the new nurse," she said in answer to the astonishment that
shot out of his blue eyes, "and the doctor has sent me to see
after your mother. What sort of night has she had?"
"Pretty bad," said Geo. "I was just gettin' th' kettle to boil,
and thought I'd make her some tea."
"Milk is better for her," said the nurse.
"That's too early for milk yet," said Geo; "you can't get milk at
the shop before eight o'clock."
"Oh, well, I've got a ticket for you," and the nurse produced it
out of her little black bag.
"Why, that's for the Hall!" said Geo with surprise.
"Yes, that's all right; the doctor sent it. You'd better take a
can and go and fetch it at once. I'll see after your mother if
you'll just take me to her."
"But I think I'd better first let her know," said Geo, thinking
this newcomer was taking rather too much on herself.
Nurse read his thoughts and flushed a little. She was so full of
the importance of her mission, so anxious to do her work
thoroughly, that she sometimes forgot the little courtesies due
to everybody, sick or well.
"Certainly," she said, rather curtly. "I'll wait till you come
down."
George disappeared up the steep little staircase that led out of
the sitting-room to the bedroom overhead. He was gone a few
minutes, and when he came back he said his mother would be glad
to see nurse if the doctor had sent her, and he showed her up.
The sick woman, who looked thin and flushed with fever, looked
half frightened at the nurse for a moment, and then began to cry.
"Leave her to me," said nurse to Geo, who did not understand.
"She'll be all right in a minute or two."
So Geo went off in his usual leisurely way for the milk, and the
nurse talked soothingly to the sick woman, took her temperature,
which was very high, and gave her some fever medicine.
"Are you going to do for her?" asked the nurse bluntly when Geo
returned.
"I s'pose so," answered Geo in the same way.
"Well, I'll call in some time again this afternoon. You need not
stop with her all day, but you must come in and out; and give her
nothing but milk, but plenty of it. But can you be spared from
your work? Oh," as Geo hesitated, "I forgot."
Geo saw she had already heard about him. It was unnecessary to
explain.
"I'll due wot yue say," he said simply, opening the door and
letting her out; and then he went back to his mother, who spoke
gratefully of the nurse and seemed glad of her help.