CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DIAGNOSIS.
There was a great outcry from the party when Helen appeared in the armsof Lewis with an ostentatious bandage on her ankle, so that the verdictof a sprain was established without the attending physician's having toperjure himself with a false diagnosis.
Helen was looking very pale and tired, and thankful indeed was she forthe bony back of Josephus, that was destined to bear her home. She andBobby both found room on the patient old mule, who started off with hisusual bird-like spirit, seemingly proud of his fair burden.
"I am afraid we are too much for Josephus," Helen said to Josh.
"Naw'm! Josephus is proud to tote the likes of you allses. He is jes' abeen tellin' we uns that he is thankful his short leg is up the mountingso Miss Helen will ride mo' easy like."
"Well, I'll give him some sugar when we get home," laughed Helen.
Dr. Wright kept close by the side of the mule wherever the trailpermitted and once or twice held out his hand to feel the pulse of thepatient. That is the danger of snake bite: that the pulse may becomefeeble. The old treatment of whisky, drunk in large quantities, is nowthought to have been the cause of more deaths from snake bites than thebites themselves. Persons unaccustomed to liquor could not stand thelarge doses that were poured down them by well-meaning friends. Thepresent day treatment is: strychnia to keep up the pulse and thethorough burning out of the wound, after it has been sucked by a healthymouth.
A sprained ankle is nothing to dampen the spirits of youth and so thecrowd went back as gaily as it came. Helen could not help thinking howdifferently they would have behaved had they known the true inwardnessof her having to ride on the back of the mule that reminded her ofnothing so much as a saw-horse. Had they understood that a rattlesnakehad taken a nip out of her tendon Achilles, it would have put an end totheir cheerfulness and also an end to their week-end boarders if she wasnot mistaken.
"Suppose it is going to do me as it did old Uncle Snake-bit Peter weused to see up at Wytheville," she said to herself, "with his leg alldrawn up and shrivelled." She got giddy at the thought and then it wasthat Dr. Wright, who seemed to know exactly what was in her mind, putout his hand and felt her pulse and then gave her another tiny pellet.He looked so good and so dependable and seemed so confident that all wasgoing well with her, she felt she must perforce have faith in him.
"'I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help,'" came to herlips, and she whispered the text softly.
"What is it?"
"Nothing," she blushed, "I was talking to myself."
"You were blowing down my neck," said Bobby, who was perched in frontof her. "If you were whiskering to me, I didn't hear what you said.'Tain't perlite to whisker in comp'ny, and, 'sides, I always tell my'ployer what you say 'bout him, anyhow."
Helen was silent. Would she ever be able to live down all the unkindthings she had said about Dr. Wright? How could he be so nice to her?Of course, she understood that he had done what any physician wouldhave done in treating the wound, although he might have called LewisSomerville to do the extremely objectionable part of the process ofcleaning the bite. Since Lewis was a cousin and in the mountains asprotector to her and her sisters, it might have been up to him to renderfirst aid, since the tendon Achilles is so situated that it would take acontortionist to administer treatment to oneself. If Dr. Wright had onlydone his duty as laid down in the code of medical ethics, he certainlyhad a wonderfully pleasing sick room manner and his patients must oneand all give him praise for sympathy and understanding.
"Gwen done promised me'n Josh to have some gingerbread made by the timewe gits back from hiking," broke in Bobby. "I is a-hopin' that all thisjoltin' is gonter shake down my lunch some, 'cause sho's you's born Idon't want what I done et. If Josephus stumbles agin I reckon my stomickwill growl an' then I'm most sho' I kin hole a leetle mo' if it'sgingerbread. Gwen kin make the bes'es' an' sof'es' an' blackes'gingerbread what I ever et."
At the mention of Gwen, Helen's thoughts went back to the Devil's Gorgewhere her father had met such a tragic end, and the wallet she had seenin the branches of the scrub oak tree flashed in her mind's eye.
"The wallet! The wallet! We forgot to get it out of the tree," sheexclaimed.
"By Jove! So we did! Somehow, other things seemed more important."
"I wonder what it was. It might have been in the Englishman's pocket,and when he fell down the cliff, it might have got caught in thebranches of the scrub oak. I wish I knew."
Camp looked very peaceful and homelike when the hikers returned. Thecard players were still at it and seemed all unconscious of thelengthening shadows. Mrs. Tate took occasion while she was dummy toembrace her offspring and to suggest that she put witchhazel on hersunburned countenance. The bachelor uncle played through his no trumphand before he could assure himself of his niece's safety. Miss LizzieSomerville had felt no uneasiness about the crowd, because was not herbeloved Lewis taking care of them? She was somewhat concerned when shelearned that her favorite among the girls had sprained her ankle butthanked her stars that it was only a sprain and not a snake bite orsomething terrible.
"I have a dread of snakes," she said as she stood over Helen in the tentwhere Dr. Wright had tenderly borne her, and where she lay on her cot,thankful indeed to be off the sharp back of Josephus and at rest on whatwas not exactly a luxurious bed but very comfortable to her tired bones."It was a blessing that Dr. Wright was with you and could bind up yourankle so nicely. Does it pain you much, child?"
"No'm, not much! Not at all right now."
"Well, as I said before, I am thankful it was not a snake bite as I wassure none of you had carried whisky with you, and that is the only thingto use when a snake bites you, so I have always been told. No matterwhat your habits or convictions are, you must drink whisky if a snakebites you. Am I not right, doctor?"
"Well, whisky is better than nothing, but there are things that arebetter than whisky," smiled the young man, wishing that Miss Somervillewould get away from the painful subject and realizing more than ever howwise Helen had been to conceal the real cause of her being out of therunning. "Strychnia is the treatment of modern science, as it is moreefficacious than whisky to keep up the pulse." He felt Helen's pulsewhile he was talking, which seemed to Miss Somerville rather unnecessaryconcern for a sprained ankle, and she went off murmuring to herself:"'There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea four, whichI know not: The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon arock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a manwith a maid.'"
Douglas came in, white and scared. Lewis had broken the news to her asgently as possible, but the sound of snake bite was a terrible one toher young ears. She, too, remembered old Uncle Snake-bit Peter and hiswithered limb.
"Helen, Helen!" she cried and burst into tears.
"Why, Douglas, buck up! Dr. Wright says I am doing splendidly and thereis nothing to fear. He did everything that could be done, and because hewas right on the spot, it was attended to so quickly that the poisoncould not get into my system. I feel fine, and mean to be up a greatdeal sooner than I would if it had been just a common sprain. We mustkeep it dark, though, and not let a soul know it is anything but whatthey think it is."
Douglas was reassured by the calm confidence of the doctor and relieved,indeed, to see that Helen was meaning to obey him in everything.
"She had better stay perfectly quiet for several days just to be sure,and I will treat the poor heel where I had to cauterize it. That will,of course, be sore for a while."
"All right," said Helen with unaccustomed meekness, "but I did think Imight get up to-morrow. But I'll be good as I want to get well,perfectly well, so I can go to the Devil's Gorge again and get thewallet."
"But would you venture there again?"
"Certainly! But next time I'll wear high shoes and leggins and lookwhere I step. I think I deserve some of Aunt Mandy's black snake whip asa punishment. I do wish I knew what was in that w
allet--if it was awallet."
The doctor smiled and left the tent to the sisters, who clung to eachother with all the affection they had. They realized what they meant toone another more than they ever had before, now that this thing hadoccurred that might have proved very serious.
"We mustn't let a soul know what the trouble is, Douglas. Of course, yourealize it would send our week-end boarders anywhere but to themountains."
"Yes, I see it would, just the way they all talk about snakes. I tellyou one thing, though--we must make leggins obligatory for hikers. Maybeit would be well to order a few extra pair when we order the blanketsfor those persons, like Tillie Wingo, who will not do what they aretold."
"I believe so, too. And now, honey, please get Gwen to bring mesomething very simple for my supper. I believe I'll join the bread andmilk club to-night and not try to eat anything heavy. I feel so sleepyI can hardly keep my eyes open. I do hope I am not going to dream aboutsnakes. I'd sleep better if I only knew what was in the wallet I sawhanging in the tree."