CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Doctor Powell, who had returned from Los Angeles a few days previously,was following Chappo about the garden after supper, praising the flowersthe little Mexican had planted and cultivated with such success. Limber,coming from the stable after a final visit to see that the horses wereall right for the night, noticed a rider on the road from the CircleCross.
"Juan is coming," announced the cowpuncher.
Powell turned quickly. "I hope nothing is wrong."
They walked toward the gate. Juan dismounted, slipped the reins over hispony's head and held a note to Powell, saying, "From La Senora. El SenorGlendon is seek."
The doctor hastened into the house, lighted a lamp and read;
_Dear Doctor:_
Will you come back with Juan? My husband is ill. He had a severe chill, but is now in a stupor and I cannot rouse him. I do not know what is the matter. Please hurry, for I am much alarmed.
Sincerely yours,
KATHERINE GLENDON.
Powell returned to the porch and questioned Juan, who told him Glendonhad not been well for a couple of days and had refused to allow his wifeto consult the doctor as she had wished to do.
Hurriedly packing what medicines he thought might be necessary, whileChappo saddled a horse, Powell explained the situation briefly to Limberand set out, Juan at his side, for the Glendon ranch.
Katherine was at the door when he dismounted and handed the reins of hishorse to Juan.
"Oh, I am so glad you have come!" she exclaimed. "I don't know what isthe matter. I have never seen him this way before. Usually I know whatto do for him."
She led the way into the bedroom, as she spoke, and Powell noted theunconscious revelation in her words. Glendon lay on the bed, his redcongested face and relaxed sensual lips adding to a bestial appearance.The doctor drew a chair to the bedside and lifted the limp, heavy handfrom the coverlet, then he leaned down and placed his ear againstGlendon's chest. Slowly the seconds ticked away. The doctor leaned backand studied the dissipated countenance, while Katherine waited at thefoot of the bed.
"Is it serious?" she asked anxiously.
"Pneumonia," replied Powell gravely. "I will have to be frank, Mrs.Glendon. He has wrecked a fine constitution. The heart is in badcondition from drinking. Alcoholism and pneumonia combined leave veryslight chance for recovery in this altitude."
"I understand that," answered Glendon's wife, "but there is a fightingchance, isn't there?"
"Yes--a fighting chance, nothing more. His heart is weak. When thecrisis comes it may stop, or it may respond to treatment and rallysufficiently to go on. That is the one chance for him to pull through."
As Powell turned again to his patient, she asked very quietly, "Is thereanything I can do?"
"Bring a spoon, glass of fresh water, and some strips of flannel, if youhave them?"
She hurried away, and returned in a few minutes.
"That's good," approved the doctor, as she laid the neatly rolledflannel bandages on the table beside him and arranged the tumbler, spoonand pitcher of water where he could reach them conveniently. "Heat thatcamphorated oil, please."
She followed his instructions and watched him saturate the flannel,which he slipped around Glendon's chest and across his back with thedeftness and gentleness of a woman. Then he drew the coverlet smoothlyand looked at Katherine's pale face.
"You had better get a little rest," he said. "I will stay here until thecrisis is past. Take this," he commanded, preparing a mixture in theglass and holding it out to her.
Katherine swallowed the contents of the tumbler, while Powell added,"You have a couch in the other room? I'll call when it's necessary.There is nothing you can do now, and you must save your strength all youcan."
The reaction from three days of anxiety and responsibility aided thesedative in bringing sorely needed mental and physical relaxation. Thedoor leading into the sitting-room was open, and after a short intervalthe doctor moved softly to satisfy himself that she was sleeping. Achill was creeping through the house. He went to the bedroom and liftedan extra coverlet from the foot-board of the bed, and carried it to theother room. The light from the bed-room fell upon her face and throat,and as the doctor carefully placed the coverlet over her, he saw darkbruises against the pallor of the skin. In repose, the lines ofsuffering were revealed plainly, and the pathetic droop of the mouthlike that of a sorrowing child. Through her half-parted lips he heardthe quivering sound of a suppressed sob. He gazed at her, a world oflove and pity in his eye, then he glanced through the open door at theman who lay on the bed.
Slowly the doctor returned to the chair at the bedside, he leaned overand looked at Glendon intently. The crisis was not very far off. Powellstudied the heart action, took count of the pulse, then his eyes went tothe medicine on the table. No sound except the ticking of the clock andthe stentorian breathing of Glendon broke the silence. In the other roomKatherine slept quietly. The doctor's eyes did not move now from theface of the man on the bed. The pulse beats were growing weaker.Powell's hand reached toward the medicine, paused a second, thenwithdrew and fell heavily in his lap. Moments went by, and still thewoman in the other room rested quietly; the man on the bed drifted moreclosely to the whirlpool of Eternity, and the man beside the bed, withwhite face, tightly set mouth and eyes like smouldering flame, satwaiting. Once the doctor rose and walked softly back and forth acrossthe room, the hands clasped behind him were bruised by the nails thatcut into the flesh. On the mantel of the living room was a picture ofDonnie. The child's eyes looked into his own, they followed him as hemoved about.
Powell returned to the bed and sank into the chair, then his face wasburied in his hands. With a quick movement he roused himself and watchedGlendon steadily. At last he turned slowly to the table and grasped thevial. He held it before him and looked once again at Glendon, but thistime the doctor's eyes were untroubled.
Slowly and carefully he poured a few drops of the fluid that would drivethe sluggish blood to the heart that had almost ceased to beat. Slowlyit responded. Then, in the silence of the night Powell began his battleto save Katherine Glendon's husband. Dawn like a shadowy grey wolf,crawled over the tops of the Galiuros and slipped down into the HotSprings Canon. The cragged peaks were bathed in sunlight as Powelllooked at them, his face drawn and haggard, his eyes weary, but in hisheart a prayer of thanksgiving and a plea for strength to carry on hisbattle without faltering.
A slight noise at the door caused him to turn. Katherine came swiftly tohis side.
"How is he?" she asked eagerly.
"Rallying perfectly. The crisis is past for the present. Unlesssomething unexpected occurs, we shall pull him through."
"Why didn't you call me?" asked Katherine.
"You needed the rest," he replied. "Though the danger point is almostover, you will have a long siege of nursing that will tax your utmoststrength. I shall remain here until I am reasonably sure he is safe, andthen, you can take charge. Do you know how to use a thermometer or takea pulse?"
"Yes. Doctor King taught me that."
"Then you can manage as well as though you had a trained nurse here.But, remember! You must conserve your strength. That is rule number onefor a nurse. It is inflexible. Understand?"
"I promise to do exactly what you say," she replied. "Now I am going toget your breakfast and a good strong cup of coffee will be ready verysoon."
Glendon continued to improve during the day, and Powell's vigilancenever relaxed. Katherine relieved the doctor for a few hours at a time.When a week had elapsed without developing unfavourable symptoms,Glendon was pronounced practically out of danger. The doctor knew hisown weakness now, and with his patient on the road to recovery, Powell'santagonism to the man returned with greater intensity. Yet, as thedoctor rode home he determined that as soon as Glendon was well enough,he would try to awaken any shred of decency that might be dormant in thehusband of Katherine Glendon, the woman whom Powell loved.
The professional calls continued several weeks, but Powell and Katherineonly met in the room where Glendon lay weak and thoroughly frightened,for Powell impressed upon Glendon the seriousness of his physicalcondition and the inevitable result of continuous drinking, which hadweakened his heart. Glendon's promises to reform were genuine. Anothermonth went past. An awkward restraint had grown gradually betweenKatherine and the doctor, and though he flayed his conscience, he couldfind no reason for it. As days went by, it became unbearable torture forhim to see her in her home with Glendon, and yet, it was still harderto resist the temptation to go there. Finally Powell determined to leavethe Springs, and Chappo a week later carried a note to Katherine.
_Dear Mrs. Glendon:_
I shall be at the Diamond H ranch for a month, after which time I am leaving Arizona for an indefinite period, on business pertaining to the plans for the Sanitarium. Limber and Chappo will be at the Springs all the time, so do not hesitate to call on them should you require assistance at any time or in any way.
With my sincere regards for your husband and yourself,
Most cordially yours,
CUTHBERT POWELL
Katherine read the note in her room. Her eyes blurred with sudden tears.Now that Powell had gone out of her life, thoughts that she had held inrestraint, rushed across her like angry animals breaking their leashes.She saw with unblinded eyes the hideousness of her life, thehopelessness of the future, for during the past few days Glendon hadstarted again to drink.
The note trembled in her fingers, a tear dropped on it and her heart wassick with despair. She understood at last the meaning of the courage,the peace that had come into her life, and she knew that she could go onto the end that she might purify her love for Powell, by the flame ofsacrifice.
As the note blazed up in the fireplace, then died to a quivering greymass, she lifted her face to the tall peaks that bent over the canyon,and their strength seemed to reach out to her.