“Yes, I only landed here a week or two ago. I have not felt quite well since my arrival, and since I fell out of a boat in the harbor the other day and got wet, I have felt worse.”
After some discussing of symptoms, the Doctor said:
“You have what is called Panama Fever. But that’s nothing. Where did you lose your leg?”
“In the army.”
“Well, it is not necessary for you to go to the hospital. It would be a hard place for you to go to, any how, and I cannot allow it. Do not be discouraged. It is nothing here for new-comers to find themselves pecuniarily reduced. Such things happen every day. A great many persons are arriving here now, and many of them come with but little spare means. As numbers do not get into business so soon as they hope, the result is very natural. Now, as for yourself, if you suppose that I, who can easily cure you in a short time, would sit here with my arms folded, smoking my pipe, and see you go into the hospital for want of treatment, and that, too, after you have lost a limb in the service of your country, I must say that it speaks poorly for your discernment of human character. I should——”
“But I am almost without means, and——”
“Well, suppose you are? I am not. You shall not go into the hospital; you shall accept medicine from me; you shall also allow me to see that you want for nothing in the way of living till you are well and succeed in getting into business.”
“But, Doctor, it would not be right for me to——”
“Excuse me one moment,” interrupted the Doctor, rising and going into another room.
When, after a brief absence, he returned, it was with several small packages of medicines in his hand with “directions” pasted on them.