My heart sank as I asked, 'Dangerously?'
'I think so, but we shall know more in a day or two.'
'Then there is no immediate danger, sir?'
'I think not--I think not; but we must be prepared for the worst.' He said something more than this, but I did not hear him. A mist stole upon my senses, for his quiet tone portended the worst. 'Bear up, Mr. Carey,' he said; 'you must not give way. We will do our best. A great deal will depend upon good nursing. That is a sensible little woman who is with her now.'
This doctor was a man who was deservedly worshipped by the poor in our neighbourhood; his life was really one of self-sacrifice, for he was a capable man, was paid badly, worked hard, and did his duty bravely.
'Can you tell me what she is suffering from, sir?'
'I was about to ask you that question Mr. Carey,' was his reply. 'All that I know at present is that she is in a high state of fever, that her blood is thin and poor, and that she is as weak as a human being dare be who requires strength to battle successfully with disease. It appears to me that she must have been suffering for some time, for a very long time probably--but I am in the dark as to that--and that she has at length given way. If you put upon a beam a pressure greater than it can bear, the beam must break.'
'But I do not think my mother has worked too hard, sir.'
The mind has acted upon the body. Hard physical work itself seldom, if ever, kills. In the case of this beam----you follow me?'
'Yes sir.'