"Certainly not." Father Constantine could be very peremptory when he liked. "The idea! I am quite fit to see visitors ... and anxious to meet this American boy."
"He's forty if he's an hour."
"Well--forty or fourteen. See him I will."
Minnie put on the professional nurse's manner.
"Father," she said, "you're getting excited and you know how bad it is for you. I won't bring up anybody till your temperature goes down."
He said no more; next time she took his temperature it had gone up two points. He actually winked at her.
"There, my child," he said in triumph. "I told you that the sooner I see this relief man the better. I shall not sleep a wink to-night unless I do ... and to-morrow morning you'll find me in a raging fever."
"He is busy ... Ian is with him. I heard them say they would not finish till supper time."
"What are they doing?"
"Checking stores for some village. The Americans have got a wonderful system. Ian is learning it."