“Just caught me. I was rolling out of the yard when they yelled after me. Didn’t even have to crank up. So the germs have downed Ezra at last! Nature does get back at a man in time. Lord, what a hole!”
He went briskly through the front room, growling anathemas at the foulness, and bent over the tossing, muttering man on the bed with as lively an interest as though the patient had not been the black sheep of the Valley.
A body was a body to Dr. Fullerton, and his business was saving bodies. The harder the battle, the greater his interest and enjoyment. As to the value of the salvage to the community—that was the community’s business.
“I’ll patch up the tenements,” he said to the gentle, nervous, little Protestant minister in Pisgah. “It’s up to you and Father Rafferty to see that your people lead decent lives in them.”—But when the little man or the priest needed backing up with work or money, it was usually Dr. Fullerton who lent the hand or the dollars.
He was all doctor as he examined Ezra Watts, keen eyed, deft fingered, intent, but as he straightened himself and looked down at the dirty, unshaven face, the keenness gave way to kindliness in his eyes.
“Nothing contagious,” he said shortly. “Pneumonia with some complications. Not much show for him except in his tough constitution. He never did drink, for all his cussedness; and that’s in his favor now. Fed himself enough, such as it was and it was plain food with no knick-knacks. That counts for him too. It’s the high-living, robust fellows that wink out with pneumonia. Shouldn’t wonder if we’d pull him through provided we can get him clean without killing him. Got to have a scrubber and a nurse here and quick about it.”
“How about me?” Archibald asked. “Strong and willing at scrubbing and nursing but not a professional in either line.”
“Call Peggy,” ordered the doctor. “She’s one of my best nurses; but you and I’ll have to turn in and give him a bath before we hand him over to her.”
Archibald found Pegeen fairly dancing with eagerness and impatience on the doorstep. “Oh, my stars, I’m so glad it isn’t catching,” she said, darting past him into the sick room. “I couldn’t have stood it not to be able to see him. There’s such a splendid lot to do. It’s awful when there isn’t anything you can do but sit around and wait. This is the very best chance I ever had.”
“Well, you keep the fire roaring in the kitchen,” ordered the doctor, “and warm some of those towels and the blanket for us and see that there’s plenty of hot water. Archibald and I are going to give Ezra’s system the worst shock it has had since childhood. After that’s over, you can help us clean the front room a bit and move him in there.”