“Dr. Herschel’s Chinaman, Wing—my companion at Shushan—is a very intelligent man. He speaks several languages fluently and his own perfectly. I studied Chinese under him, also botany and astronomy. Like myself, he was a leper. Our treatment, of course, consumed some time and aside from that we made astronomical observations, botanized and studied. I must show you some rare specimens found among those rocks.”
“Of what beside baths and hygiene did your treatment consist?” Eletheer asked.
“Prepared snake venom, given hypodermically.”
“Oh, how dreadful!” cried Celeste, whom the very sight of a snake sent into hysterics. “Were you ever bitten by any of the snakes?”
“No, immediately after arriving there, I received my first injection—an infinitesimal amount, of course, and one which produced no toxic symptoms; but, strange as it may seem to you, none of the snakes came near our cottage, and though frequently encountered and provoked in our rambles, they did not retaliate. Wing, my companion, did not arrive until some days after I did so I was in a measure prepared for the horrible sight he presented. His rigid forehead, entirely bare of eyebrows; the knotty, flattened nose; face and hands completely covered with leprous tubercles; immense ears and peculiar leper tones—but let us not dwell on this.
“Dr. Herschel began treating him at once, and after a few days, during which he taught us his methods, we were left on honor to carry out orders implicitly, with a promise that he would return in about six weeks.
“Neither Wing nor I had one grain of confidence, in fact, we regarded the whole thing as a fetish which, believed in, would undoubtedly assist the forces of nature in prolonging our miserable existence; but the pathology of leprosy shows that to cure, something besides faith is needed, and that something had never been discovered. But we persevered conscientiously, and instead of abandoning ourselves to despair lived mechanically day by day. My rheumatic pains were greatly benefited by the baths, and Wing’s appetite surely spoke well for the bracing climate; but otherwise there was no perceptible change on Dr. Herschel’s first visit to us.
“Three months passed by, six; surely I felt better than in years; but poor Wing! even in six months, I could see progress in the ravages of the disease, but he made no complaint.
“October, and another visit from Dr. Herschel. He pronounced me better and my companion worse. Unpacking his bag, the doctor carefully took out two syringes and, filling both, emptied the contents of one into Wing’s cheek; then, baring one foot, the contents of the other instrument were injected into it and Dr. Herschel told him to lie down, which he did.
“Really interested, I, too, watched results.