Dr. Herschel lost none of his dignity as he arose to meet Mr. De Vere with,—“I wonder if Mr. De Vere will believe in the efficacy of my treatment when I tell him that Hernando is cured!”
“Doctor,” said Mr. De Vere, “you are an eminent man, a profoundly scientific one, and in presuming to still doubt your ability I must appear pig-headed; but leprosy has been treated and investigated for ages. Every known drug in the pharmacopœia has been tried, but always the result has been disappointing. I appreciate your efforts but can only reiterate that I have no faith in your ability to effect a permanent cure.”
The doctor’s expression did not lose one iota of its earnestness as he replied in a tone so convincing that his listener unconsciously imbibed some hope. “Listen,” he said, “you are a just man and a good one. I will not bore you with technical names, nor narrate systems. On my honor as a gentleman, on my reputation as a physician, backed up by the proof of microscopical examinations and the expressed concurrence with me of two of the most eminent dermatologists in the world, I pronounce Hernando Genung cured.”
Mr. De Vere grew dizzy and the doctor drew his chair near to wait until he felt able to hear the rest. “Two of my friends—the gentlemen mentioned—are snow-bound at Shushan. The road from there to Lock Hill is broken by oxen and from there I came down on a hand-car. If you say so, I will return in the same manner and come down with Hernando and the two physicians, who wish to get back to the city as soon as possible.”
“Are the trains running?”
“Not yet, but they probably will be some time to-day.” At that moment, the warning whistle of a north-bound train sounded and Dr. Herschel rushed out of the house.
“Doctor!” called Mr. De Vere, “do as you suggest by all means!”
Reuben, too, had heard the whistle and off he started at the doctor’s heels. Nothing but paths were as yet broken but his strong arms could carry two of “dem bressed chillen” who he knew were in that train.
Just as the train was about to stop, Reuben rushed breathlessly up the station steps. “Suah ’nough, deah young Massa Jack had come, but oh, how changed!” Rugged as a bear, brown and muscular, but the same “Massa Jack” as of old.
“Dora,” said Jack, “this is Reuben, the guardian angel of our family!”