Ting-a-ling-ling-ling. Ting-a-ling-ling-ling.
“Is the doctor there?”
“He was called out awhile ago; will be back in perhaps twenty minutes.”
“This is Mr. Cowan. I only wanted to ask if my wife could have some lemonade this morning. She is very thirsty and craves it—but I can call again after awhile.”
How discouraging to the feverish, thirsty wife to have her husband come back and tell her he would 'phone again after awhile. And if, after waiting, he still failed to find the doctor? Mary knew the Cowans quite well so she made bold to say, hastily, “I think the doctor would say yes.”
“You think he would?” asked Mr. Cowan, hopefully.
“I think he would, but don't let her have too much, of course.”
“All right. Thank you, Mrs. Blank.”
An uneasy feeling came into Mary's mind and would not depart as she went about her work. Really, what right had she to prescribe for a sick woman even so harmless a thing as lemonade. How did she know that it was harmless. Perhaps in this case there was some combination of symptoms which would make that very thing the thing the patient ought not to have.
In about fifteen minutes there came a ring—three. Mary started guiltily. It sounded like the doctor's ring. Was he going to reprimand her? But it was the voice of a friend and it surprised Mary with this question: