“Took nourishment with a relish and spoke consciously—both good signs, excellent signs! but I can say no more at present.”
The doctor wrote out the formulas for the day and took leave.
All that day Gentleman Geff remained in the same condition without a sign of further improvement. All the following night Longman had a repetition of the experience of the preceding night. At dawn his mother, Elspeth, relieved him and sent him to bed.
After the family breakfast Mr. Campbell came in and sent Elspeth out to get her own coffee and muffins. The sick-room was still kept very dark by the doctor’s orders. Darkness, he said, was the best sedative for nerves and brain in the condition of Capt. Montgomery.
When the sick man showed by moaning and moving uneasily that he was awake, the rector took some beef tea that was kept hot over a spirit lamp, poured it into an invalid’s feeding-glass and administered it to the patient.
Gentleman Geff sucked it in with a relish, and then sank back on his pillow with a sigh of satisfaction.
When Mr. Campbell had put away the cup and returned to his seat by the bedside he was startled by hearing the patient inquire:
“Who the devil are you, I wonder?”
He answered calmly, however:
“One whom you should know, Capt. Montgomery. I am James Campbell, rector of——”