“I shan’t loiter on the way, you may be sure of that. Abner, I am ready.”
The snow was still falling, but not quite so fast as early in the afternoon. The wind, however, blew quite as hard, and the doctor found all his wrappings needful.
At intervals on the road he came to deep drifts of snow through which the horse had some difficulty in drawing the sleigh, but at length he arrived at the door of his patient. He found that the violence of her attack was over, and, satisfied of this, left a few simple directions, which he considered sufficient. Nature would do the rest.
“Now for home!” he said to himself. “I hope this will be my last professional call this evening. Mary will be impatient for my return.”
He gave the reins to his horse, who appeared to feel that he was bound homeward, and traveled with more alacrity than he had come.
He, too, no doubt shared the doctor’s hope that this was the last service required of him before the morrow.
Doctor Drayton had completed rather more than half his journey, when, looking to the right, his attention was drawn to a small, dark object, nearly covered with snow.
Instinctively he reined up his horse.
“Good heavens!” he exclaimed, “it must be a boy. God grant he is not frozen!”
He leaped from his sleigh, and lifted the insensible body.