“Who's got the rheumatiz, Cephas?”
“If folks lived right they wouldn't have it.”
“You 'ain't got it, have you, Cephas?”
“I 'ain't never had a tech of it in my life except once, an' then 'twas due to my not drinkin' enough.”
“Not drinkin' enough?”
“Yes, I didn't drink enough water. Folks with rheumatiz had ought to drink all the water they can swaller. They had ought to drink more'n they eat.”
“I dunno what you mean, Cephas.”
“It stands to reason. I've worked it all out in my mind. Rheumatiz comes on in wet weather, because there's too much water an' damp 'round. Now, if there's too much water outside, you can kind of even it up by takin' more water inside. The reason for any sickness is—the balance ain't right. The weight gets shifted, an' folks begin to topple, then they're sick. If it goes clean over, they die. The balance has got to be kept even if you want to be well. When the swamps are fillin' up with water, an' there's too much moisture in the outside air, an' too much pressure of it on your bones an' joints, if you swallow enough water inside it keeps things even. If Barney Thayer had drunk a gallon of water a day, he might have worked in the wet swamp till doomsday an' he wouldn't have got the rheumatiz.”
“Has Barney Thayer got the rheumatiz, Cephas?”
Charlotte's pale face appeared in the pantry door.