"Had any shock, worry, or excitement lately?
"Been overdoing it in any way?
"Gone in much for athletics?"
Ranny replied with regret that it was more than three years since he had last run in the Wandsworth Hurdle Race.
He was then told that he must avoid all shock, worry, or excitement. He mustn't overdo it. He must drop his hurdle-racing. He mustn't bicycle uphill, or against the wind; he mustn't jump; he mustn't run—
"Not even to catch a train?"
"Not to catch anything."
And the doctor gave him a prescription that ran:
Sodæ Bicarb., one dram.
Tinct. Strophanthi, two drams—
He remembered. That was the stuff he'd measured for old Mr. Beasley's heart mixture. It was the stuff that Ponting said his father was taking now.