Then in a few words he told of his strange experience with the bronze natives.
“I am sorry to have caused you unnecessary trouble,” said the little man. “However, it was necessary for you to come. In the end you will not regret it I am sure. I am in a position, I think, to do you a lasting favor. That, however, must wait. It might help you to understand and lead you the more readily to consent to any proposition I may care to make, should I tell you a little more of myself.
“I was born,” he said, half closing his eyes as if to recall the past, “to a life of pain. Infantile paralysis struck me when I was less than a year old. Many doctors were called in consultation, for my father was a banker of some means. All told the same story. I would never walk, never feed myself, probably never talk. But after these, when I was five years old, came one greater than them all. He freed me from my terrible bondage. True, I have never been just as other men are. But that, my boy,” he laid a hand impressively on Johnny’s arm, “that does not matter. The only thing that really matters in this world is that a man have a mission and that he be equipped to fulfil that mission. Many a man who has been looked down upon, pitied, or scorned, because of physical infirmity has made a great and lasting contribution to the world’s true wealth and happiness. I studied medicine. When I had finished my course I said, ‘I will find the neediest people in the world and serve them.’ I found, I believe, the neediest people right here in Haiti. And here I am serving them, and shall be until I die. Money,” he said thoughtfully, “I do not ask from them. I have a small income from my father’s estate. It is ample. Loyalty, love, a certain amount of gratitude, these are my reward. And right royally I am paid. You too,” he said once more touching Johnny on the arm, “have a desire to serve.”
“Yes I—”
“I think it will be possible for me to aid you,” the little doctor broke in eagerly. “But first, before you know more, I have a mission, a hard one for you to perform.”
“Name it,” said Johnny, springing to his feet.
“Sit down,” said the doctor.
Johnny sat down.
“While you slept,” the little doctor’s tone became deeply impressive, “a man lay at the back of the cave, fighting a battle, perhaps his last battle with disease. He is very old; is not longer able to resist, and I, as a doctor, am able to do little for him. This man,” he went on, as his tone grew mellow, “is a native, a member of the tribe. Yet for more than twenty years, I have counted him my dearest friend. His family seem to have absorbed some of the greatness, generosity and nobleness of the black emperor at his best; for it was his father who always bore the Magic Telescope.”
“Oh!” said Johnny.