“Yes,” he replied with an effort. “I have had such cases, and lost them. I might even say, killed them in my ignorance.”
“Oh, no, Dr. Strong!” said Mrs. Clyde in quick sympathy. “Don’t say that. Being mistaken isn’t killing.”
“It is, sometimes, for a doctor. I remember one little patient who had a very light case of scarlet fever. I let her get up as soon as the fever broke. Three months later she developed a dropsical tendency. And one day she fell dead across the doll she was playing with. The official cause of death said heart disease. But I knew what it was. The next case was not so wholly my fault. The boy was a spoiled child, who held his parents in enslavement. They hadn’t the strength of character to keep him under control. He insisted on riding his bicycle around the yard, three days after he was out of bed. Against his willfulness my protests were of no account. What I should have done is to have thrown up the case; but I was young and the people were my friends. Well; that boy made, apparently, a complete recovery. A few weeks later I was sent for again. There was some kidney trouble. I knew, before the analysis was made, what it would show: nephritis. The poison had struck to the kidneys like a dagger. The poor little chap dragged along for some months before he died; and his mother—God forgive me if I did wrong in telling her the truth, as I did for the protection of their other child—almost lost her reason.”
“And such cases are common?” asked Mr. Clyde.
“Common enough to be fairly typical. Afterward, I cited the two instances in a talk before our medical society. My frankness encouraged some of the other men to be frank; and the list of fatalities and permanent disabilities, following scarlet fever and measles, which was brought out at that meeting, nearly every case being one of rushing the convalescence—well, it reformed one phase of medical procedure in—in that city and county.”
“That settles it for Charley,” decided Mr. Clyde. “He stays in bed until you certify him cured, if I have to hire a vaudeville show to keep him amused.”
“My boy is not a spoiled child!” said Mrs. Clyde proudly. “I can handle him.”
“Maybe he wasn’t before,” remarked Grandma Sharpless dryly; “but I think you’ll have your hands full now.”
“Therefore,” said Dr. Strong, “I propose to enlist the services of the whole family, including the children.”
“What! Let the others go to see Charley when he’s peeling?” protested Mrs. Sharpless. “They’ll all catch it.”