But I could not forget the reason for my coming. It meant little that the child was alive and seemingly well; I was not dealing with a disease which, like syphilis, starves and deforms in the very womb. The little one was asleep, but I moved the light so as to examine its eyelids. Then I turned to the nurse and asked: “Miss Lyman, doesn’t it seem to you the eyelids are a trifle inflamed?”
“Why, I hadn’t noticed it,” she answered.
“Were the eyes washed?” I inquired.
“I washed the baby, of course—”
“I mean the eyes especially. The doctor didn’t drop anything into them?”
“I don’t think he considered it necessary.”
“It’s an important precaution,” I replied; “there are always possibilities of infection.”
“Possibly,” said the other. “But you know, we did not expect this. Dr. Overton was to be here in three or four days.”
“Dr. Perrin is asleep?” I asked.
“Yes. He was up all last night.”