第81章
A nearer examination revealed this to be an immense cat which had been ripped up from chin to tail, and laid warm and bleeding, with all its appurtenances, upon the unhappy patient.All through the day the brother, Pierre; had been kept busily engaged in hunting up animals of various kinds, which were to be excised in this manner and applied as poultice.""In uncivilised communities the animal whose healing virtues are supposed to be most potent is the cat, and the cure is most certainly assured if the cat be absolutely black, without a single white hair.In this community, however, deprived of many of the domestic felicities, the absence of cats made it necessary for poor Pierre to employ any animal on which he could lay his hands; so, throughout the day, birds and beasts, varied in size and character, were offered upon this altar.The cat which I discovered, however, was evidently that upon which their hopes most firmly rested; for, upon the failure of other animals, recourse would be had to the cat, which had been kept in reserve.The state of preservation suggested this.""A very slight examination of the patient showed me that there was practically no hope of his recovery, and that it would be almost useless in me to attempt to change the treatment, and all the more that I should have to overcome not only the prejudices of the patient and of his sister-in-law, but also of his very able-bodied brother, whose devotion to his own peculiar method of treatment amounted to fanaticism.However, I determined to make an attempt.Iprepared hot fomentations, removed the cat, and made my first application.But no sooner had I begun my treatment than I heard Pierre returning with a freshly slaughtered animal in his hand.The most lively hope, indeed, triumph, was manifest in his excited bearing.He bore by the tail an animal the character of which none of us were in doubt from the moment Pierre appeared in sight.It was the mephitis mephitica, that mephitine musteloid carnivore with which none of us desire a close acquaintance, which announces its presence without difficulty at a very considerable distance; in short, the animal vulgarly known as the skunk.""'Voila!' exclaimed Pierre, holding the animal up for our admiration.'Dis feex him queek.""'Ah! Mon Dieu!' exclaimed his wife, covering her face with her apron.But, whether from devotion to his art or from affection for his brother, Pierre persisted in carrying out his treatment.He laid the animal, cleft and pungently odorous, upon the patient.Needless to say, I surrendered the case at once."The doctor's manner of telling the story was so extremely droll that both The Don and Shock were convulsed with laughter.
"Yes, they need a hospital, I should say," said The Don, when they had recovered.
"Well," said Shock, "we shall go up and have a look at it."The result of their visit to the Pass was that within a few weeks a rough log building was erected, floored, roofed in, chinked with moss, and lined with cotton, lumbermen and miners willingly assisting in the work of building.
The Don became much interested in the whole enterprise.He visited the various lumber camps, laid the scheme before the bosses and the men, and in a short time gathered about two hundred dollars for furnishing and equipment.
Shock left him to carry out the work alone, but after two weeks had passed he was surprised to receive a message one day that the young doctor was cutting things loose up in the Pass.With a great fear at his heart Shock rode up the next day.The first man whom he met in the little, straggling village was Sergeant Crisp of the North-West Mounted Police, a man of high character, and famed in the Territories alike for his cool courage and unimpeachable integrity.
"Up to see the young doctor?" was the Sergeant's salutation."You will find him at Nancy's, I guess," pointing to where a red light shone through the black night."Do you want me along?""No, thank you," said Shock."I think I had better go alone."For a moment he hesitated.
"How does one go in?" he enquired.
"Why, turn the handle and walk right in," said the Sergeant, with a laugh."You don't want to be bashful there."With a sickening feeling of horror at his heart Shock strode to the red-light door, turned the handle, and walked in.
In the room were a number of men, and two or three women in all the shameless dishabille of their profession.As Shock opened the door a young girl, with much of her youthful freshness and beauty still about her, greeted him with a foul salutation.
Shock shrank back from her as if she had struck him in the face.The girl noticed the action, came nearer to him, and offered him her hand.Shock, overcoming his feeling of shame, took the hand offered him, and holding it for a moment, said: "My dear girl, this is no place for you.Your home waits for you.Your Saviour loves you."In the noise that filled the room no one save the girl herself heard his words; but two or three men who knew Shock well, amazed at his appearance in that place, exclaimed: "It's the preacher!"Nancy, the keeper of the house, who was sitting at one of the tables gambling with some men, sprang to her feet and, seeing Shock, poured out a torrent of foul blasphemy.
"Get out of this house! Get out, I say! You've no business here.Go, blank your blank soul! Take yourself out of this!"She worked herself into a raging fury.Shock stood quietly looking at her.
"Here, Tom! Pat! Put this blank, blank out, or you'll go yourselves.
What do I keep you for?"
Three or four men, responding to her call, approached Shock.
Meantime The Don, who had been sitting at one of the tables with three others, a pile of money before him, stood gazing in amazement at Shock, unable to believe his eyes.
As the men approached Shock The Don came forward.