CHAPTER VI.
DOCTORS THREE.
Public opinion at Perlycross was stirred, as with a many-bladedegg-whisk, by the sudden arrival of Dr. Gowler. A man, who cared nothingabout the crops, and never touched bacon, or clotted cream, nor evenreplied to the salutation of the largest farmer, but glided along withhis eyes on the ground, and a broad hat whelmed down upon his hairlesswhite face; yet seemed to know every lane and footpath, as if he hadbeen born among them--no wonder that in that unsettled time, whenfrightful tales hung about the eaves of every cottage, and everyleathern latch-thong was drawn inside at nightfall, very strangesuspicions were in the air about him. Even the friendship of thewell-beloved Parson, and the frank admiration of Dr. Fox, could not stemthe current against him. The children of the village ran away at hisshadow, and the mothers in the doorway turned their babies' faces fromhim.
Every one who loved Sir Thomas Waldron, and that meant everybody in theparish, shuddered at hearing that this strange man had paid two visitsat Walderscourt, and had even remained there a great part of one night.And when it was known that the yearly cricket-match, between the northside of the Perle and the south, had been quenched by this doctor'sstern decree, the wrath of the younger men was rebuked by the sorrow ofthe elder. Jakes the schoolmaster, that veteran sergeant (known as "HighJarks," from the lofty flourish of his one remaining arm, and thusdistinct from his younger brother, "Low Jarks," a good but notextraordinary butcher), firm as he was, and inured to fields of death,found himself unable to refuse his iron cheeks the drop, that he wasbetter fitted to produce on others.
Now that brave descendant of Mars, and Minerva, feared one thing, andone alone, in all this wicked world; and that was holy wedlock. It wasrumoured that something had befallen him in Spain, or some other foreignoutlands, of a nature to make a good Christian doubt whether woman wasmeant as a helpmate for him, under the New Covenant. The Sergeant wasnot given to much talking, but rigid, and resolute, and self-contained;more apt to point, and be, the moral of his vast experience, than toadorn it with long tales. Many people said that having heard so much ofthe roar of cannon and the roll of drums, he could never come to careagain for any toast-and-butter; while others believed that he felt ithis duty to maintain the stern silence, which he imposed in school.
There was however one person in the parish, with whom he indulged inbrief colloquy sometimes; and strange to say, that was a woman. Mrs.Muggridge, the Curate's housekeeper, felt more indignation than shecould express, if anybody whispered that she was fond of gossip. Butaccording to her own account, she smiled at such a charge, coming as itonly could from the lowest quarters, because she was bound for hermaster's sake, to have some acquaintance with her neighbours' doings;for they found it too easy to impose on him. And too often little Faywould run, with the best part of his dinner to some widow, mourningdeeply over an empty pot of beer. For that mighty police-force ofcharity, the district-visitors, were not established then.
Thyatira, though not perhaps unduly nervous--for the times were sadlyout of joint--was lacking to some extent in that very quality, which theSergeant possessed in such remarkable degree. And ever since thatshocking day, when her dear mistress had been brought home from thecliff, stone-dead, the housekeeper had realised the perils of this life,even more deeply than its daily blessings. Susanna, the maid, was of avery timid nature, and when piously rebuked for her want of faith inProvidence, had a knack of justifying her distrust by a course of verycreepy narratives. Mrs. Muggridge would sternly command her to leaveoff, and yet contrive to extract every horror, down to its dyingwhisper.
Moreover the rectory, a long and rambling house, was not a cheerfulplace to sit alone in after dark. Although the high, and whitewashed,back abutted on the village street, there was no door there, and nowindow looking outwards in the basement; and the walls being verythick, you might almost as well be fifty miles from any company. Worstof all, and even cruel on the ancient builder's part, the only access tothe kitchen and the rooms adjoining it was through a narrow and darkpassage, arched with rough flints set in mortar, which ran like a tunnelbeneath the first-floor rooms, from one end of the building to theother. The front of the house was on a higher level, facing southwardsupon a grass-plat and flower-garden, and as pretty as the back was ugly.
Even the stoutest heart in Perlycross might flutter a little in thegroping process, for the tunnel was pitch-dark at night, before emerginginto the candlelight twinkling in the paved yard beside thekitchen-door. While the servants themselves would have thought it acrime, if the butcher, or baker, or anyone coming for them (except thePostman) had kept the front way up the open gravel walk, and ventured toknock at the front door itself. There was no bell outside to call them,and the green-baize door at the end of the passage, leading to thekitchen stairs, deadened the sound of the knocker so much, thatsometimes a visitor might thunder away for a quarter of an hour, withintervals for conscientious study of his own temper, unless little Fay'squick ears were reached, and her pink little palms and chest began tostruggle with the mighty knob.
So it happened, one evening in the first week of August, when Mr.Penniloe was engaged in a distant part of the parish, somebody or othercame and knocked--it was never known how many times or how long,--at theupper-folk door of the rectory.
There was not any deafness about Thyatira; and as for Susanna, she couldhear too much; neither was little Fay to blame, although the rest wererather fond of leaving things to her. If the pupils had returned, itcould not have happened so; for although they made quite enough noise oftheir own in the little back-parlour allotted to them, they never failedto hear any other person's noise, and to complain of it next morning,when they did not know their lessons.
But the present case was, that the whole live force of the rectory, nowon the premises, was established quite happily in the kitchen yard;with a high wall between it and the village street, and a higher walltopped with shrubs between it and the garden. Master Harry, now at homefor his holidays (a tiger by day, but a lion at night, for protection ofthe household), was away with his father, and sleeping soundly through aBible-lecture. And so it came to pass that the tall dark man knocked,and knocked; and at last departed, muttering uncourteous expressionsthrough his beard.
Even that might never have been known inside, without the good officesof Mrs. Channing, the wife of the baker, whose premises adjoined therectory garden, and the drive from the front gate.
"'Twas nort but them Gelany fowls," she explained, before she had herbreakfast, because her husband was the son of old Channing, the clerk,and sexton; "them Gelany birds of ours, as drew my notice to it. Theykept up such a screeching in the big linhay just at dusk, instead ofsticking their heads inside their wings, that I thought they must beworriting about a dog, or cat. And so out of house I runs; but Icouldn't see nort, till I heers a girt knocking at Passon's front-door.Thinks I--'What's up now?' For I knowed a' wurn't at home, but away tothey Bible-readings. So I claps the little barn-steps again your bigwall, and takes the liberty of peeping over, just between the lalac bushand old holly. You must understand, Mrs. Muggridge, that the lightwurn't very clear; but I could make out a big tall man a-standing, witha long furrin cloak, atwixt the pillars of your porch.
"'Passon's not at home,' says I; 'can us give any message?'
"Then a' turns round sudden like, and stands just like a pictur', withthe postesses to either side of him, and his beard falling down the sameas Aaron's. But if a' said ort, 'twaz beyond my comprehension.
"'Did you please to be looking for the Doctor, sir?' I said--'the Doctoras is biding now with Mr. Penniloe? I did hear that he was 'gone toSquire Waldron's house.' For I thought that he was more the sort tobelong to that old Gowler.
"But he only shook his head, and turned away; and presently, off hewalks most majestic, like the image of a man the same as I have seen toExeter. I felt myself in that alarm, that go away I couldn't, until Iheard your gate fall to behind him. Then I thought to come and tell you,but I hadn't got the ne
rves to face your black passage, after what hadcome across me. For to my mind it must have been the Evil One himself.May the Lord save us from his roarings and devourings!"
When Mrs. Muggridge heard this tale, she thought that it had better gono further, and she saw no occasion to repeat it to her master; becauseno message had been left, and he might imagine that she had not attendedto her duty very well.
For it had chanced, that at the very moment when somebody wanted todisturb them, the housekeeper was giving a most pleasant tea-party tothe two little dears, Master Michael, and Miss Fay.
And by accident, of course, Sergeant Jakes had just dropped in. No blackpassage could be anything but a joke to a man of his valour; and norapping at the door could have passed unchallenged, if it reached suchears. But the hospitable Thyatira offered such a distraction of goodthings, far beyond the largest larder-dreams of a dry-tongued lonelybachelor, that the coarser, and seldom desirable, gift of the ears layin deep abeyance. For the Sergeant had felt quite enough of hardship toknow a good time, when he tasted it.
"Now, my precious little dears," Thyatira had whispered with a sigh,when the veteran would be helped no more; "there is light enough stillfor a game of hop-scotch, down at the bottom of the yard. Susanna willmark out the bed for you. You will find the chalk under theknife-board."
Away ran the children; and their merry voices rang sweetly to thedancing of their golden hair.
"Sergeant Schoolmaster," continued the lady, for she knew that he likedthis combination of honours, "how pleasant it is, when the shadows arefalling, to see the little innocents delighting in their games? It seemsto be no more than yesterday, when I was as full of play as any ofthem."
"A good many yesterdays have passed since that," Mr. Jakes thought ashe looked at her; but he was far too gallant and polite to say so. "Inyour case, ma'am, it is so," he replied: "yesterday, only yesterday! Thelast time I was here, I was saying to myself that you ladies have thecommand of time. You make it pass for us so quickly, while it isstanding still with you!"
"What a fine thing it is to have been abroad! You do learn such thingsfrom the gift of tongues. But it do seem a pity you should have to saythem so much to yourself, Mr. Sergeant."
"Ma'am," replied the veteran, in some fear of becoming toocomplimentary; "I take it that some of us are meant to live apart, andto work for the good of others. But have you heard how the Colonel isto-day? Ah, he is a man indeed!"
"There are doctors enough to kill him now. And they are going to do it,this very night." Mrs. Muggridge spoke rather sharply, for she was alittle put out with her visitor.
"What?" cried the man of sword and ferule. "To operate, ma'am, and I notthere--I, who know all about operations!"
"No, Mr. Sergeant; but to hold a council. And in this very house, Ibelieve; the room is to be ready at ten o'clock. Dr. Fox, Dr. Gronow,and Dr. Gowler. It is more than I can understand. But not a word aboutit to any one. For Sir Thomas would be very angry. To frighten hispeople, and make such a fuss--they durst not propose it at his ownhouse. And Gronow has never been called in, as you know. But Dr. Jemmymade a favour of it, for he thinks very highly of that man; and thegentleman from London did not object. Only he said that if it must beso, and everything was to be out of proper form, he would like my masterto be present with them."
"Three doctors, and a parson to sit upon him! The Lord have mercy on theColonel's soul! There is no hope left for his poor body. I will tellyou, ma'am, what I saw once at Turry Vardoes--but no, it is not fit foryou to hear. Well, my heart is like a lump of lead. I would sooner havelost my other arm, than heard such a thing of the Colonel. Good night,ma'am; and thanking you for all your kindness, I'm no fit company forany one, no longer."
He was gone in a moment. His many-angled form sank into the darkness ofthe flinty tunnel, as swiftly as ever a schoolboy vanished, when thatform became too conspicuous. Thyatira heaved a deep sigh, and sat downin the many-railed beechen chair at the head of her cruelly vacanttable. She began to count the empty dishes, and with less than her usualcharity mused upon the voracity of man. But her heart was kind, and thetear she wiped away was not wholly of selfish tincture.
"The hand of the Lord is upon us now. My master will lose the bestfriend he has got," she was thinking, as the darkness gathered;"faithful as he is, it will try him hard again; for Satan has prevailedagainst us. And this will be a worse snare than any he has laid. To havein Parsonage house a man, as chooseth not to come to prayers; or at anyrate standeth up at mantel-piece, with his back turned on the kneelers;till my master told him, like the Christian he is, that he would notdesire him, as his guest, to go contrairy to his principles,--and prettyprinciples they must be, I reckon,--but would beg him to walk in thegarden, rather than set such example to his household! Alas the day thatsuch a man came here, to the house of a holy minister! No blessing canever attend his medicine. Ah, the times are not as they was! No wonderthat Spring-heeled Jack is allowed to carry on, when such a heathen isencouraged in the land. It would not go out of my grains, if he wasSpring-heeled Jack himself!"
Much against her liking, and with a trembling hand, this excellent womanbrought in the candles, and prepared the sitting-room, for theconsultation of unholy science.
But the first to arrive was a favourite of hers, and indeed of all theparish, a young man of very cheerful aspect, and of brisk and readyspeech. No man had ever known Jemmy Fox despair of anything heundertook; and there were few things he would not undertake; only hemust tackle them in his own way. A square-built, thickset, resoluteyoung fellow, of no great stature, but good frame and fibre, and asnimble as a pea in a frying-pan. There was nothing very wonderful abouthis face; and at first sight a woman would have called him plain, forhis nose was too short, and his chin too square, and his mouth too widefor elegance. But the more he was looked at, the better he was liked byany honest person; for he was never on the watch for fault in others, ashaters of humbug are too apt to be.
And yet without intending, or knowing it at all, this son of Chiron hadgiven deep offence to many of his brethren around Perlycross, and ittold upon him sadly afterwards. For he loved his Profession, and lookedupon it as the highest and noblest in the world, and had worked at ittoo thoroughly not to have learned how often it is mere profession. Bychoice he would have dropped all general practice, and become a surgeononly; but this was impossible except in some large place, and citieswere not to his liking. As the only son of a wealthy banker he mighthave led an idle life, if he pleased; but that he could not bear, andresolved to keep himself; for the old man was often too exacting, andthe younger had some little income of his own. Perlycross suited himwell, and he had taken a long and rambling house, which had formerlybeen a barn, about half a mile from the village.
"Seen anything of Spring-heeled Jack, the last night or two, Mrs.Muggridge?" he enquired too lightly, as he flung down his hat in similarstyle at a corner. "Have you heard the last thing that has come to lightabout him?"
"No, sir, no! But I hope it is no harm," replied the palpitatingThyatira.
"Well, that depends upon how you take it. We have discovered forcertain, that he is a medical man from a country parish, not such a verylong way from here, who found his practice too small for the slaughteron the wholesale style he delights in. And so he turned his instrumentsinto patent jumpers, tore the heart out of his last patient--he wasobliged to choose a poor one, or it would have been too small--then hefitted a Bude-light to his biggest dark lantern. And you know betterthan I do what he shows you at the window, exactly as the Church-clockstrikes twelve."
"Oh, Dr. Jemmy, how you do make one creep! Then after all he is not, aseverybody says, even a dissolute nobleman?"
"No. That is where the disappointment lies. He set that story afoot nodoubt, to comfort the relatives of the folk he kills. By the by, what aplace this old house would be for him! He likes a broad window-sill,just like yours, and the weather is the very thing for him."
"I shall nail up a green baize every night. Oh, Dr.
Jemmy, there is aknock at the door! Would you mind seeing who it is--that's a dear?"
Dr. Fox, with a pleasant smile, admitted Dr. Gronow, on his very firstvisit to the rectory.
"Others not come yet?" asked the elder gentleman, as the tremblinghousekeeper offered him a chair; "his Reverence would hardly like a pipehere, I suppose. Well, Jemmy, what is your opinion of all this strangeaffair?"
Mrs. Muggridge had hurried off, with a shiver and a prayer.
"I am mum, before my betters," the young man replied. "The case is goneout of my hands altogether."
"And a good thing for you. I am glad of it for your sake. But we mustnot anticipate Gowler. I have no business here, except as what thelawyers call _Amicus curiae_. By the by, I suppose you have never seenthe smallest ground for suspicion of foul play?"
"Never. I should have come to you first, if I had. There could be nopossible motive, to begin with; and everybody loves him like a father."
"A man is too fatherly sometimes. One never can understand those foreignwomen. But you know the family, and I do not. Excuse me for a horriblesuggestion. But I have had some very dark experiences."
"And so, no doubt, has Gowler. The idea crossed his brain; but wasscattered immediately, when he knew the facts. Hush, here they come! Letus think no more of that."
Mr. Penniloe was tired, and in very low spirits; for he looked upon thismeeting as the fatal crisis. After seeing to his visitors, and offeringrefreshment--which none of them accepted--he took a chair apart, beingpresent as a listener only.
Thereupon Dr. Gowler in very few words gave his view of the case,premising only that he spoke with some doubt, and might well bemistaken, for the symptoms were perplexing, and the malady was one whichhad not as yet been studied at all exhaustively. His conclusion agreedin the main with that of his young and sagacious coadjutor, though hewas enabled, by longer experience, to be perhaps a little more definite.He spoke very well, and with a diffidence which particularly impressedthe others, on the part of a man whose judgment was of the very highestauthority.
Dr. Gronow immediately confirmed his view, so far as the details atsecond hand could warrant, and gave his own account of a similar case,where the injury was caused by the handle of a barrow, and continuedlatent for several years. The unanimous decision was that no hoperemained; unless the poor patient would submit to a surgical operationof great difficulty and danger, in the then condition of medicalscience; and for which it was advisable to have recourse to Paris.
"I know him too well. He will never consent," Mr. Penniloe came forward,and sought from face to face for some gleam of encouragement; "surelythere must be some other course, something at least to alleviate----"
"There may be: but we do not know it yet, and I fear that we never shalldo so. And for this very sufficient reason"--here Dr. Gowler took aglove from his pocket, and presented a most simple and convincingexplanation of the mischief that had happened, and the consequence thatmust of necessity ensue, without surgical redress. Even that he admittedwas of very doubtful issue, in plain English--"either kill, or cure."
The Parson sighed heavily, and even Dr. Fox was too much affected to saya word; but the elder physicians seemed to think it right and natural,and a credit to their science, that they knew so much about it. Gowlerand Gronow were becoming mighty friends--so far as two men of the worldcare to indulge--and the great London doctor accepted with pleasure theoffer of a day's fly-fishing.
"I have not thrown a fly, since I was quite a boy," he said.
"And I never threw a fly, till I was an old man," said the other; andtheir host knew well which would have the better chance, though he felta little vexed at their light arrangements.
"It is not for the sake of the fishing, my dear fellow," Dr. Gowlerassured him, when the other two were gone; "I was to have left you inthe morning, as you know; and I have not had such a holiday for sevenyears. I positively needed it, and shall be twice the man. But I feltthat I ought to stay one day longer, to give you one more chance ofpersuading poor Sir Thomas. See how handsomely he has behaved--I mean,according to country notions; though I often make more in one day, inTown. He slipped this into my hand, sealed up; and I did not refuse it,for fear of a fuss. But you will return it, when I am in the coach, andexplain, with my kind regards, that it is against my rule to take anyfee, upon a visit to a friend. I came to renew our old friendship only,and from my great regard for you. We do not think alike, upon thegreatest of all matters. Perhaps that is better for your happiness thanmine. But after all my knowledge of the world, I do believe that thebest friends are those, who are like you."
Mr. Penniloe took the cheque for fifty guineas, and placed it in hisdesk, without a word; for he knew his friend's character too well toargue. Then he shook him very warmly by the hand, and said "Good night."
But as he sank back in his chair to reflect, and examine himself of thebygone day, he hoped that his ears had deceived him that night, in amatter which had shocked him sadly. Unless they had erred, Dr. Gronowhad said--"In a case of this kind, for the advance of knowledge, autopsyshould be compulsory." And Harrison Gowler had replied--"Exactly so; butin this benighted part, I suppose it is impossible."