"I am not one towards whom any concealments
need be practised; and it is meet that I should know the worst, that
I may do the best."
"The disease, madam," I replied, "has not yet put on all of its
distinctive signs. A fever--we call it the fever of incubation--is
the forerunner of several very different ailments, and, at the
beginning, the most accurate eye may fail to see what is beyond. In
the present case, however, I think that typhoid fever is indicated."
I spoke as evenly as possible, and with as little apparent concern
as possible. But I saw the blood go instantly back from the mother's
face.
"Typhoid fever!" she ejaculated, in a low voice, clasping her hands
together. I learned afterwards that she had cause to dread this
exhausting and often fatal disease. "Oh, Doctor! do for her as if
she were your own and only child."
She grasped my arm, like one catching at a fleeting hope.
"As if she were my own and only child!" I repeated her words in
promise and assurance, adding--
"The first result of the medicine which I gave is just what I
desired.
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