Page:Beyond the Horizon (1920).djvu/141

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''burning with fever. He is dressed in corduroy pants, a flannel shirt, and wears worn carpet slippers on his bare feet''.

—[Dully.] S-s-s-h-h! Ma’s asleep.

—[Speaking with an effort.] I won’t wake her. [He walks weakly to a rocker by the side of the table and sinks down in it exhausted.]

—[Staring at the stove.] You better come near the fire where it’s warm.

—No. I’m burning up now.

—That’s the fever. You know the doctor told you not to get up and move round.

—[Irritably.] That old fossil! He doesn’t know anything. Go to bed and stay there—that’s his only prescription.

—[Indifferently.] How are you feeling now?

—[Buoyantly.] Better! Much better than I’ve felt in ages. Really I’m quite healthy now—only very weak. It’s the turning point, I guess. From now on I’ll pick up so quick I’ll surprise you—and no thanks to that old fool of a country quack, either.

—He’s always tended to us.

—Always helped us to die, you mean! He “tended” to Pa and Ma and—(his voice breaks)—and to—Mary.

—[Dully.] He did the best he knew, I s’pose.