Page:The Prairie Flower; Or, Adventures In the Far West.djvu/125



ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST

BO stared at; my third, alarm as to what mio-ht be the effect of all this upon Mrs. Huntly; and to her I immediately turned, without a word to the others. Perhaps the reader, if a lover, is surprised that my first alarm was not for Lilian. Ay! but, dear sir, I saw at a glance that Lilian was in good hands, and in a fair way of recovery, and it would have been injudi cious, at that moment, to draw, any more ittention to her.

Mrs. Huntly I found lying upon a fea ther bed, in a large, covered wagon, un derneath which was attached a furnace for warming it; so that, all things considered, the patient was more comfortably situated than I had expected to find her.

In appearance, she had altered much since I last saw her. Her naturally rather florid complexion, and full, round face, had given place to pallor and thinness, and here and there I could trace deep lines of care; but I failed to note a single symp tom portending immediate danger. Grief, fatigue of travel, and many anxieties of mind, together with a touch of influenza, had brought on a splenetic affection, some thing like what is vulgarly termed " hypo." She had fancied herself very ill, and in fact nigh unto death; and I saw at once, that could she be persuaded the crisis had passed, and that the danger was over, she would speedily recover and upon this I acted with decision. The cause of her grief and of her being here I did not then know for the information which I have given the reader on the subject, was not oL tained till afterward and I saw it would not d j to question her. It was ne- cessarj I should appear cheerful, whether I felt so or not; and accordingly 1 ap- j proached her with a smile. Instantly her eye brightened as it met mine, and I per ceived, to my great satisfaction, that the alarm occasioned by the swoon of Lilian, had proved beneficial, in drawing her thoughts from herself to another, and arousing all her dormant faculties. Ex tending her hand as I approached, she said, with a sigh :

' Ah! Francis, I never thought we should meet thus."

'True,"I replied,"! had thought to meet you under other circumstances though I presume all has happened for the best?"

"You find me very low, do you not 1 "

"You have been ill," 1 answered, em phasising the word have; " but everything I see has turned in your favor."

"How !" she exclaimed, quickly, rais ing her head, and fixing her eyes intently upon mine; " would you imply that I am not in a dangerous condition?"

"I would not only imply it," I rejoined, with energy, pretending to judge by her pulse, " but I will assert it as an indis putable fact. If in a week from this you are not as well as you ever were in your life, I will give you leave to call rue an imposter."

"Really, Francis, you surprise me!" she said, with animation. " In fact, I be lieve I do feel better. But I have been sick you admit that?"

"0, most certainly," I said, rejoiced to perceive the beneficial effects of my men tal prescription. "You have been verj sick, and within an hour have been riigh unto death; but thank God! the crisis has passed, and you have nothing to do now but recover as fast as possible."

"But what is, or has been my ail ment? ' '

Here I remembered the suggestion of Teddy, and quickly mumbled over a long string of Latin names, with scientific ex planations, much to the satisfaction of everybody but myself. The spectators who had crowded around to hear what 1 had to say^-being, with but two or three exceptions, good honest farmers and farm ers' wives nodded approvals to each other, and gave me many a respectful glance, equivalent to telling me, that rny first case, without a single dose, had, with them, established my reputation as a skill ful physician. 0, the humbug of big sounding words! I would advise doctors and lawyers to use them on all occa sions.

Xe\vs of my decision, regarding the pa tient, iiew rapidly from one to another lighting each countenance, before gloomy, with a smile of pleasure until it reached the ear of Lilian, who, just recovering from the effects of her swoon, uttered a cry of joy, and, much to the surprise and satis faction of those engaged in restoring her, suddenly sprang away from them and rushed to her mother.