When he had eaten enough, he set to his proper work with haste and
diligence. He made the girl tell him how many children there were, and
find them all for him, so that in a trice he had them standing in a row
in the sunlight outside the barn, with their little tongues all out,
that the state of their health might be properly inspected. Then he went
in to his patient of the night before.
The disease was diphtheria. It was a severe case; but the man had been
healthy, and Caius approved the arrangements that Madame Le Maitre had
made to give him plenty of air and nourishment.
The wife was alone with her husband this morning, and when Caius had
done all that was necessary, and given her directions for the proper
protection of herself and the children, she told him that her eldest
girl would go with him to the house of Madame Le Maitre. That lady,
said she simply, would tell him where he was to go next, and all he was
to do upon the island.
"Upon my word!" said Caius again to himself, "it seems I am to be taken
care of and instructed, truly."
He had a sense of being patronized; but his spirits were high--nothing
depressed him; and, remembering the alarming incident of the night
before, he felt that the lady's protection might not be unnecessary.
When he got to the front of the house, for the first time in the morning
light, he saw that the establishment was of ample size, but kept with no
care for a tasteful appearance.
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