He treated her with a genuine,
almost fatherly kindness, and they were drawn together by the kin feeling
of race, so strong among all Celts. In many respects Michael was not
ideal as a medical attendant.
He smoked vile tobacco,--he dropped some things and knocked over others,
he shaved apparently only on _festas_, and if he happened to arrive late
in the day his speech was thick and his manner excitable.
Upon one occasion Arithelli had complained that her mane of untended hair
made her uncomfortably hot, and Michael brought out a pocket knife,
clubbed it all together in his hand like a horse's tail, and obligingly
offered to relieve her by cutting it off. Emile had arrived only just in
time to prevent the holocaust, and the two men exchanged fiery words for
the next ten minutes.
Another day, prompted by a desire to amuse her, Michael introduced into
her room a fat mongrel puppy with disproportionate legs and an alarmed
expression. His wish to provide her with what he was pleased to call a
"divarsion" was, like many of his other good intentions, not entirely
successful.
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