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In the Mahdi's Grasp, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 10. An Operation |
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_ CHAPTER TEN. AN OPERATION The meal prepared by the Sheikh's people astounded the little party-- there were crisp cutlets, freshly made cakes, bowls of a porridge made with fresh milk and some kind of finely ground grain, and fruit in abundance, while all pronounced the freshly roasted coffee to be delicious. So appetising did it prove in the pleasant, subdued shadow of the tent, that the weariness of the past night was forgotten by more than one, for before the meal was at an end Sam made his appearance, washed and refreshed, to help attend to his master's wants, and say in answer to Frank's inquiries that he couldn't have believed he could feel so much better in so short a time. Frank smiled to himself, but he did not allude to the will. It was soon evident, though, that the man had his words upon his conscience, for he kept on giving Frank peculiar, meaning looks, one and all of which were ignored, the only words that passed being later in the afternoon, when Sam suddenly edged up close to his confidant and said-- "It's wonderful what a good rest does for a man, Mr Frank, sir, isn't it?" "Wonderful, Sam," was the reply. "I feel very little the worse for my night's ride." "That's just about like I am, sir, and--" "I can't stop Sam," said Frank, interrupting him; "your master wants me again." Frank hurried back to the doctor's side to resume his position of assistant, for he had been pretty busy making his first essays at the task which was to be his for many months to come. For the Sheikh's son had been seen, examined, and an operation performed, one of a very simple nature, but sufficient to give instant relief; while the Hakim's instructions that the lad was to remain lying down for a month were not hard for one who had not stood up, save in acute agony, for three years. "I am well paid for this operation, Frank, my lad," said the Hakim, when he left the lad's tent; for the old Sheikh had gone down on one knee to touch the hand extended to him. "It is a miracle, Excellency," he said; "but tell me that he will live." "It is no miracle, Sheikh," replied the doctor, "only the result of study and practice. Oh, yes, the boy will live and grow strong. Don't kneel to me; I am but a man like yourself, and glad to help one who has come forward so nobly to help us." The visit to the sick child was not of so happy a nature, for the Hakim took the mother's hand sadly, and the Sheikh interpreted his words, that told how hopeless was the case, and how much better for her that she should cease to suffer soon. In another tent, though, the Hakim brought light and hope, for the failing sight, though it would soon have become hopeless, was at a stage when a slight operation and the following treatment of keeping the girl in darkness, were sufficient to ensure recovery. The next patient was the young Arab suffering from the broken limb, and over this the Hakim's examination, after the poor fellow had limped by the help of a stick to a rough couch in one of the smaller tents, was long and careful. "The youth is healthy and strong," the doctor said to the Sheikh and the young man's brother, "but the leg will never mend while it is like this. There is diseased bone." "Then the Hakim cannot cure him?" said the Sheikh sadly, and the sufferer lay watching anxiously, gazing from one to the other, longing intensely to know the meaning of the words spoken in what was, in spite of the people of his tribe being so much in touch with the English who came to Cairo, an unknown tongue. "Oh, yes, I can certainly cure him if he is willing to bear some pain, which I will alleviate all I can, and will undertake to wait patiently afterwards until the broken bones have knit together." "Ah, then," cried the Sheikh, "cure him. He must bear the pain." "Ask his consent first," said the doctor. "His?" said the Sheikh, looking wonderingly at the doctor; "he is one of my people. I give you my permission." "Never mind that. Ask him if he is willing. Who is this?" "His brother, Excellency." "Ask him too." The words were interpreted, and the anxious look on the brothers' faces gave place to one of eager hope and pleasure as they heard and replied-- "Yes, Excellency, we beg that you will do what is right, no matter what pain he suffers. He prays you to make him a man instead of the useless cripple he remains--useless to himself, a trouble to his friends." The Hakim bowed and turned to Frank. "You will have to help me," he said. "I will not ask you if you have the nerve. There is diseased bone, which must be removed, and he must be kept under an anaesthetic, for he could not bear the pain, and his sufferings would hinder me." Half an hour later, by the Sheikh's orders, everyone was sent to a distance from the tent, into which the Hakim was watched with looks full of awe, as he disappeared therein, followed by Frank and the Sheikh, the brother sitting by waiting, and both looking reverently at the man whose knowledge was something tremendous in their eyes. "Are you going to stay, Sheikh?" said the Hakim. "It would be better that you and this young man should go." "I should like his brother to stay and see what is done, Excellency, while I--I am the father and chief of my tribe; the people look to me, and it is through me that you are going to do this thing. My people would not be contented if I did not stay." "Very well," said the doctor quietly, and for the next half hour he was busily employed, finishing the securing of the last bandage within that time, while when the patient had fully recovered his consciousness, the calm look of content and satisfaction with which he smiled up in his surgeon's face on being told that all was done, augured well for a quick recovery. The Hakim's reputation had been planted that day like so much seed thrown into fertile soil; and as they left the tent after the last patient had sunk into a calm sleep, Frank, who had seen the brother steal out before, now noticed how the people of the tribe were standing about waiting to see the Hakim return to his own tent, one and all eager to catch his eye and make obeisance after their fashion to this man, who seemed greater to them than any chief. _ |
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