«Quite so! Quite so!» she said carelessly. «Get into the corner and stay there. Above all, stop talking, as this case calls for all my faculties.» He turned with a masterful air towards the patient. «Well, well, you are coming along. In two months you will be in the class-room.»
«Oh, it is impossible!» cried Ross Scotton, with a half sob.
«Not so. I guarantee it. I do not make false promises.»
«I'll answer for that,» said Miss Delicia. «I say, dear Doctor, do tell us who you were when you were alive.»
«Tut I tut! The unchanging woman. They gossiped in my time and they gossip still. No! no! We will have a look at our young friend here. Pulse! The intermittent beat has gone. That is something gained. Temperature – obviously normal. Blood pressure – still higher than I like. Digestion – much to be desired. What you moderns call a hunger-strike would not be amiss. Well, the general conditions are tolerable. Let us see the local centre of the mischief. Pull your shirt down, sir! Lie on your face. Excellent!» She passed her fingers with great force and precision down the upper part of the spine, and then dug in her knuckles with a sudden force which made the sufferer yelp. That is better! There is – as I have explained – a slight want of alignment in the cervical vertibrae which has, as I perceive it, the effect of lessening the foramina through which the nerve roots emerge. This has caused compression, and as these nerves are really the conductors of vital force, it has upset the whole equilibrium of the parts supplied. My eyes are the same as your clumsy X-rays, and I clearly perceive that the position is almost restored, and the fatal constriction removed. I hope, sir,» to Challenger, «that I make the pathology of this interesting case intelligible to you.»
Challenger grunted his general hostility and disagreement.
«I will clear up any little difficulties which may linger in your mind. But, meantime, my dear lad, you are a credit to me, and I rejoice in your progress. You will present my compliments to my colleague of earth, Dr. Atkinson, and tell him that I can suggest nothing more. The medium is a little weary, poor girl, so I will not remain longer to-day.»
«But you said you would tell us who you were.»
«Indeed, there is little to say. I was a very undistinguished practitioner. I sat under the great Abernethy in my youth, and perhaps imbibed something of his methods. When I passed over in early middle age I continued my studies, and was permitted, if I could find some suitable means of expression, to do something to help humanity. You understand, of course, that it is only by serving and self-abnegation that we advance in the higher world. This is my service, and I can only thank kind Fate that I was able to find in this girl a being whose vibrations so correspond with my own that I can easily assume control of her body.»
«And where is she?» asked the patient.
«She is waiting beside me and will presently re-enter her own frame. As to you, sir,» turning to Challenger, «you are a man of character and learning, but you are clearly embedded in that materialism which is the special curse of your age. Let me assure you that the medical profession, which is supreme upon earth for the disinterested work of its members, has yielded too much to the dogmatism of such men as you, and has unduly neglected that spiritual element in man which is far more important than your herbs and your minerals. There is a life-force, sir, and it is in the control of this life force that the medicine of the future lies. If you shut your mind to it, it can only mean that the confidence of the public will turn to those who are ready to adopt every means of cure, whether they have the approval of your authorities or not.»
Never could young Ross Scotton forget that scene. The Professor, the master, the supreme chief, he who had to
be addressed with bated breath sat with half-opened mouth and staring eyes, leaning forward in his chair, while in front of him the slight young woman shaking her mop of brown hair and wagging an admonitory forefinger, spoke to him as a father speaks to a refractory child. So intense was her power that Challenger, for the instant, was constrained to accept the situation. He gasped and grunted, but no retort came to his lips. The girl turned away and sat down on a chair.
«He is going,» said Miss Delicia.
«But not yet gone,» replied the girl with a smile. «Yes, I must go, for I have much to do. This is not my only medium of expression, and I am due in Edinburgh in a few minutes. But be of good heart, young man. I will set my assistant with two extra batteries to increase your vitality so far as your system will permit. As to you, sir,» to Challenger, «I would implore you to beware of the egotism of brain and the self-concentration of intellect. Store what is old, but be ever receptive to what is new, and judge it not as you may wish it, but as God has designed it.»
She gave a deep sigh and sank back in her chair. There was a minute of dead silence while she lay with her head upon her breast. Then, with another sigh and a shiver, she opened a pair of very bewildered blue eyes.
«Well, has he been?» she asked in a gentle feminine voice.
«Indeed, yes!» cried the patient. «He was great. He says I shall be in the class-room in two months.»
«Splendid! Any directions for me?»
«Just the special massage as before. But he is going to put on two new spirit batteries if I can stand it.»
«My word, he won't be long now!» Suddenly the girl's eyes lit on Challenger and she stopped in confusion.
«This is Nurse Ursula,» said Miss Delicia. «Nurse, let me present you to the famous Professor Challenger.» Challenger was great in his manner towards women, especially if the particular woman happened to be a young and pretty girl. He advanced now as Solomon may have advanced to the Queen of Sheba, took her hand, and patted her hair with patriarchal assurance.
«My dear, you are far too young and charming for such deceit. Have done with it for ever. Be content to be a bewitching nurse and resign all claim to the higher functions of doctor. Where, may I ask, did you pick up all this jargon about cervical vertebrae and posterior foramina?»
Nurse Ursula looked helplessly round as one who finds herself suddenly in the clutches of a gorilla.
«She does not understand a word you say!» cried the man on the bed. «Oh, chief, you must make an effort to face the real situation! I know what a readjustment it means. In my small way I have had to undergo it myself. But, believe me, you see everything through a prism instead of through plate-glass until you understand the spiritual factor.»
Challenger continued his paternal attentions, though the frightened lady had begun to shrink from him.
«Come now,» said he, «who was the clever doctor with whom you acted as nurse – the man who taught you all these fine words? You must feel that it is hopeless to deceive me. You will be much happier, dear child, when you have made a clean breast of it all, and when we can laugh together over the lecture which you inflicted upon me.»
An unexpected interruption came to check Challenger's exploration of the young woman's conscience or motives. The invalid was sitting up, a vivid red patch against his white pillows, and he was speaking with an energy which was in itself an indication of his coming cure.
«Professor Challenger!» he cried, «you are insulting my best friend. Under this roof at least she shall be safe from the sneers of scientific prejudice. I beg you to leave the room if you cannot address Nurse Ursula in a more respectful manner.»
Challenger glared, but the peacemaking Delicia was at work in a moment.
«You are far too hasty, dear Dr. Ross Scotton!» she cried. «Professor Challenger has had no time to understand this. You were just as sceptical yourself at first. How can you blame him?»
