The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-12-20 00:00:00

CHAPTER XXXIV•
IN CLOVER.

Some men there are,
alwats fall, like eats, upon their feet.
Ile's one of them. What n another's e• se
ould be mibfortune, to 14,11 brings good alone.

"Ur( N my word! the good star- Which presides
over my fortunes must surely have been in the
ascendant to send me such a stroke of luck
Clarence Woodville mutters to himself, as he
glances complacently at his reflection in the glass
before which he sits. clad in a loose dressing-gown,
a small table beside him spread with a tempting
little meal of which, however, he partakes but
sparingly, having appearances to keep up. He was
feigning the invalid, although in point of fact his
health and appetite were never more robust, and
he could well, if he so chose, demolish in its entirety
the delicate spring chicken which has been served
up to him for his mid-day meal. '4 I mustn't eat
any more,' hq continues ruefully, and surveying
with longing eyes the goodly remains of the repast
that stands beside him, " or the old lady will be
giving me a civil hint that I am sufficiently strong
clear out, which there is no fear of her
doing so long as I continue in my present state of
weakness. Weakness! Jove ! I never felt better
in my life, never more lit," and he chuckles to him-
self over the unnecessary care that has been
bestowed upon him since his accident. "But it
would never do to throw such a chance away, so I
mils', keep the game up as long as possible."
He has been now for four whole days an inmate
of Mrs. Gra me's house, occupying her best guest
chamber, from whence Eve Trenchard has gone to
share the room allotted to her companion, and at
present Mr. Woodville has no intention of sur-
rendering the advantage which he has so fortuitously
gained.
At the expense of some loss of blood and physical
discomfort, certainly ; but the hurt he had received,
though severe enough in its effects to render his
temporary insensibility a reality, was by no means
great enough to have detained Clarence Woodville
for more than an hour or two at the outside beneath
Mrs. Gmme's room had he been inclined to leave it.
This, however, was so far from his d sire that he
regarded his mischance, not as a ca amity to be
bemoaned, but rather as a strake of luck for which
be could never be sufficiently grateful, since it had
secured for him at once, and in the most unexpected
manner, the very ob ect that he most wished for, and
thst without having to plan or scheme for its ful'il-
meat with the chance before his eyes of ultimate
failure attending his design.
Possibly, even as it was, matters might not have
turned out so favourably for Mr. Woodville had the
surgeon for whom she sent in hot haste, on seeing
her stranger guest lying pale and insensible from
loss of blood, himself attended the summons. Mr.
Macpherson, however, was not to be found, but in
his stead came his assistant, a youth just fresh from
his studies, and full of self-importance arising from
the power to append the magic initials M.D. after
his name. He, on seeing his patient, assumed an
air of profound gravity and serious look as he
examined the extent of the injury, and so contrived
to hide from so inexperienced an audience as the
frightened women who formed the whole of Mrs.
Grwme's household, the nervousness uncle:: sthich he
himself laboured at having to deal single handed
with so alarming a case.
Not that it was in very deed one of any gravb -
proportions. Angus Cameron had stood by the side
of many a worse one in the hospital and helped to
dress raw, gaping'wounds and reset broken limbs the
while the sufferer with terrible cries and moans
attested what agony he was enduring, land per-
formed his part in the operation with all that sang
froid, indifference to physical suffering, and steadi-
ness of hand and ncrve which are so all-essential in
the healing profession. But at such times the
patients had in the first place been in a low sphere
of life—tipsy stragglers who had been run over in
the streets, Irish hodmen who had met with some
accident at their work, and the like while—to further
tend to make him cool and collected —what share
he had in those operations was aapervised and
directed by surgeons of long experience, upon
whom, not hire, rested the responsibility of success
or failure,
Here, however, ha hool Ise aucha'd, and must

trust entirely to his own guidance both for aPreper
diagnosis and what course of treatment to pursue,
and besides had for patient one who was apparently
a gentleman, judging from the whiteness of his hands,
his well-made clothing, and the place in which be
found him; and all these details combined to upset
Angus Cameron's steadiness of nerve and self-
possession, while the readiest way in which he could
conceal his fright was by putting so serious a face
on the matter as to at once convince the Women,
already terrified as they were at the 'sight of
Clarence Woodville's pallor-stricken face besmeared
in so ghastly a fashion, that things were mach worse
than was really the case.
Even Laura,. though she had little cause to
feel pity for de sufferer, took part in the general
alarm.

Will he die, do you think ?"she asked anxiously,
and the others, scared at the mere utterance of so
ominous a word, glanced breathlessly, appealingly
at the young surgeon, as though the issue hung trpon
his answer.

But with all his nervousness Angus Cameron had
learned that part of his profession thoroughly which
teaches the value of reticence and caution, and
would not commit himself by any decided reply to
such a question, and even assumed so far as he could
an air of cheerful confidence and reliance in his,
ability to battle with the danger.
" Die ! oh, dear no !" he answered hastening,.
however, to add a saving clause lest his prognosti-
cation should by chance turn out too sanguine. "At
least, I hope not; though, of course until I have
made a thorough examination of the injury it is.
impossible to say how far the brain may be affected.
Still," he continued, thinking again from the
heightened alarm of their faces that it would be.
advisable to make his opinion less sombre, ".1 don't
imagine that it is as bad as all that. The first thing
to be done, of course, is to get him to bed, and
perfect quiet observed in the house."
"In the house burst in various accents of doubt
and dismay from his hearers.
"The gentleman is a stranger to me," dubiously
Deg tn Mrs. Grame, though rather feeling that
under the circumstances that was hardly an
excuse for turning a possibly dying man out of her
house.

"And to all of us," broke in Miss Desmond, whose
first fright WAS over, and having a strong suspicion
now from certain indications that she alone had
been quick enough to note, that Clarence Woodville's
hurt was not, after all, so very alarming; and that,
in point of fact, hdwas already sufficiently recovered
to be perfectly aware of the discussion going on, and
could open his eyes readily enough if he chose.
"If I may offer advice, madam, 1 should say it
would be better to have Mr. Woodville removed to
his hotel." •

"And where may that be, pray?" sharply de-
manded Mrs. Grame, while the surgeon still attended
to his patient.
" Ah, I did not think of that !" returned Miss
Desmond, suddenly remembering that she must not
seem to have too intimate a knowledge of what
eoncerne I a man who was supposed to be totally
strange to her. "But, there is the hospital; surely
that would be the fitter place."
"The hospital! Oh, Laura!" reproachfully broke
in Eve, who spoke for the first time. "Why, he is
a gentleman, and--"
" Would lose no advantage by being there," said
Angus Cameron. "Indeed, it is what I should have
suggested, had we been near at hand. But it is an
hour's drive, at least; and if, as is possible, there is
concussion of the brain--"
"He must not be moved, that's certain," em-
phatically decided Mrs. Gr,eme, partly urged by
natural kindliness, and not a little by Laura Des-
mond's ill-timed suggestion, which she looked upon
as not far from impertinence. "Jeanie get a bed
ready directly—you'll have to turn out of your room,
my dear," (to Eve) —" and Saunders shall carry him
up at once."
(To 14 continua.)