i. the sick baby

“ruth, i wish you would stop at doctor marcy’s office on your way to school,” said mrs. duwell[193] a few days later, “and ask him to come to see the baby. the little thing has a high fever.”

“oh, dear, i hope baby won’t be sick!” exclaimed ruth, kissing her mother good-by.

all the morning she remembered her mother’s troubled look. at noon she did not stop to talk with the girls, but hurried home as fast as she could.

wallace was there before her, though, having run all the way. he met her at the door.

“ruth,” he whispered, “i met doctor marcy as he came out, and he says that the baby has pneumonia,[b] and it is a bad case. mother doesn’t know i am home. can’t we get some lunch ready to take to her?”

“yes, indeed,” replied ruth, tiptoeing into the kitchen. “you put the kettle on the fire and i’ll make some tea and milk toast.”

mrs. duwell looked very pale and weary when the children appeared with the lunch tray.

“i didn’t know you were home, ruth,” she whispered, stepping into the hall. “how quietly you must have worked, children.”

“is there anything else we can do to help?” asked wallace.

“why, yes, there is, wallace. you may take[194] this pre-scrip-tion to the drug store to be filled. ask the druggist to send the medicine over as soon as possible.”

just then the baby gave a pitiful little moan, which made the mother turn again to the crib. the children stole softly downstairs.

wallace at drug store

“i’ll run right over to the drug store, ruth,” wallace said, forgetting his own lunch.

ii. the druggist

“good morning, mr. jones,” he said breathlessly as he entered the store. “baby is very ill, and mother wishes this prescription filled. she[195] told me to ask if you would please send the medicine over just as soon as possible.”

“baby sick? how sorry i am, wallace,” said mr. jones. “of course we will send it soon. i will see to it at once.”

“oh, thank you.” wallace drew a sigh of relief. “how much will it be, please?”

the druggist examined the queer latin words of the doctor’s prescription. “this calls for one very expensive medicine, wallace,” he said; “so we shall have to charge seventy-five cents.”

“that will be all right,” said wallace.

when he reached home ruth had a nice lunch spread for him.

“i am not going to school this afternoon, wallace,” she told him. “i’m going to tidy up the house, and help mother.”

“look at the clock, ruth!” exclaimed wallace suddenly, “i must start right away—the medicine will be seventy-five cents.”

“i will have the money ready,” said ruth. “good-by.”

the druggist’s boy came with the medicine a few minutes after wallace left, and the baby was given the first dose at once.

when their father came the children had supper ready, but no one ate much.

[196]

“i am glad you can be so helpful, children,” he said.

iii. the trained nurse

for five days the whole family did everything they knew to help save the baby’s life. mr. duwell was worried not only about the baby but about the children’s mother.

“i agree with the doctor that it would be much wiser to have a trained nurse,” he said on saturday afternoon.

“but mother cannot bear the thought of letting anyone else take care of the baby,” said ruth.

“i know that mother is a splendid nurse,” mr. duwell continued; “but a trained nurse knows all the best new methods of nursing, and could give much relief to mother, who is tired out.”

just then the bell rang.

“it is the doctor,” said ruth. mr. duwell went to the door, followed by the little girl.

the doctor was not alone. with him was a young lady. ruth liked her at once; she seemed so quiet and strong, and looked so kind.

doctor and nurse beside bassinet

do you think this is the right kind of bed for a sick baby? why not?

“how do you do, sir?” said doctor marcy to mr. duwell. “this is miss foster, a trained [197]

[198]nurse. i am taking matters in my own hands, you see. that good wife of yours is entirely worn out.”

“i am pleased to meet miss foster and i am very much obliged to you for bringing her, doctor,” mr. duwell replied.

“it seems to me to be the very best thing to do. i have tried to persuade mrs. duwell to see things that way,” said the doctor.

“oh, come upstairs, doctor,” called mrs. duwell, hearing the doctor’s voice; “i think baby is scarcely breathing.”

“come,” said the doctor to the nurse, leading the way.

mrs. duwell was standing near the crib as they entered.

“this is the nurse i was talking about,” the doctor said, introducing miss foster, and turning to look at the baby.

“i am very glad—” mrs. duwell started to speak, but she fainted away before she could finish the sentence.

the nurse did not seem frightened. she laid mrs. duwell flat on the floor. after sprinkling cold water on her face, she held some smelling salts to her nose.

in a minute or two mrs. duwell opened her[199] eyes. “i must have fainted,” she said; “i am so glad you were here, nurse. doctor, how is baby?”

“about as i expected,” the doctor replied. “i believe the worst will be over to-night. now, i want you to take this medicine which miss foster will give you, and lie down for a while. i expect to come back about ten o’clock to-night. good-by; please obey miss foster’s orders,” he added.

“it is such a relief to my mind, doctor,” said mr. duwell, meeting him at the foot of the stairs, “to know that the nurse is here.”

“it is a relief,” replied the doctor. “if the strain had kept on much longer, mrs. duwell would have had a long term of illness.”

iv. the doctor, a hero

the doctor and nurse watched by the baby’s bedside until the danger was passed. both wore happy smiles when the doctor assured the tired duwell family that the baby would live.

“oh, doctor, money cannot pay you for your kindness,” said mrs. duwell. “through rain and snow storms, at midnight and at daybreak, you have come to help us. how tired you must often be.”

“it is true, doctor,” mr. duwell added; “you[200] risk your life as willingly as a soldier does, every time you go into danger.”

“we doctors don’t think anything about that,” replied doctor marcy modestly. “we are so anxious to have people get well.”

“why, doctors are heroes like soldiers!” exclaimed wallace, looking at the doctor with new respect. “i never thought of that before!”

“nurses are, too,” whispered ruth; but doctor marcy overheard.

“that is right, ruth,” he said. “nurses are, too.”

questions

the druggist

how long does a druggist have to study in order to fill prescriptions? would it be safe to let those who have not studied handle medicines? why not?

how near is a drug store to your home? can you imagine how it would be to live ten miles from a drug store?

the nurse

can you give some reasons why a trained nurse can care for a sick person better than an untrained one?

do you know any trained nurses?

how long does a trained nurse study before graduation?

the doctor

did you ever need a doctor at your house?

how did you let him know? did he come quickly?

what might have happened if he had not come?

pretend, you are a country doctor and tell about some of your long drives. do you think doctors are heroes? why?