Part 42 (1/2)

Austin went out of the broker's office with three hours to spare, and wandered aimlessly about the city in a state of tense suspense. He felt that he could not sit still, and in any case he was dubious as to whether he was warranted in going back to the hotel. Indeed, he wondered whether he had any right to be at large at all, and after a while hung about the wharves, where there was less chance of any one coming into perilous contact with him. He had never spent such a morning in his life, and decided that what he had done and borne in Africa was not worth mention by comparison. Still, the hours dragged by, and at last he set out for the specialists' surgery without daring to wonder what the result would be, and found two gentlemen awaiting him there. One of them, who had grey hair and very keen eyes, motioned him to a chair.

”Now,” he said, ”before we proceed to an examination it might be better if you told us concisely what happened to you in Africa.”

Austin, who sat down, did so, and wondered a little that he was able to speak coherently and quietly, for every nerve in him seemed tingling with tense anxiety. Then the man with the grey hair asked him a few terse questions about the negro's appearance, and when he had described it as well as he could remember, glanced at his companion.

”Do you recognise the symptoms?” he said.

”No,” said the other man, who was younger. ”There are one or two complaints not unusual in that country which appear to somewhat resemble it, but they are seldom so virulent. I would like to talk to Mr. Austin about it later, but in the meanwhile----”

”Exactly,” and the specialist made a little gesture. ”Mr. Austin is, no doubt, anxious to hear our opinion. If you will permit me----”

He drew the jacket gently over Austin's swollen arm, and the latter, who held it out, bare to the shoulder, felt the perspiration start from him as he watched the doctors bend over the limb. They said nothing for a s.p.a.ce of seconds, and Austin fancied he would remember that time while he lived. Then, to his astonishment, the grey-haired man glanced at his companion with a little smile.

”I fancy this case has lost its special interest to you?” he said.

The other man nodded. ”It has,” he said. ”Our views evidently coincide.”

”I would venture to point out that any decision you may have arrived at is, naturally, of considerable importance to me,” said Austin, a trifle sharply.

The specialist smiled again. ”I expect you will be pleased to hear that it is not a peculiarly African disease you are suffering from. It is, in fact, no more than a by no means infrequent form of blood poisoning.”

Austin gasped, and felt his heart beat furiously from relief, and the specialist waited a moment or two before he went on. ”It is evident that you had several lacerations on your lower arm--made by corroded iron, or something of the kind.”

”I tore the skin rather frequently working cargo, and when the scars had partly healed opened up rather a nasty wound by falling on the steamer's rail.”

”Exactly. The result is not astonis.h.i.+ng in the case of a man weakened by fever who has attempted to work harder than is advisable in a country like the one you mention. In the meanwhile, this arm is going to give you trouble, and I should recommend you to go into the private ward of the ---- hospital. I will telephone them if that would suit you?”

Austin said he placed himself in the doctor's hands, and half an hour later was being driven to the hospital, where the other man, who was apparently anxious to know more about the negro, asked permission to visit him. He also came in due time, but, so far as Austin could ascertain, never quite decided what the negro was suffering from, though he admitted that there were African troubles of the kind which were infectious.

In the meanwhile, Austin realised how much he needed rest, and how heavy the strain he had borne had been. He did not even want to read, and was languidly content to sit still and think of nothing, until one day, when it was evident that his arm was healing, a nurse came in to announce a visitor.

”If it's that doctor man, you can tell him I can't remember anything more about the n.i.g.g.e.r, and don't mean to try,” he said.

The nurse laughed. ”It isn't,” she said. ”It's a little gentleman with gold-rimmed spectacles.”

Austin started. ”Ah!” he said. ”Will you please tell them to send him in?”

In a few more minutes Brown came in, and, sitting down, shook his head reproachfully.

”You have really given your friends a good deal of anxiety, and I was almost afraid I would have to go back without learning what had become of you,” he said. ”Still, though I know the thing isn't, fortunately, what you thought it was, the first question is, how are you?”

”Recovering,” said Austin, with a smile. ”I understand that my arm will be all right again very shortly. It was a very usual trouble. As you seem to recognise, I let my imagination run away with me.”

”I am very pleased to hear it. Why didn't you cable?”

”I understood that you had left Las Palmas, and Jefferson was on the point of doing so. I could scarcely suppose there was any one else who cared enough about what happened to me to make it necessary.”

Brown looked at him with a curious little smile which Austin found disconcerting. ”There are Mrs. Hatherly and Muriel. I almost think Jacinta would have liked to know that you and Jefferson were under a misapprehension, too. Still, that is, perhaps, not very important, after all. I suppose Jefferson told you that he expects to get a good deal for the _c.u.mbria_ and her cargo?”

”I was pleased to hear that my share might amount to 7,000.”

Brown took off his gla.s.ses and held them in one hand, which, as Austin knew, was a trick of his when he had anything on his mind.