Perceval Gibbon

“ THERE were only two arrivals by the train from London when it stopped at the little flower-banked station of Barthiam; and Mary, who was waiting for it, had no difficulty in deciding which of them was Professor Fish. That great man never failed to look the part. His tall, lean figure, stooping at the shoulders, his big, smooth-shaven face mildly abstracted behind his glasses, but retaining always something of a keen and formidable character, his soft hat and great, flapping ulster, made up a noticeable personality anywhere. ”

“ But some inward function of her was uneasy, she felt as though she had failed the little man whose reliance was in her. "You know I'm your friend," she had said to him, and this reference to the professor had not the flavor of full friendship. The same compunction remained with her the next morning, and made her specially gentle with Smith. He had fallen back to his usual condition of vacuity and inertia: she had to rouse him to eat and drink when he sat at table with a face as void of life as a death-mask, and eyes empty and unseeing. Professor Fish was not slow to reply to the letter. ”

“ The doctor bent forward, pleased. "Go to 'ell!" said Smith, thoughtfully.
MARY had much more success with him; a slender link of sympathy had established itself between the healthy, tranquil girl and this dreary wisp of a man. She asked him no questions, and in return for her forbearance he would sometimes speak to her voluntarily. He would emerge from his trance-like apathy to watch her as she went about her household duties. Professor Fish had spoken truly when he said that Mary Pond knew how to create about her an atmosphere of serenity. ”

“ IN THIS manner the new patient was installed in the household of Dr. Pond. He slipped into his place like a shadow, displacing nothing. The doctor, swollen with the distinction of a visit by Professor Fish in person, would willingly have made a fuss of him if it had been possible. But Smith was not amenable to polite attentions. To attempts to render him particular consideration he opposed a barren inertia; one could as easily have been obliging to a lamp-post. The man's consciousness seemed to exist in a vacuum; he lived in a solitude to which the kindly doctor could never penetrate. ”

“ Here was a window giving a view over the rain-blurred hedgerows clear to the swell of the downs, and an armchair in which Smith could sit in peace and wear undisturbed his semblance of a man in a trance. With some notion of leaving nothing undone, Mary rooted out for him a bundle of old illustrated magazines, and left them on the unused writing-table at his side ”

“ Mary walked on to the churchyard in considerable bewilderment. With the character of a patient who came under her care she had no particular concern; a nurse must be as little discriminating as death. But she did not like the story; it troubled and offended her, its connection with matters that interested the police, and all its suggestion that she and her father were being used as means of hiding, touched her with a sense of disgust. It did not occur to her to doubt Harry Wylde ”

“ Mary nodded, and the professor smiled.
"Well," he said. "I have succeeded. The patient is convalescent, but—you see how he is. He has very little vital force and also, occasionally, delusions. Merely ephemeral, you know, but—delusions! He wants quiet, chiefly, and very little else—just that atmosphere of repose and—er—peace which you can create for him, Miss Pond." ”

“ Just quietness and soothing companionship, you know; fresh air and sleep, and all that."
"We quite understand," said Mary. "We'll do our best."
"I'm sure you will," said Professor Fish cordially. He moved over to where the patient sat; he had not moved at all. He continued to gaze at the carpet while the tall professor stood over him.
"Now, Smith," said the professor in his loud voice; "I'm off. You're in good hands here, you know. You've only to take it easy and rest." ”

“ Dr. Pond said to her. He had come home one afternoon to find that she had actually sent Smith out for a walk. "I confess, it's a case that's beyond me altogether. There doesn't seem to be anything to take hold of in the man. It would be better if he felt a little pain now and again; it would give one an opening, as it were."
Seated in a low chair in the window, Mary was hemming dusters. She looked up at him thoughtfully.
"Father," she said, "what do you think was the matter with him in the first place? What was the disease that Professor Fish cured?" ”

“ Mary stared at him; a brief vivacity was in his face as he spoke, a tone of certainty in his voice.
"But," she cried, "you're alive."
"Aye," he said, "I'm alive. That's the doin' of that Fish. He's the man; proddin' and workin' away there in that big room of his with the bottles and machines, anil bits of dead men on the tables. ”

“ The meanness of him, all his appearance of having begun in the gutter and failed there, touched her not at all; Mary had had too much to do with human flesh in the raw to be greatly concerned about such matters as that.
DR. POND was at home to meet them when the cab drew up at the door, an elderly, good-natured man, white-haired and sprucely white-bearded. He greeted Professor Fish with some deference, and helped the new patient carefully forth from the cab. ”

“ And yet— You see, Fish has had so many specialties. He was in practise in Harley Street as a nerve man. Then next thing one hears of him in heart surgery. He's had a go at electricity lately. And between you and me—he's a great man. of course—but if it wasn't for his position and all that, we'd be calling him a quack."
"Then you can't tell what the disease was?" persisted Mary. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1926, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 96 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”