Reginald Wright Kauffman

“ There was about all this too much the look of neglect to suit Dan. If the patient was to be cured, there could be no longer any carelessness or inattention. “A nurse must be in constant attendance!”
“I am amazed that he left even for a moment,” said Don Ramon. He looked really perplexed, and Dan softened a little.
“The fact is, Don Ramon,” said he, “that it is miraculous that this man is still alive. If he is to continue to live, I must have all the help I can get.”
“You shall! You shall!” Villeta, one eye on the unconscious man, paced the somber room. ”

“ A wing brushed Dan's startled face, and then, by the light from the still opened door, he saw a green-and-yellow parrot settle on one of his host's broad shoulders and begin to peck in a sort of insolent affection at Villeta's swarthy cheek.
“Do not be alarmed,” Don Ramon smiled. He put up a plump hand and stroked the bird with a kindness unmistakably genuine. “This is only my best friend, Pedro. Pedro, this is the good American doctor who is come to cure Señor Tucker.” And in Spanish he bade the bird speak to his guest and apologize for having startled him. ”

“ CHAPTER VII FLYING STEEL THEY came to a long flight of wide pink steps, narrowing at the top, and to the palacio's ancient doorway surmounted by a pure Spanish fanlight. While Dan made sure of the medicines that had been brought, two native servants, who looked like cattlemen, stepped from out of the shadows, their machetes thrust in belts made by twisting around their waists lariats that would easily support the weight of a man. The peons leaped toward the tired mules and, at a gesture from Don Ramon, who did not otherwise greet them, led the animals away in hroken-nosed Luis' company. ”