First did 265
Lala had pinned my chart to the wall. I looked at
my watch, and went over and scrawled a cross in the
proper section.
As I returned, I noticed that Lamus was watching
with a smile of singular amusement. I know now
that it was due to his recognising the nature of my
annoyance.
He finished his story in a few words, and then asked
me point-blank how the cure was going.
I said I didn’t see how I could even begin to be cured,
and pointed out the nature of the deadlock.
“Well,” he said, “ you aren’t' making any allowance
for something that the doctors all talk about and
forget nine-tenths of the time, which is yet the only
thing that saves them from being found out as the
ignorant meddlers they are. Do you know that the
post-mortems on people who die in New York hospitals
show that about fifty per cent, of the cases have been
wrongly diagnosed? No, Sir Peter, while you and I
are wasting our time discussing. our troubles, there’s
one thing working for us, never stops day or night,
and that is Vts medicatrix nature.”
Lala nodded emphatically.
‘“Didn’t you notice that even in the Red-Cross ?”
she said to Lou. ‘“‘ The cases that got well were those
that were left alone. All the surgeons did was to repair,
as well as possible, the interference with nature caused
by the wound. Anything beyond that was a mistake.”
“We'll be back in about an hour,” said Lamus,
“and take you to lunch at Hindhead. Have you a
pocket-knife, by the way?”
“Why, yes,” I said with surprise. ‘ Why?”
“ Otherwise I would have left you mine. You may
need one to sharpen your pencil.” :
Lou and I fell to talking as soon as they were gone.
We were already better in this respect, that we had
begun to take an interest in ourselves once more. We
resorted once or twice to heroin during the absence of
our friend; and we made a kind of little family joke