A swarm of small black flies kept
pace with the vehicle, settling on nose, eyes, neck and hands of its
occupants, crawling over the horse's belly and in and out of its
nostrils. The animal made no effort to shake itself free, seemed
indifferent to the pests: they were only to be disturbed by the hail of
blows which the driver occasionally stood up to deliver. At such moments
Mahony, too, started out of the light doze he was continually dropping
into.
Arrived at their destination--a miserable wooden shanty on a sheep-run
at the foot of the ranges--he found his patient tossing on a dirty bed,
with a small pulse of 120, while the right thigh was darkly bruised and
swollen. The symptoms pointed to serious internal injuries. He performed
the necessary operation.
There was evidently no woman about the place; the coffee the father
brought him was thick as mud. On leaving, he promised to return next day
and to bring some one with him to attend to the lad.
For the home-journey, he got a mount on a young and fidgety mare, whom
he suspected of not long having worn the saddle. In the beginning he had
his hands full with her. Then, however, she ceased her antics and
consented to advance at an easy trot.
HOW tired he felt! He would have liked to go to bed and sleep for a week
on end. As it was, he could not reckon on even an hour's rest. By the
time he reached home the usual string of patients would await him; and
these disposed of, and a bite of breakfast snatched, out he must set
anew on his morning round.
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