The news would run like wildfire through the place; never were
such hotbeds of gossip as these colonial towns. Besides, the colleague
who had been called in to Mrs. Agnes in his stead, was none too well
disposed towards him.
His fears were justified. It quickly got about that he had made a
blunder: all Mrs. Henry needed, said the new-comer, was change of air
and scene; and forthwith the lady was packed off on a trial trip to
Sydney. Mahony held his head high, and refused to notice looks and
hints. But he knew all about what went on behind his back: he was
morbidly sensitive to atmosphere; could tell how a house was charged as
soon as he crossed the threshold. People were saying: a mistake there,
why not here, too? Slow recoveries asked themselves if a fresh treatment
might not benefit them; lovers of blue pills hungered for more drastic
remedies. The disaffection would blow over, of course; but it was
painful while it lasted; and things were not bettered by one of his
patients choosing just this inconvenient moment to die--an elderly man,
down with the Russian influenza, who disobeyed orders, got up too early
and was carried off by double pneumonia inside a week.--Worry over the
mishap robbed his poor medical attendant of sleep for several nights on
end.
Not that this was surprising; he found it much harder than of old to
keep his mind from running on his patients outside working-hours. In his
younger days he had laid down fixed rules on this score.
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