my life. And then it seemed
nat'ral to ask her to put out her tongue, and when she did it I gave a
look at it and nodded my head. `Do you think it is her brain?' said
the old woman, half whisperin'. `Can't say anything about that yit,'
said I. `I must go down-stairs and get the medicine-case. The fust
thing to do is to give her a draught, and I will bring it up to her as
soon as it is mixed.' You have got a pocket medicine-case with you,
haven't you?"

"Oh, yes," said I. "It is in my overcoat."

"I knowed it," said Uncle Beamish. "An old doctor might go visitin'
without his medicine-case, but a young one would be sure to take it
along, no matter where he was goin'. Now you get it, please, quick."

"My notion is," said he, when I returned from the kitchen with the
case, "that you mix somethin' that might soothe her a little, if she
has got anything the matter with her brain, and which won't hurt her if
she hasn't. And then, when I take it up to her, you tell me what
symptoms to look for. I can do it--I have spent nights lookin' for
symptoms. Then, when I come down and report, you might send her up
somethin' that would keep her from gettin' any wuss till the doctor can
come in the mornin', for he ain't comin' here to-night."

"A very good plan," said I. "Now, what can I give her? What is the
patient's age?"

"Oh, her age don't matter much," said Uncle Beamish, impatiently. "She
may be twenty, more or less, and any mild stuff will do to begin with."

"I will give her some sweet spirits of nitre," said I, taking out a
little vial. "Will you ask the servant for a glass of water and a
teaspoon?"

"Now," said I, when I had quickly prepared the mixture, "she can have a
teaspoonful of this, and another in ten minutes, and then we will see
whether we will go on with it or not."

"And what am I to look for?" said he.

"In the first place," said I, producing a clinical thermometer, "you
must take her temperature. You know how to do that?"

"Oh, yes," said he. "I have done it hundreds of times. She must hold
it in her mouth five minutes."

"Yes, and while you are waiting," I continued, "you must try to find
out, in the first place, if there are, or have been, any signs of
delirium. You might ask the old lady, and besides, you may be able to
judge for yourself."

"I can do that," said he. "I have seen lots of it."

"Then, again," said I, "you must observe whether or not her pupils are
dilated. Y