He did his duties perfectly, but we all felt that he should go on leave, and the other men of his own Service told him so. Dumoise broke down utterly at the brink of the grave, and had to be taken away.Īfter the death, Dumoise crept into his own house and refused to be comforted. Dumoise got a relapse and died in a week and the Station went to the funeral. But, just when we thought all was over, and were going to give a dance to celebrate the victory, little Mrs. The women sat up nursing the women, and the men turned to and tended the bachelors who were down, and we wrestled with those typhoid cases for fifty-six days, and brought them through the Valley of the Shadow in triumph. We had seven cases of typhoid in the Station that winter and, as the average of death is about one in every five cases, we felt certain that we should have to lose somebody. Shute almost boxed Dumoise's ears for what she called his "criminal delay," and went off at once to look after the poor girl. The battle must be fought out between Death and the Nurses, minute by minute and degree by degree. Nearly every household in India knows that Doctors are very helpless in typhoid. Shute, the Engineer's wife, and timidly speak about his trouble. Dumoise was burning with something worse than simple fever, and three days more passed before he ventured to call on Mrs. He was a shy little man, and five days were wasted before he realized that Mrs. Dumoise was wrong in shutting himself from the world for a year, and he discovered his mistake when an epidemic of typhoid broke out in the Station in the heart of the cold weather, and his wife went down. A Civil Surgeon who never quarrels is a rarity, appreciated as such.įew people can afford to play Robinson Crusoe anywhere-least of all in India, where we are few in the land, and very much dependent on each other's kind offices. They were forced, of course, to give occasional dinners, but they made no friends hereby, and the Station went its own way and forgot them only saying, occasionally, that Dormouse was the best of good fellows, though dull. These two little people retired from the world after their marriage, and were very happy. They can live absolutely alone and without interruption-just as the Dormice did. This is a delightful country for married folk who are wrapped up in one another. But that is another story.Ī honeymoon in India is seldom more than a week long but there is nothing to hinder a couple from extending it over two or three years. She was a Miss Hillardyce, daughter of "Squash" Hillardyce of the Berars, who married his Chief's daughter by mistake.
He married a girl as round and as sleepy-looking as himself. He was a good Doctor and never quarrelled with any one, not even with our Deputy Commissioner, who had the manners of a bargee and the tact of a horse. I have lived long enough in this country to know that it is best to know nothing, and can only write the story as it happened.ĭumoise was our Civil Surgeon at Meridki, and we called him "Dormouse," because he was a round little, sleepy little man. This tale may be explained by those who know how souls are made, and where the bounds of the Possible are put down. Not though you die to-night, O Sweet, and wail, A spectre at my door, Shall mortal Fear make Love immortal fail- I shall but love you more, Who from Death's house returning, give me still One moment's comfort in my matchless ill. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe.The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett.The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane.The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne.Mother to two beautiful daughters and Gramsy to two cutest-ever granddaughters, Diane lives in Southern California with her wonderful husband and two spoiled cats. It's title? THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE MISSING FIGUREHEAD.ĭiane is a professed Third Order Franciscan in the Anglican (Episcopal) Church, following the footsteps of Jesus with simpicity, love, and joy as lived out by St. Littlefield, will be in bookstores September 1, 2014. Book one of her new three-book mystery series, The Professor and Mrs.
With more than a quarter million books in print, Diane continues to spin tales that touch readers' hearts. She often posts on Facebook and Twitter about her journey with Parkinson's Disease and the unexpected gift of learning to live moment by moment with humor, grace, and optimism. Diane Noble is the award-winning novelist of more published books than she can count: historical fiction, contemporary mysteries and suspense, and romance (written under the pen name Amanda MacLean).ĭiane writes from a heart of deep faith that's woven into her stories and nonfiction writings.