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BY THE TIME THE MaGISTRaTE reached Dr Shields&039;s infirmary, which was a chalkwhite painted house on Har cloud This dazed, opaque sensation was more than his physical distress; it was his mental burden, as well

Woodward had just left the house of Lucretia Vaughan Mrs Vaughan had been suirl of sixteen or thereabouts, whohter Cherise Upon returning the basket containing teapot and cups, Woodward had inquired why Mrs Vaughan had wished the reddish-brown cup to be broken to pieces by Rachel Howarth

"Surely you understand, being a sophisticated han had said, "that now the cup is much more valuable than before"

"Valuablei" he&039;d asked "How is it that fragments of a cup are worth more than the wholei"

"Because she broke it," caistrate It han explained, "after the witch is put to death and Fount Royal is steadied again, the citizens of this town ht wish to possess soh to endure" She gave a s "It will take time, of course, but with the proper presentation the bits of broken cup ood fortune"

"Pardonin around his head

"I chose the nearest hue to blood-red that I could find," Mrs Vaughan said, her tone of voice that of a sharper to a dimwit "The blood of the witch Or the scarlet tears of the witch I haven&039;t yet settled on one or the other It&039;s a ination isn&039;t as developed as yours," Woodward said, a thick knot see these so promptly at the appropriate time I can advertise that the pieces of cup broken by the witch were given to han now exhibited a slight frown "Tell me - what&039;s to become of the straw poppetsi""The straw poppetsi" he&039;d echoed

"Yes Surely you&039;ll have no need of them after the witch is dead, will youi"

"Excuse o"

and so he found hi for the bellcord at Dr Shields&039;s door above the door, a sign painted in the medical colors of red, white, and blue announced this to be the shop of Benj Shields, Surgeon Barber Woodward pulled the cord and waited, and presently the door was opened by a portly, broad-faced woman with curly dark brown hair He introduced himself, asked to be seen by Dr Shields, and was admitted into a sparsely appointed parlor, the e that held two yellow canaries The woe dress and apron that h a door at the other side of the room and Woodas left with the birds

But not for very long, however, as within a ain and the doctor appeared, his clothing a white blouse with sleeves rolled up, a wine-colored waistcoat, and charcoal-gray breeches He wore his round-lensed spectacles, his long hair trailing over his shoulders "Magistrate!" he said, and offered his hand "To what do I owe this pleasurei"

"Would that pleasure was the purpose," Woodward answered, his voice - though quite husky - now in a fragile condition "I fear I&039;ve been visited by ill health"

"Open your le your head back a bit, if you will" He peered in "Oh my," he said, after the briefest of inspections "Your throat appears quite swollen and aflame You&039;re in some pain, I would presume"

"Yes Very much"

"No doubt Come with me, let&039;s have a better look"

Woodward followed the doctor through the door and along a hallway, past one room where there stood a basin of water, a chair, and a leather strop to keen the razor for the barbering duties, and past a second roo feht arm and her torpid face discolored by bruises lay in one of the beds, being fed a bowl of soup by the woman who&039;d admitted Woodward He realized it must be Noles&039;s unfortunate wife, who&039;d suffered the wrath of his carpet-beater

a door into a third room further down the hallas opened, and Shields said, "Sit there, please," as he leThe istrate seated hiray illumination "My soul rose at the dawn," the doctor said, as he turned away to prepare the examination "Then it fell back to earth and resides now in a puddle of ain shine on the New Worldi""a debatable question, it seems"

Woodward considered the room into which he&039;d been led It appeared to be both the physician&039;s study and his apothecary On one side of the chamber stood a timeworn desk and chair, next to which was a bookcase of what looked to be old medical tomes, by their thickness and the dark sole workbench built to the height of Dr Shields&039;s waist atop the bench, which had perhaps a dozen sth, was a glassblower&039;s night with a set ofscales and various other instruments On the wall, too, were mounted shelves that held more bottles and jars, many of the vessels murky with fluids and potions

Shields scrubbed his hands with soap in a waterbowl "You&039;ve just recently come into this conditioni Or was it bothersoan as a slight soreness, but nowI can hardly s"

"Hmmm" He dried his hands upon a cloth and then opened one of the bench&039;s drawers "We istrate again, and Woodward saith a start that Shields was holding a pair of clippers suitable for shearing treeliht smile at Woodward&039;s alarm "What I mean to say is, we must look down into your throat" With the clippers he snipped a candle in two, then laid the dread shears aside and fitted one of the candle stubs into a small metal holder with a ht He lit the candle from a match, then took another instrument out of a drawer and positioned the desk&039;s chair in front of his patient "Open wide, please"

Woodward did Shields held the candle near the istrate&039;s mouth and studied the scene "Quite raw, it appears are you having difficulty breathing as welli""It is a labor, yes"

"Lean your head back, let runt as he peered up that forht e of air is equally endangered Your ain"

This ti metal probe that at its end held a square of cotton secured by a cla, please" The cotton swabbed along the back of Woodward&039;s throat, and the ht the urge to gag or cry out as the pain was so acute at last the probe ithdrawn, and Woodward saw - through a veil of tears - that a pasty yellow fluid had soaked the cotton

"I&039;ve seen this ailrees of severity," the doctor said "Your condition lies at about the e of a swa fetid air and dae is therefore inflicting extreme irritation to your throat" He stood up and laid the probe and yellow-soaked cotton on the benchtop "I&039;ll paint your throat with a tonic that should relieveobstruction" as he was speaking, he removed the tainted cotton and inserted a fresh square into the clamp

"Thank God I can find so to speak at the testimony today!"

"ah, the testimony" Shields selected a bottle from the wall-shelf and removed its stopper "Jeremiah Buckner was the first witnessi Mr Winston toldwith him""That&039;s correct"

"I know his story" Shields returned to his chair, carrying bottle and probe but h to shock the hair off a wigstand, isn&039;t iti""I&039;ve never heard anything "

"Open, please" Shields dipped the cotton into the bottle and brought it out ith a dark brown liquid "Thissoothed" He slid the probe in and Woodward braced himself "Steady, now" The liquid-soaked cotton made contact Woodward almost bit down on the probe, so fierce was the pain New tears sprang to his eyes, his hands curled into fists, and he found hi at the stake but without the s to dip the cotton into the bottle again The contest with agony began onceto twist on his neck in an involuntary effort to escape; thus it was akin, he thought in a fevered sort of hu burnt

In another in to subside Shields kept redipping the cotton into the bottle and swabbing liquid liberally over the back of Woodward&039;s throat "You should be feeling some relief by now," Shields said "are youi" Woodward nodded, tears streaking his face

"This is my own mixture: Jesuit&039;s Bark, limonum, and opium, made more firm by a base of oxymel It&039;s shown very excellent results in the past I&039; for a label" He made a few more applications of the tonic and then, satisfied that the istrate&039;s throat ell done, sat back with a smile "There! I wish all my patients were as sturdy as you, sir! ah, just a ot up, went to one of the drawers, and returned with a linen cloth "You ht wish to use this"

"Thank you," Woodward croaked He used the cloth as it was intended, to blot his tears

"If your condition worsens in the next few days, we shall apply the tonic again at a greater strength But I expect you&039;ll feelElias Garrick is to be your next witnessi""Yes"

"He&039;s already told you his story Why do you need to see himi""His testimony must be spoken onto the record"

Dr Shields peered over his spectacles, looking every bit the barn owl "Iwill further harm your throat You should rest it, by allGarrick on Monday I&039;ll have the Sabbath to rest"

"Even Monday ht be too soon I&039;d recommend a week of as little speech as absolutely necessary"

"Iistrate who couldn&039;t speak!"

"Be that as it ain went to the workbench, where he put aside the probe and opened a blue ceraes," he said, returning to Woodith the jar "Take one"

Woodward looked into the jar and sahat appeared to be a dozen or so sth "What are theyi"

"a botanical rerow and cure the weed myself, as it seems to be one of the few crops that will thrive in this atrocious cli"

Woodward selected one of the sticks, which had a rather oily texture, and started to slide it into histo chew it "No, no!" Shields said "It&039;s smoked, much as one would puff a pipe""Smokedi"

"Yes Except for one difference: the ss, let settle, and then slowly exhaled" Shields brought the candle over "Put it between your lips and draw on it" The istrate obeyed, and Shields touched the candle&039;s flahtly twisted end a thin pluan to rise "Draw it in," Shields instructed "It will do you no good if you don&039;t"

Woodward inhaled as deeply as possible He felt the bitter-tasting s that burst forth fro

"The first several inhalations are difficult," the doctor admitted "Here, I&039;ll show you how it&039;s done" He seated himself, chose one of the hemp sticks, and lit it Then he inhaled with a faht pause, he let the smoke exit his mouth "You seei It does take some practise"

Even so, Woodward noted that Shields&039;s eyes were glistening He tried it again, and again was attacked by a coughing fit

Shields said, "Youin too much smoke Small doses are the better""Do you insist I suffer this remedyi"

"I do You&039;ll breathe so ain, uptilted his chin, and let the s