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NEaR FOUR-THIRTY on Monday , the lamps were lit in Robert Bidwell&039;s ed fro rain and quickly walked to the hoency, and she wasted no ti the bell at the doctor&039;s door Within fifteen ather the necessary i through the rain, his tricorn hat pulled low over his eyes and water dripping from the curled brim

He was admitted to Bidwell&039;s house by Mrs Nettles Bidas in the parlor, still wearing his silk nightclothes, an expression of deep concern on his face "Thank God!" Bidwell said when Shields crossed the threshold "Upstairs! Hurry!"

Mrs Nettles clioat, all but carrying the diminutive doctor in the wake of her black skirt Before Shields reached thefor air "a pan of hot water and a cloth!" he coirl Then Mrs Nettles opened the door and Shields entered the chamber, where three lamps had been lit around the bed Instantly Shields picked up one of theht onto Woodward&039;s face What he saw istrate&039;s face was the yellowish-gray hue of old parchlassy and ith the labor of breathing But by nowell; crusted mucus had all but sealed his nostrils, and a foa ripped the sodden sheet that lay around hi on his cheeks and forehead

"Be cal that Dr Shields could think to say "It&039;s going to be all right"

Woodward treht the sleeve of Shields&039;s coat "Can&039;t breathe," he gasped "Help ave it to her and quickly shrugged out of his coat He took his tricorn off as well, and put his leather carrying case atop a stool next to the bed

"I heard him cry out" Bidwell had entered the rooo I had the girl go fetch you as soon as I realized he was so ill"

Shields had removed a small blue bottle and a spoon from the case He shook the bottle well and then proceeded to pour some oily dark brown liquid froistrate, drink this please" He poured the liquid into Woodward&039;s ain and repeated the dose The e of panic, could neither taste nor s down his tortured throat

His chest hitched as he fought to find air, his fingers once i"

"No! Of course not! Lie easy now Mrs Nettles, ht I have that laht toward Woodward&039;s istrate"

Woodward did, the efforta tear run from each eye

Shields held the laistrate&039;s face and peered down into the man&039;s throat

First of all, there was the smell Shields knew the sickly sweet odor of pestilence, and here it was on the ht showed him what he had already expected to find, yet much worse: the interior of Woodward&039;s throat was red - blood-red, the red of seething caverns in the infernal landscape of Hell Down in the folds of criree as to ally yellow blisters of pus and yellow streaks where previous blisters had burst It was like viewing a platter of raw meat that had become infested with vermin, and Shields knew the pain of such a condition must be absolutely horrendous

"Mrs Nettles," he said, his voice tight, "please go and hurry the hot water also fetchcup with two hands of salt in it"

"Yes sir" Mrs Nettles left the rooroan with the effort of breathing "We shall have your air passages cleared directly" He clasped his free hand to Woodward&039;s shoulder to give him some measure of comfort

"Beni" Bidwell came to the bedside "He will live, won&039;t hei"

"Yes, yes!" Shields had seen the istrate&039;s watery eyes tick toward Bidwell "This is a serious condition, but treatable No need to be concerned with mortality here" He looked at Bidwell over the riistrate will be abed for quite some time, however"

"What do you i"

"I can&039;t say a week, perhaps Teeks" He shrugged "It depends on the strength of the patient"

"Teeksi" Bidwell had spoken it in a tone of horrified a he can&039;t continue the trial for teeksi"

"I ahten the istrate&039;s discomfort"

"He can&039;t stay in bed! He has to finish the trial and have Rachel Howarth burned and done with!"

"Iht in a chair, much less pose questions to witnesses"

Bidwell pushed his face toward the doctor&039;s, whorls of red flaring in his cheeks "Then h his throat was afire, his lungs starved for air, and his very bones and tendons ached as if stretched on aspoken about him, even if the pressure in his ears muffled the voices "I can do my job!" he roused himself to whisper

"I will suspect delirium has set in if you repeat such a declaration," Shields told him sternly "You just lie there and quiet yourself"

Bidwell grasped the doctor&039;s aruided Shields over to a far corner of the rooistrate Bidwell pitched his voice low, but hefor the force of it: "Ben, listen to me! We can&039;t afford to let him lie in bed for teeks! Not even one week! Did you know that Winston toldthe other nighti One of them was the Reynolds clan, and you know Franklin had vowed he wouldn&039;t let a witch run hi and now it&039;s empty over there! He was the last tobacco planter! Do you realize what that meansi"

"I do," Shields said, "but that does not alter the fact that Magistrate Woodward is gravely ill"

"We are scraping bottom, and our sails are near collapse In two host town! and ill co tales of the witch far and widei"

"My senti," Bidwell said

"Pardonstrong enough to allow hi of tricks there&039;s a potion to shock a ician"

"You knohat I h to stand him up"

"I have no sti Besides, I just gave hi you Get that man on his feet, no matter what it takes!"

"I can only do what I&039;m able"

"You can do much more," Bidwell said, his face only a few inches away from the doctor&039;s "How much money would you like to be sent to your wifei"

"Whati"

"Your wife a seamstress in Boston Surely she is in need of soer at Van Gundy&039;s tavern has becolad to erase your debt and arrange that your thirst for ruood friend to ood friend to you"

"Ican&039;t just - "

"Who is this istrate to us, Beni a tool, that&039;s all! Only a tool Brought here for a specific purpose, just as any shovel or axe" He heard the door opening and glanced around as Mrs Nettles entered, bringing a drinking cup with the salt in it, followed by a servant girl carrying a pan of stea water and a clean white cloth "Money for your wife and all the rum you please," Bidhispered to the doctor, his eyes fierce "all you need do is patch the tool well enough to work"

Shields had a reply on his lips, but he paused before he spoke it He blinked slowly, a pulse beating at his temple, and then he said in a wan voice, "Imust see to my patient" Bidwell stepped out of his way

"Hold the pan steady," Shields directed the servant girl The water had just co Shields took the drinking cup and dipped it in, then used the spoon to stir the salt until the mixture ell clouded His hand hesitated near the blue bottle His eyes narrowed, but only Bidwell saw it Then the doctor picked up the bottle and poured ain, after which he put the cup to Woodward&039;s mouth

"Drink," he said Woodward accepted the liquid and sed What ensued next, when the hot salt water caed flesh and ripe blisters, was not a pretty h Woodward&039;s throat was blinding in its savagery, and caused hiled voice that Bidwell feared would wake the citizens before the first rooster&039;s crow The servant girl fairly ju the pan&039;s contents, and even stalwart Mrs Nettles retreated a pace before she could steady her courage

Tears streaistrate&039;s cheeks He shuddered and looked up through his reddened eyes at Dr Shields

"I&039;ain"

"I can&039;t," Woodhispered

"The salt must do its work It will be painful, yes, but not as ht Robert, will you grip his other handi"

"Mei Why mei"

"If you please," Shields said, not without soistrate&039;s other hand "Now," Shields said to the istrate, "youas possible and allow it to burn the infection are you readyi"

Woodward gasped a breath He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened the there was no other way, he nodded and stretched open his mouth

Shields poured some more of the opiuain, when the salt touched its neroaned and convulsed but he did hold the water in his throat as long as he was hu slickly upon his face and scalp

"There, that&039;s very good," Shields said when Woodward had sed He put aside the cup and soaked the cloth in the hot water, then wrang it out and iistrate treainst his flesh was of no consequence after what he&039;d just endured Shields began to vigorously h the cloth, to open up the sinus passages through a coe to attack the crusted ers still working through the cloth The heat had softened the obstructions, and Shields was successful in breaking looseWoodward&039;s face again, concentrating on the areas on either side of the nose In another moment he removed the cloth, dowsed it in the pan of hot water and then applied it oncethe hard pressure of his fingers on the areas that he knew must be severely inflamed and swollen deep beneath the flesh

Quite suddenly, his brain still reeling from the pain he&039;d suffered, Woodward realized he could breathe again through his nostrils His air passages were slowly opening His throat simply felt dead but that was a far better cry than before He drew a breath in through his nose andsteam from the cloth as well

"an i "I think we&039;re bringing the swelling down"

"God be praised!" Bidwell exclaiistrate&039;s blood has been fouled by the swa of the blood that&039;s caused the closure of his throat and sinuses" He peeled the cloth away from Woodward&039;s face, which noas as pink as a boiled ha is easieri"

"Yes" Woodward&039;s voice, however, had been reduced to a whisp and a rattle

"Very good You may lay the pan aside and step out of irl, who iistrate, "you realize this condition willas your blood is so thickened to affect the tissues, there&039;s danger of the air passages again closing Therefore " He paused to re case a ss that indicated a ht a leather sheath, which he opened to display a nuular instruments made from tortoiseshell He chose one of therip a thin blade two inches in length

"I shall have to bleed you," he said "When was the last time you were bledi"

"Many years," Woodward answered "For a touch of fever"

"a flame, please," Shields requested Mrs Nettles opened a la wick The doctor put the blade of his lancet into the fire "I&039;ll make the cuts behind your left ear," he told Woodward "Therefore I shall need you to overhang your head off the bedside Will you help hiether they got Woodward&039;s body turned on the bed so his head was in the proper position Then Bidwell retreated to the door, as the sight of blood made his stomach queasy and the jellied eels and oysters he&039;d consumed for dinner seeht wish to bite on this" Shields put into Woodward&039;s right hand a piece of sassafras root that still held the fragrant bark Woodward couldn&039;t help but note that it was rooves of previous teeth Still, it was better than gnashing on his tongue He put the sassafras into his mouth and fixed his teeth upon it

The blade was ready Shields stood beside the istrate&039;s head with the lancet poised at the point he wished to open, just at the base of Woodward&039;s left ear, and the pewter bleeding bowl held beneath it "Best to grasp the sheet and keep your fists closed," he suggested Then he said quietly, "Courage, sir," and his hand designed the first cut

Woodward stiffened and bit into the sassafras root as the hot lancet pierced his flesh To the doctor&039;s credit, the first cut was done quickly as blood began to drip into the bowl, Shields made a second incision and then a third Now the cri faster, and Shields refolded the lancet&039;s blade back into its tortoiseshell grip "There," he told the istrate "The worst is over" He took the root from Woodward&039;sthe bleeding bowl directly beneath the three leaking wounds

all that could be done noait The sound of the blood dripping into the widening pool at the bowl&039;s bottom was terribly loud to Woodward, who closed his eyes and also tried to close hisat the door, had watched the procedure with a kind of sickened fascination, though the process of bleeding was certainly nothing novel and he hio when he&039;d been suffering stoers on the area behind Woodward&039;s ear to keep the wounds open In a few moments Shields said, "Mrs Nettles, I shall need a pan of cool water and another cloth, please also a cup of ruistrate well, I think"

Mrs Nettles directed the servant girl to get what Dr Shields had requested The blood kept falling, drop after drop, into the red pond

Bidwell cleared his throat "Magistratei Can you hear mei"

"He hears you," Shields said, "but let hi"

"I only wish ro ask him a question"

Woodward opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling Up there he could see a broaterstain "Go ahead," he rasped

"What did he sayi" Bidwell asked, co nearer to the bed