lained the reason of his touring alone.
"Captain Dalton thinks the child should be within reach of medical aid
after its go of fever. My wife, too, was a bit knocked over and cannot
rough it this winter, I'm afraid."

"The new Civil Surgeon?"

"Yes. Came direct from Calcutta after the rains set in."

"He is said to be very clever, but the natives don't seem to like him at
all, as he is supposed to be rather fond of the knife."

"A good surgeon, I am told. The natives are great cowards of surgery,
and risk gangrene before they will consent to an operation."

"That is so. He has his hands full, I should think," said the lady.
"Elsie Meek, the daughter of a dear friend of mine, is dangerously ill
at the Mission not far from Muktiarbad. I suppose you know that?"

Meredith had heard a rumour to that effect, and wondered how Captain
Dalton had managed to spare so much of his valuable time to the camp.

"Mr. Meek is a Methodist who came out some years ago and married a
school friend of my mother's. Their daughter was educated in England and
joined them a few months ago. I am told she is a talented girl and
totally unsuited to her life here," said his hostess. "Have you seen
much of her?"

"Very little, indeed, for her people don't belong to the Club and Miss
Elsie has only been to see the Brights who are rather friendly with her
parents. She came out in the summer."

"Poor thing! Enteric is such a terrible disease, and she is very bad I
hear."

"She could not be in more skilful hands," said Meredith.

Before he left the Subdivision, he had many illuminating talks with the
wife of the Deputy on the subject of infants and how to rear them in
Bengal.

"I suppose," said he, "when my kid begins to teeth, the doctors will
advise sending him and the mother home?" It was the probability he most
dreaded.

"I see no necessity for that," was the assured reply. "Doctors take too
much responsibility upon themselves, when they so readily part husbands
and wives. It has often been the cause of greater trouble than is to be
feared from the climate. It should be remembered that teething is not a
disease, but a natural process, which might be influenced by the
digestion in any part of the globe. Poor India gets all the blame!--even
when an ayah is careless with the feeding bottles. Why! those iniquitous
ones with a long rubber tube, used in my mother's day, were called
'Herods' for the number of children they killed. With proper