Gibbous House 88

Somewhat alarmingly, the bell's summons was answered by the diminutive academic: it pained me to no small degree that the man thought nothing of loitering in the servants domain, but any such pain was overwhelmed by astonishment that he would meet their responsibilities. It should have pleased me inordinately to order the fellow about as though a servant: I was less enamoured of the idea since, evidently, the dwarf would willingly assume their duties.

Nonetheless, as Mr Dryden said, "Bold knaves thrive" and I summarily despatched the midget to fetch such swaddling and medicaments as he saw fit to provide the injured journalist. Which person evinced a pallor rather paler than that to which even he was wont. I stepped forward to guide him to a chair, but he fell in a dead faint, fortuitously enough, into one of the more comfortable furnishings in the room. Well upholstered and with a rich, if grubby, brocade covering, it seemed in better condition than many of the other pieces. The gilt on one of the elegantly turned legs was misfortunately tarnishing under the flow of the journalist's own red ink.

Rothschild returned in his customary crustacean manner, scuttling toward Allan with both arms overburned by enough bandaging to supply one of Miss Nightingale's hospitals and a variety of vilely coloured liquids in bottles of various shapes. Allan, whose faint had been as transitory as any glory he might have aspired to as a writer, reared up in the chair in fright at the sight of the Professor approaching him.

'There is nothing about which you must be worrying, Mr Allan; among my studies there is the small matter of a medical degree. I am completely and utterly immersed in the mysteries of the human organism, thanks to several years study of cadavers under ... well, not to matter, what is the name Polidori to a man bleeding profusely, if not to death?'

Upon this, the little man advanced on Allan with a demeanour of intent that subdued the latter sufficiently to enable the inflicting of the - quite noxious-smelling - liquids one by one -and an amount of cloth wrapping which would evince to the innocent observer an heroic episode of the gout. I addressed the Professor with as peremptory a tone as I could muster:

'I am surprised that your religious sensibilities permit such tasks on the Sabbath.'

The smallest of grins widened his puckered little mouth:

'Mr Moffat, what kind of religion would not permit succour to the injured on account of the day of the week?'

I was not ignorant of this aspect of Judaism: Arabella had justified many quite unlikely acts by this interpretation of what one might, or might not, do on Shabbat. Furthermore, she had explained to me the role of the Shabbas Goy, who might perform any unclean task on the Sabbath on behalf of the frumm. On our few intimate occasions she honoured me with this appellation. I could not say I cared for it.

The reporter was still trembling some time after the Professor's ministrations and I suggested that he might 'hie himself to a spare chamber that he might recover the better.'

The Professor kindly offered to see the man to a room, the reporter appeared to me to be quite horrified at the prospect. I was obliged, by an overwhelming curiosity as to the reason for this, to offer mine own services to aid the man to his lit-hospitale.