"I will ride in to-morrow, to hear what further discoveries you have
made," said Mr. Wynne. And Dr. Belton returned home early, leaving his
host and hostess deeply interested.
Calling Sister Vera to him he told her of his plans.
"I have long thought it possible that poor fellow might have had a blow
of some kind on his head, and that he is still suffering from the
effects of it. I shall at once administer an anaesthetic and have a
thorough examination of his head. The idea of sunstroke was so
confirmed by the symptoms when he was brought to the hospital that no
one thought of anything else."
"How soon?" asked the nurse.
"To-morrow--three o'clock."
And the next afternoon, Cardo's head was thoroughly examined, with the
result that Dr. Belton soon found at the back of the skull near the top
a small but undoubted indentation.
"Of course," he said, "we must have been blind not to guess it before;
but we are blind sometimes--very blind and very stupid."
Cardo was kept under the influence of a sedative that night, and next
day Dr. Belton, with the promptness of action which he now regretted he
had not sooner exercised, procured the help of one of the most noted
specialists in Sydney, and an operation was successfully performed.
Mr. and Mrs. Wynne's visits of inquiry and sympathy were of almost
daily occurrence during the next month, while Cardo in the darkened,
quiet room, slowly regained his powers of mind and body. It was a very
slow progress, though it did not seem to be wholly unsatisfactory to
Dr. Belton. That good man, after weeks, nay months, of anxious
interest, was, however, at last rewarded by the pleasant spectacle of a
young and ardent temperament gradually re-awakening to the joys of life.
The mind which had been darkened for so long could not be expected to
regain its elasticity and spring at once, in an hour, or a day. But it
was evident to the doctor that the healing process which had begun
would continue, unless retarded by some unforeseen accident. Gradually
the children were admitted into his presence, and while they played
with Cardo, Mrs. Belton came and chatted with Sister Vera.
A few days later on Mr. and Mrs. Wynne entered through the verandah
with Dr. Belton, and although Cardo looked a little flustered and
puzzled, the pleasant smile and warm clasp of the hand with which he
greeted them showed there was no great depth of distrust or fear in his
mind. His uncle and aunt possessed much good sense and judgment, and
did not hurriedly thrust the recognition of themselves upon their
nephew, but waited patiently, and let it dawn gradually upon him.
One afternoon, while Cardo, accompanied by his uncle and aunt, were
walking up and down the verandah conversing on things in general, in a
friendly and unconstrained manner, he suddenly stopped, and looking
full into his uncle's face, said: "Uncle Lewis, I cannot imagine how you and I have come here together;
some things seem so very clear to me, and others so dim and indistinct."