girls in short grass skirts with bells fastened to their wrists and ankles, threw themselves into the dance with great energy.
Next, the fantastically masked devil-dancers entered the arena balancing on six-foot stilts. To the low throb b ing of the drums they performed incredible feats—jumping, leaping—each trying to outshine the others in agility.
Long after the guests had retired, the celebration continued. A strange lullaby, thought Katherine drowsily, as she drifted toward sleep.
The hospital had been well and truly opened.
There was a long waiting list of surgical cases, so that for a time Mark was operating every day, taking time off from surgery only to see new patients. Katherine had been training four of Andrew’s senior students to do some of the simpler routine jobs, which meant that there was a useful nursing staff ready for work.
These new nurses were full of admiration and amazement at “loketa’s” powers. After seeing an anesthetic given they spread the news that “Loketa can kill you and then bring you back to life.”
The patients needed no persuasion to submit to the white man’s magic. In fact, the difficulty was to convince those who did not need surgical treatment that an operation was not necessary. But when the operation was over the nurses had a hard job making them stay in bed while the wound healed. The patients could not see why they should not go straight home to their families. The operation had cured them so why should they lie in bed?
Every success brought more patients. The huts provided for their relations were full, the village was overcrowded and it was clear that the hospital would have to be extended as soon as possible.
Though she was always exhausted by the end of the day, it was a happy time for Katherine. There was great satisfaction in the work and it was a strong, if impersonal, bond between herself and Mark. Sometimes, as they hung up their white coats in the little office when the day’s work was over, he would smile at her and say in his deep voice, “Thank you, Nurse,” and she would feel well rewarded.
The weeks slipped by very quickly.
One evening when she entered the office, Mark was sitting at his table with his head resting on his hands. He looked up and she saw that there were fine lines of fatigue around his blue eyes and deeper ones across his broad forehead. He is working too hard, she thought anxiously, and wished there were more she could do to help him. How she longed to kneel beside him and soothe away these creases.
“Simon has reported for night duty, Doctor,” she said. “All the patients are comfortable.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Nurse.” And as she turned to go he called, “Sit down for a minute, will you? I’ve got a problem on my mind and I’m damned if I know how to deal with it. You might be able to help me. You remember Fina, don’t you?”
Katherine remembered her well. A pretty girl of 15, she was suffering from tuberculosis and had been brought to Ngombe soon after the hospital opened. There had not been an empty bed for her and, as she had traveled many miles from her home, lodging was found for her in the village. The young man of the house, Kani, himself under treatment for leprosy, had been attracted to the girl and had bought her from her parents to be his wife.
Fina finally stayed in the hospital and made a wonderful recovery. But at the same time Kani’s condition worsened, and he had to leave the village and live in a settlement for lepers.
“Fina isn’t ill again, is she?” Katherine asked.
“No, she’s fine,” Mark said. “The problem is that she won’t see that her marriage to Kani was a mistake and that she must go back home and forget him.”
“He is devoted to her,” said Katherine quietly.
“I know. But he is willing to give her up for her own sake. I’ve promised to get him back his bride-price, but the silly girl says she is going to stay with him even at the risk of catching the
Next, the fantastically masked devil-dancers entered the arena balancing on six-foot stilts. To the low throb b ing of the drums they performed incredible feats—jumping, leaping—each trying to outshine the others in agility.
Long after the guests had retired, the celebration continued. A strange lullaby, thought Katherine drowsily, as she drifted toward sleep.
The hospital had been well and truly opened.
There was a long waiting list of surgical cases, so that for a time Mark was operating every day, taking time off from surgery only to see new patients. Katherine had been training four of Andrew’s senior students to do some of the simpler routine jobs, which meant that there was a useful nursing staff ready for work.
These new nurses were full of admiration and amazement at “loketa’s” powers. After seeing an anesthetic given they spread the news that “Loketa can kill you and then bring you back to life.”
The patients needed no persuasion to submit to the white man’s magic. In fact, the difficulty was to convince those who did not need surgical treatment that an operation was not necessary. But when the operation was over the nurses had a hard job making them stay in bed while the wound healed. The patients could not see why they should not go straight home to their families. The operation had cured them so why should they lie in bed?
Every success brought more patients. The huts provided for their relations were full, the village was overcrowded and it was clear that the hospital would have to be extended as soon as possible.
Though she was always exhausted by the end of the day, it was a happy time for Katherine. There was great satisfaction in the work and it was a strong, if impersonal, bond between herself and Mark. Sometimes, as they hung up their white coats in the little office when the day’s work was over, he would smile at her and say in his deep voice, “Thank you, Nurse,” and she would feel well rewarded.
The weeks slipped by very quickly.
One evening when she entered the office, Mark was sitting at his table with his head resting on his hands. He looked up and she saw that there were fine lines of fatigue around his blue eyes and deeper ones across his broad forehead. He is working too hard, she thought anxiously, and wished there were more she could do to help him. How she longed to kneel beside him and soothe away these creases.
“Simon has reported for night duty, Doctor,” she said. “All the patients are comfortable.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Nurse.” And as she turned to go he called, “Sit down for a minute, will you? I’ve got a problem on my mind and I’m damned if I know how to deal with it. You might be able to help me. You remember Fina, don’t you?”
Katherine remembered her well. A pretty girl of 15, she was suffering from tuberculosis and had been brought to Ngombe soon after the hospital opened. There had not been an empty bed for her and, as she had traveled many miles from her home, lodging was found for her in the village. The young man of the house, Kani, himself under treatment for leprosy, had been attracted to the girl and had bought her from her parents to be his wife.
Fina finally stayed in the hospital and made a wonderful recovery. But at the same time Kani’s condition worsened, and he had to leave the village and live in a settlement for lepers.
“Fina isn’t ill again, is she?” Katherine asked.
“No, she’s fine,” Mark said. “The problem is that she won’t see that her marriage to Kani was a mistake and that she must go back home and forget him.”
“He is devoted to her,” said Katherine quietly.
“I know. But he is willing to give her up for her own sake. I’ve promised to get him back his bride-price, but the silly girl says she is going to stay with him even at the risk of catching the
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