Mother met me with a white, strained face. "Your father is suffering terribly. Go for the doctor at once."

I could hear my father groan as I moved about the kitchen, putting on my coat and lighting the lantern. It was about one o'clock in the morning, and the wind was cold as I picked my way through the mud to the barn. The thought of the long miles to town made me shiver, but as the son of a soldier, I could not falter in my duty. Blowing out my lantern, I hung it on a peg, led Kit from her stall out into the night, and swung into the saddle. She made off with a spattering rush through the yard out into the road. It was dark as pitch but I was fully awake now. The rain in my face had cleared my brain, but I trusted the mare to find the road which showed only in the strips of water which filled the wagon tracks.