The Devil Man by Edgar Wallace

Dr Alan Mainford was at the age when even a night call from an unknown patient had in it the stuff of adventure. Dixon brought round the pony trap and offered a few bitter comments on the weather, the hour, the difficulty of harnessing the cob by the light of a lantern which the wind blew out every few minutes, and, above all, and most insistently, the futility of obeying every summons that comes out of the night.

-"The old doctor used to say. 'If they can't last till mornin' I can't save 'em tonight'--that's what the old doctor used to say," he said darkly.