Explore "In Old Madras" by B.M. Croker on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
A vast crowd, assembled about the south verandah, astonished Mallender, as he walked up to the General's quarters in order to fetch his horse. On approaching nearer, he discovered that this gathering was not, as he had feared, the scene of an accident, but a multitude of the blind, halt, and lame, all waiting to be treated by the kind hands of Mrs. Beamish. It proved to be an army composed of woeful cases; here a man with elephantiasis, -- his leg the size and shape of a pillar; there a woman, with a child in her arms, a prey to ophthalmia, a sickening spectacle; people suffering from fever, and ague, and even leprosy, abounded.
Invested in a mushroom topee, and loose white jacket, seated behind a large table Mrs. Beamish reigned supreme; interviewing and prescribing for her patients -- one by one; whilst two sharp-looking servants assisted her. Dozens and dozens of bottles of all sorts, and sizes, from a soda-water to a scent bottle, were being promptly filled, corked, and delivered.