CHAPTER ONE: The New Doctor

Late one October afternoon in the year 1924 a badly dressed young man looked eagerly out of the window of his railway carriage in the almost empty train. Manson had been travelling all day, but the last stage of his long journey to South Wales moved him to great excitement as he thought of the post, his first as a doctor, that he was about to take up in this, wild country.

Outside, the rain beat down between the mountains on either side of the railway line. The tops of the mountains were hidden by a grey sky; and their sides, which contained many coal mines, looked black and cold. Night was falling and no trees, no grass could be seen. At a bend in the railway line, a bright red light from an iron works suddenly came into view, lighting up a number of men who were working with all their strength. At once, a sense of power filled the mountain valley. Manson drew a deep breath. He felt an added call to effort, a sudden hope and promise for the future.

It was dark when, half an hour later, his train reached Drineffy. He had arrived at last. Manson jumped from the train and hurried out of the station.

In the street, an old man in dirty clothes looked at him carefully, and asked: ‘Are you Dr Page’s new man?’

‘That’s right. Manson’s my name – Andrew Manson.’

‘Hm! Mine’s Thomas. I’ve got the carriage here. Get in!’

Manson climbed into the carriage, which was badly in need of repair; and they drove in silence through several streets of small, dirty houses. Old Thomas, whose body gave off an unpleasant smell, kept looking strangely at Manson. At last he said: ‘You’ve only just left college, eh?’

Andrew smiled.

‘I thought so!’ old Thomas said, scornfully. ‘The last man left ten days ago. They never stay for long!’

‘Why?’ Andrew asked, trying to hide his anxiety.

‘The work’s too hard, for one reason.’

‘And what are the other reasons?’

‘You’ll soon find out!’

After leaving the centre of the town, they drove across some rough ground near a coal mine, and then up a narrow, stony road to a house close to the rows of small miners’ houses.

‘This is the house,’ said Thomas, stopping the horse.

Andrew got out of the carriage. The next minute the front door was thrown open, and he was welcomed by a tall woman of about fifty.

‘Well! Well! You must be Dr Manson. Come inside. I’m Dr Page’s sister, Miss Page. I am pleased to see you!’ she said with a friendly smile. ‘Our last man was of no use; but I’m sure that I can trust you. Come with me, and I will show you your bedroom.’

Andrew’s room was small and cold, with very little furniture. Andrew looked round the unwelcoming room and remarked politely: ‘This looks very comfortable, Miss Page.’

She smiled. ‘Yes, I think that you will be comfortable. Now come and meet the Doctor.’ She paused, and then added awkwardly: ‘I can’t remember whether I told you in my letter that the Doctor is not well at the moment.’

Andrew looked at her in sudden surprise.

‘Oh, it’s nothing serious!’ she said quickly. ‘He’ll soon be fit again.’

She led Andrew to the end of the passage, where she opened a door and called out to her brother: ‘Here’s Dr Manson, Edward.’

As Andrew entered the hot bedroom, which smelt of sickness, Edward Page turned slowly in his bed. He was a big man of perhaps sixty, with tired eyes and an expression of great suffering on his face. The light of the oil lamp, shining on to his bed, showed that one half of his face was stiff and lifeless. The left side of his body had no strength or feeling at all. These signs of a long and most serious illness gave Andrew a shock. There was an awkward silence.

‘I hope that you won’t find the work here too hard,’ Dr Page remarked, speaking slowly and with difficulty. ‘You’re very young!’

‘I’m twenty-four, sir,’ Andrew answered. ‘But I like work,’ he added quickly.

Page looked at Andrew and said in a tired voice: ‘I hope that you’ll stay.’

‘Goodness! What a thing to say!’ cried Miss Page.

She smiled at Andrew, and then led him downstairs to supper. As Andrew followed her, he felt worried. No mention of Page’s illness had been made when he applied for the post; but the doctor was so ill that he would never be fit to work again. Andrew asked himself why his sister had kept this fact secret.

‘You’re lucky, Doctor,’ Miss Page remarked as they went into the dining room. ‘There will be no surgery for you tonight. Jenkins has attended to it.’

‘Jenkins?’

‘He mixes the medicines. He’s a useful man – prepared to do anything. He’s been acting for the doctor and attending to all the patients during these last ten days.’

Andrew again looked at her in surprise. Was this how country doctors ran their practices?

Miss Page rang a bell; and a servant with a pale face brought in the supper, looking quickly at Andrew as she entered.

‘Come along, Annie,’ cried Miss Page.’This is Dr Manson.’

Annie did not answer. She served Andrew with a small piece of cold meat, which he ate without tasting it. During the meal, Miss Page was silent. Then she sat back in her chair and described in a friendly manner the medical system at Drineffy.

‘All our patients are miners,’ she explained. ‘The Mining Company has three doctors on its lists, each of whom employs a younger doctor to help him. Dr Page now employs you, and Dr Nicholls employs a shameful man called Denny. And then there’s Dr Bramwell. Each miner chooses which of the three doctors he wishes to see in times of illness; and the Company pays part of his wages each week to the doctor whom he has chosen. The doctor gives a fair share of this money to his helper and keeps the rest for himself.’

She stopped and looked at Andrew.

‘I think I understand the system, Miss Page,’ he said.

‘Well!’ She gave a short laugh. ‘All that you must remember is that you are working for Dr Page. Never forget that!’

She looked at the clock, and then quickly rose from her chair. Her manner suddenly changed.

‘There’s a woman ill at Number 7, Glydar Place. Her husband sent for the doctor a long time ago. You had better go round there immediately,’ she ordered Andrew.