a prickling at the back of my neck to think about it.
I could hardly wait to get the injection into the sow and climbed
eagerly into the pen. Gertrude didn't appreciate having a needle
rammed into her thigh and she swung round on me with an explosive bark.
But I got the ten cc in before ma king my escape "We just wait twenty
minutes, then?" Will Hollin leaned on the rail and looked down
anxiously at his pig. He was a hard-working small holder in his
fifties and I knew this meant a lot to him.
I was about to make a comforting reply when Gertrude popped out another
pink, squirming piglet. The farmer leaned over and gently nudged the
little creature towards the udder as the sow lay on her side, but as
soon as the nose made contact with the teat the big pig was up in a
flash, all growls and yellow teeth.
He snatched the piglet away quickly and deposited it with the others in
a tall cardboard box.
"Well, you see how it is, Mr Herriot."
"I certainly do. How many have you got in there now?"
"There's six. And they're grand pigs, too."
I peered into the box at the little animals. They all had the
classical long bodied shape.
"Yes, they are. And she looks as though she has a lot more in her
yet."
The farmer nodded and we waited.
It seemed to take a long time for the twenty minutes to pass but
finally I lifted a couple of piglets and clambered into the pen. I was
about to put them to the sow when one of them squealed. Gertrude
rushed across with a ferocious roar mouth gaping, and I leaped to
safety with an agility which surprised me.
"She don't look very sleepy," Mr Hollin said.
"No . . . no . . . she doesn't, does she? Maybe we'd better wait a
bit longer."
We gave her another ten minutes and tried again with the same result. I
injected a further ten cc of the Soothitt, then about an hour later a
third one.
By nine o'clock Gertrude had produced fifteen beautiful young pigs and
had chased me and her family from the pen six times. She was, if
anything, livelier and fiercer than when I started.
"Well, she's cleansed," Mr Hollin said gloomily.
"So it looks like she's finished."
He gazed, sad-faced, into the box.
"And now I've got fifteen pigs to rear without their mother's milk. I
could lose all this lot."
"Nay, nay." The voice came from the open doorway.
"You won't lose 'em."
I looked round. It was Grand ad Hollin, his puckish features set in
their customary smile. He marched to the pen and poked Gertrude's ribs
with his stick.
She responded with a snarl and a malignant glare and the old man's
smile grew broader.
"Ah'll soon fettle the awd beggar," he said.
'fettle her?" I shifted my feet uncomfortably.
"What do you mean?"
"Why, she just wants quiet in', the knaws."
I took a long breath.
"Yes, Mr Hollin, that's exactly what I've been trying to do., "Aye, but
you're not coin' it the right way, young man."
I looked at him narrowly. The know-all with his liberal advice in a
difficult situation is a familiar figure most veterinary surgeons have
to tolerate, but in grand ad Hollin's case I didn't feel the usual
irritation. I liked him. He was a 0"Ce man, the head of a fine
family. Will was the eldest of his four sons and he had several farmer
grandsons in the district.
&` Anyway' I had failed miserably. I was in no position to be
uppity.
Vet in a Spzn "Well, I've given her the latest injection," I mumbled.
He shook his head.
"She don't want injections, she wants beer."
"Eh ?"
"Beer, young man. A drop o' good ale." He turned to his son.
"Haste g.
clean bucket, Will, lad?"
"Aye, there's a new-scalded one in t'milk house."
"Right, ah'll slip down to the pub. Won't be long." Grand ad swung on
his heel and strode briskly into the night. He must have been around
eighty, from the back he looked like a twenty-five-year-old upright,
square-shouldered jaunty.
Will Hollin and I didn't have much to say to each other. He was sullen
with disappointment and I was awash with shame. It was a relief when
Grand ad returned bearing an enamel bucket brimming with brown
liquid.
"You should've seen their faces down at t"Wago Horses. Reckon they've
never heard of a two gallon order afore."
I gaped at him.
"You've got two gallons of beer?"
"That's right, young man, and she'll need it all." He turned again to
his I "She hasn't had a drink for a bit, has she, Will?" ~ "New I was
goin' to give her some water when she'd finished piggin', b .
haven't done it yet."
Grand ad poised his bucket.
"She'll be nice and thirsty, then." He leaned ~ the rail and sent a
dark cascade frothing into the empty trough. .
Gertrude ambled moodily across and sniffed at the st range fluid.
After ~j hesitation she dipped her snout and tried a tentative swallow,
and within seoq' the building echoed with a busy slobbering.
"By heck, she likes it!" Will exclaimed.
"She should," Grand ad murmured wistfully.
"It's John Smith's best bit, It took a big sow a surprisingly short
time to consume the two gallons when she had finished she licked out
every corner of the trough before turning away. She showed no
inclination to return to her straw bed but began to sa round the pen.
Now and then she stopped at the trough to check that the' no more beer
in it and from time to time she looked up at the three overhanging the
timber walls.
On one of these occasions I caught her eye and saw with a sense of
dread that the previously baleful little orb now registered only a
gentle benevolence In fact with a little effort I could have imagined
she was smiling.
As the minutes passed her perambulations became increasingly
erratic."
were times when she stumbled and almost fell and finally with an
unmistakable hiccup she flopped on the straw and rolled on to her
side.
Grand ad regarded her expressionlessly for a few moments, whistling
lessly, then he reached out again and pushed his stick against the
fleshy but t' only response he received from the motionless animal was
a soft `r ret ~ was stoned to the wide.
~_ an gestured towards the cardboard box.
"Put the little 'uns in into the pen with a wriggling armful, then
another, andes they didn't have to be told what to do. Fifteen rave
noun <, ~n to the teats and with mixed feelings I gazed at the l' G,
~%, to bring about with my modern veterinary skill, thbl It~o, +, ~;
tiny stomachs with the life-giving fluid.
I could dise~ ~< in on the job and an octogenarian farmer had wip this
morning along ale. I didn't feel great. ~ Mr Barge had been >, o~ `x
of Soothitt phials and was beating an unol' -. NHollin called after
me.
Vet in a Spin ~come in and
have a cup o' coffee afore you go, Mr Her
riot." His voice was friendly, with nothing to suggest that I had made
no useful contribution all e I made my way into the kitchen and as I
went over to the table Will dug me in the ribs.
~Hey look at this." He held out the bucket in which a quantity of the
good beer still sloshed around the bottom.
"There's sum mat better than coffee 'ere Enough for a couple of good
drinks. I'll get two glasses."
He was fumbling in the dresser when Grand ad walked in. The old man
hung his hat and stick on a hook on the wall and rubbed his hands.
tTha can get another glass out, Will," he said.
"Remember ah did the pour in' and ah left enough for three."
Next morning I might have been inclined to dwell despondently on my
chastening experience but I had a pre-breakfast call to a cow with a
prolapsed uterus and there is nothing like an hour of feverish activity
to rid the mind of brooding.
It was 8 a.m. when I drove back into Darrow by and I pulled in to the
market place petrol station which was just opening. With a pleasantly
blank mind I was watching Bob Cooper running the petrol into my tank
when I heard the sound in the distance.
"Hooo, hooo, hooo, hooo."
Tremblingly I sc anned the square. There was no other vehicle in sight
but the dread ululation approached inexorably until Mr Beresford's car
rounded the far corner, heading my way.
I shrank behind a petrol pump but it was of no avail. I had been
spotted and the car bumped over the strip of cobbles before screeching
to a halt beside me.
"Hooo, hooo, hooo, hooo." At close quarters the noise was
insupportable.
I peeped round the pump and into the bulging eyes of the bank manager
as he lowered his window. He switched off the engine and Coco stopped
his howling and gave me a friendly wag through the glass.
"Good morning, Mr Herriot," he said, grim-faced.
"Good morning," I replied hoarsely, then working up a smile I bent at
the window.
"And good morning to you, Mrs Beresford."
The lady withered me with a look and was about to speak when her
husband went on.
"I administered one of the wonderful new tablets early this morning on
your advice ~ His chin quivered slightly.
Oh, yes . ..?"
"Yes, I did, and it had no effect, so I gave him another." He
paused.
"Since this produced a similar result I tried a third and a fourth."
I swallowed.
"Really . . . ?"
'indeed." He gave me a cold stare.
"So I am driven to the conclusion that the tablets are useless '
'Weller . . . it certainly does look . . ."
He held up a hand.
"I cannot listen to explanations. I have already wasted enough time
and there are three hundred mires' driving in front of me."
I'm truly sorry . . ." I began, but he was already closing the
window. He started the engine and Coco froze immediately into his
miniature wolf position, 8 se high, lips puckered into a small circle.
I watched the car roll across the square and turn out of sight on the
road to the south. For quite a while after had gone I could still hear
Coco.
Vet zn a ~p~n Feeling suddenly weak, I leaned against the pump. My
heart went out to Beresford. As I have said, I felt sure he was a
decent man. : In fact I quite liked him, but for all that I was
profoundly grateful that I would probably never see him again.
Our audiences with Mr Barge usually took place every three months and
it mid June before I saw him again at the head of our luncheon table.
The silver head gleamed under the summer sunshine as he sipped his
coffee and murmured politenesses. At the end of the meal he dabbed his
lips with a napkin and his brochure unhurriedly along the table
cloth.
Siegfried reached for it and asked the inevitable question.
"Anything new, Barge ?"
"My dear sir." The old gentleman's smile seemed to convey that the
folk' the young, though incomprehensible to him, were still
delightful.
"Car gill Sons never send me to you without a host of new products,
many of t specific, all of them efficient. I have many sovereign
remedies to offer you."
I must have uttered some sort of strangled sound because he turned
regarded me quizzically.
"Ah, Mr Herriot, did you say something, young s I swallowed a couple
of times and opened my mouth as the wave benevolence flowed over me,
but against that dignity and presence I was help "No . . . no, not
really, Mr Barge," I replied. I knew I would never be to tell him
about the Soothitt.
Chapter Three Now that we were faced with the reality of life at flying
school, the ties w bound me to my fellow airmen were strengthened. We
had a common aim common worry. ~ The feeling of comradeship was very
like my relationship with Siegfried, his student brother, Tristan, back
in Darrow by. But there, the pressures not from learning to fly but
from the daily challenge of veterinary practice.
existence was ruled by sudden and unexpected alarms.
Tristan, however, didn't let it get him down. He and I were sit ting
in the room at Skeldale House one night when the telephone burst into
strident He reached from his chair and lifted the receiver.
"Allo, plis, oo is dis?" he enquired.
He listened attentively for a few moments then shook his head.
"New, new, verr~e sorry, but Me ester Far non no at home. Yis, yis,~
heem when he come. Hokey do key, bye bye."
I looked across at him wonderingly from the other side of the fireplace
replaced the instrument. These st range accents were only one facet of
his co.
determination to extract amusement from every situation. He didn't do
it a time, only when the mood was on him, but it was not unusual for
farmers say that 'some foreign feller' had answered the phone. -,)
Tristan settled comfortably behind his Daily Mirror and was fumbling'
Woodbine when the ringing started again. He stretched out once more.
~,4 "Yeas, yeas, goot efening, howdy do. Vat you vant, huh?"
r ~' I could just hear a deep rumble from the other end of the line and
Tristan suddenly snapped upright in his chair. His Daily Mirror and
cigarettes slithered to the floor ~Yes, Mr Mount," he said smartly.
"No, Mr Mount. Yes indeed, Mr Mount I shall pass on your message
immediately. Thank you very much, goodbye."
He fell back in the chair and blew out his cheeks.
"That was Mr Mount."
"So I gathered. And he certainly wiped the smile off your face,
Triss."
"Yes . . yes . .
one thoughtfully "Quite," I said.
"What did he ring for, anyway?"
~Oh, he has a cart horse to see tomorrow morning Something wrong with
its hind feet."
I made a note on the pad and turned back to the young man.
"I don't know how you find the time in your hectic love life, but
you're running
around with that chap s daughter, aren't you?"
Tristan took the cigarette from his mouth and studied the glowing
end.
"Yes as a matter of fact I have taken Deborah Mount out a few times.
Why do you ask ?"
"Oh, no particular reason. Her old man seems a bit formidable, that's
all."
I could picture Mr Mount the last time I saw him. He was well named; a
veritable massif of a man towering several inches over six feet. From
shoulders like the great buttresses of the fell which overhung his farm
rose a beetling cliff of head with craggy outcrops of jaw and cheek and
brow. He had the biggest hands I have ever seen approximately three
times the size of my own.
"Oh, I don't know," Tristan said.
"He's not a bad sort."
"I agree, I've nothing against him." Mr Mount was deeply religious and
had the reputation of being hard but fair.
"It's just that I wouldn't like him to come up to me and ask if I was
trifling with his daughter's affections."
Tristan swallowed, and anxiety flitted briefly in his eyes.
"Oh, that's ridiculous.
Deborah and I have a friendly relationship, that's all."
"Well I'm glad to hear it," I said.
"I've been told her father is very protective about her and I'd hate to
feel those big hands round my throat."
Tristan gave me a cold stare.
"You're a sadistic bugger at times, Jim. Just because I occasionally
enjoy a little female company . . ."
"Oh, forget it, Triss, I'm only kidding. You've nothing to worry
about. When I see old Mount tomorrow I promise I won't mention that
Deborah is one of your harem." I dodged a flying cushion and went
through to the dispensary to stock up for the next day's round.
But I realised next morning that my joke was barbed when I saw Mr Mount
coming out of the farm house. For a moment his bulk filled the
doorway, then he advanced with measured tread over the cobbles till he
loomed over me blocking out the sunshine, throwing a large area around
me into shade.
"That young man, Tristan," he said without preamble.
"He was speak in' a bit funny like on the phone last night. What sort
of a feller is he?"
I looked up at the great head poised above me, at the unwavering grey
eyes probing into mine from beneath a bristling overhang of brow.
"Tristan?" I oodbinesanswered shakily.
"Oh, he's a splendid chap. A really fine type."
~mm." The huge man continued to look at me and one banana-like finger
rUbbed doubtfully along his chin.
"Does he drink?"
~r Mount was renowned for his rigid antagonism to alcohol and I thought
it unwise to reply that Tristan was a popular and esteemed figure at
most of the . just a little unexpected." He recovered his W and ht
S:
ri I said.
"Hardly at all . . . in the strictest moderation . .
At that moment Deborah came out of the house and began to walk across
the.
yard.
She was wearing a flowered cotton dress. About nineteen, shining
golden falling below her shoulders, she radiated the healthy buxom
beauty country girl. As she went by she flashed a smile at me and I
had a heart-li glimpse of white teeth and warm brown eyes. It was in
the early days I had met Helen and I had as sharp an interest in a
pretty lass as anybody.
found myself studying her legs appreciatively after she had passed. i
It was then that I had an almost palpable awareness of her father's
gaze me. I turned and saw a new expression there a harsh disapproval