midnight before
This , of course , was not to be wondered at , considering the rather heroic treatment to which the leg had been subjected , and Dick was not very greatly concerned about it . But what caused him to look very grave was the fact that his patient also complained of feeling cold , and manifested symptoms of approaching delirium , while his whole body was now beginning to be convulsed , at rapidly shortening intervals , by spasms of violent and uncontrollable twitching . Without wasting a moment Dick now had recourse to alcohol , freely dosing his patient with neat brandy , in the hope of inducing a condition of intoxication -- for he knew that if he could succeed in this the excess of alcohol in the system would neutralise the venom , and his patient would be saved . But it was not until he had administered nearly a quart of the spirit that the desired symptoms began to appear ; and it was long past midnight before the twitching convulsions entirely ceased and the patient sank into a deathlike sleep ; by this time also the swelling of the limb was perceptibly subsiding ; and when at length Dick turned down the lamp and disposed himself to take such rest as he might be able to snatch in a folding chair by the side of his friend 's hammock , he had the satisfaction of knowing that the crisis was past and Phil would live . Up to this moment the young doctor had been far too busy and altogether too deeply preoccupied in attending upon his patient to give any attention to , or indeed be more than vaguely aware of , what was happening outside the tent , although there certainly had been moments when sounds of a more than usually alarming character had reached his ears so distinctly and obtrusively as partially to distract his attention for the fraction of a second or so ; but now that Grosvenor was asleep and safe , and Dick began to feel that he also would be the better for a little rest , outside sounds began to obtrude themselves upon him with a force and persistency that would not be denied , and he awoke to a consciousness of the fact that something quite out of his ordinary experience was happening . At first he was disposed to attribute the babel of sound that reached his ears to the fact that the party were outspanned in close -- almost too close -- proximity to the only water that , so far as he knew , existed for many miles round , and which was consequently the regular drinking place for every living creature in the neighbourhood , as he and his chum had already ascertained . Indeed the incessant bellowing , snorting , trumpeting , roaring , splashing , and squealing that , slightly mellowed by distance , penetrated to the interior of the tent , was quite enough to justify such an idea .