A Mission - pt 10.5 A place of rest

Clack Henderson was a likable man in his late thirties, some say he was thirty five, some say thirty seven, and some, even forty, but he was of that type that preferred to let his exact age remain a mystery.  He was tall, athletic, always smiling, and his deep jovial laugh could always be heard issuing from the tight group of friends always about him.  When he was called, half of the group standing about the fire with him came along to see what Mr. Mac' was up to out in the forest in so dark a night.  Tom had meanwhile found Coale's wallet, pocket notebook, and a few other odds and ends, these he slipped into his pockets before the men came up.
When Clack and his following aproached, they were as surprised as Tom had been on finding a man of unknown origins, unconscious on the Macabee property.  Together though, they carried him to the house, and deposited him, dirt, and water, and all, to the consternation of the housekeeper, in the bed of an unoccupied room.
Dorthy Jane, the said housekeeper, was also the part time nurse of Doctor Lewis Topenople the one and only licensed physician in a hundred mile radius.  Of course most of those three hundred fourteen square miles were just forest or farm land, but still, that is a lot of ground to cover and it took nigh a week to make his rounds.  Dorthy would make one circuit with him and take two off, enabling her to spend two thirds of her time at home.

She took charge of Coale, and soon had him revived, his leg cleaned and bandaged, and started feeding him with warm broth and other nourishing supplements.  Coale was to weak to resist these kindnesses and though he normally would have complained saying that he could get along just as well without doctoring, he accepted the treatment, and over the course of the next week was able to sit for spells outside, or walk about the house for short periods of time.  Through all this however, it was obvious that Coale was anxious about me, for he always read the morning paper as soon as it arrived, and often asked Tom Mac' whether he had any news from town that might put light upon the subject of my capture..