Andrew went out at once. He was eager to begin. This was his first case! It was still raining as he crossed the black, rough ground and made his way to the main street. Darkly, as he walked, the dirty town took shape before him. Shops and ugly churches, large and cold, filled the street. The sense of being buried deep in the valley of the mountains made Andrew tremble. There were few people about. Beyond the shops and churches, on both sides of the street, were rows and rows of houses; and at the far end of the town, lighting up the watery sky, were the Drineffy mine workings. Andrew reached Number 7, Glydar Place. He took a deep breath and then knocked at the door.

He was admitted at once to the kitchen, where the patient lay in bed. She was a young woman, the wife of a miner named Williams. As Andrew went- ever to her bed, he suddenly felt a great sense of responsibility. He was alone. He must find out what was wrong with the woman and cure her - with no other doctor to advise him.

While the husband waited and watched in the cold, dark room, Andrew examined the woman with great care. He could see that she was ill - very ill. But what was the cause of her illness? Andrew could not discover the answer. He felt very anxious. His first case! He must not make a mistake. He examined the patient a second time, but he still did not know what was wrong with her. At last, he turned to her husband, and asked: 'Did she have a cold?'

'Yes, Doctor - three or four days ago,' Williams answered eagerly.

Andrew, trying to appear confident, said cheerfully: 'Then I'll soon make her better. Come to the surgery in half an hour. I'll give you a bottle of medicine for her.'

He quickly left the house and walked back in the rain to the surgery, an old wooden building in Page's garden. He lit the gaslight and walked up and down the room, trying to think of any illness from which the woman might be suffering. He knew that it was not really her cold that had made her ill; she had something far worse wrong with her. Feeling very annoyed with himself for his stupidity, he took some bottles from a shelf, and mixed a medicine.

He had just finished this, and was putting the woman's name and address on to the bottle, when the surgery bell rang. Before Andrew could answer this, the door opened, and a short, powerful man of about thirty walked in, followed by a dog. The man, who wore an old suit of clothes and dirty shoes, looked Andrew up and down.