Vet in Harness Read online

the needle between the cartilaginous rings and squirted a few c.c.'s

  into the lumen and, as always, the, stirk gave a reflex cough, sending

  up the distinctive aroma of the medicaments into our faces.

  "By yaw, you can smell it straight off, guvnor,' Charlie said with deep

  satisfaction. "Ye can tell it's gettin' right to "'spot.' :.~.

  Most of the farmers said something like that. And they had faith. The

  books spoke comfortably about the chloroform stupefying the worms, the

  turpentine killing them and the creosote causing increased coughing

  which expelled then~ But I didn't believe a word of it. The good results

  which followed were in my opinion due entirely to bringing the animals

  in from the infected pasture.

  But I knew I had to do it and we injected every animal in the yard.

  There were thirty-two of them and Mrs Dalby's tiny figure was involved

  in the catching of all of them; clutching vainly at their necks,

  grabbing their tails, pushing them; up against the wall. William, the

  eldest son, aged eight, came in from school and plunged into the fray by

  his mother's side.

  My repeated "Be careful, Mrs Dalby!' or Charlie's gruff "Watch thisself,

  Missis, or you'll get lamed!' had no effect. During the melee both she

  and the little boy were kicked, trodden on and knocked down but they

  never showed the slightest sign of being discouraged.

  At the end, the little woman turned to me, her face flushed to an even

  deeper hue. Panting, she looked up, "Is there anything else we can do,

  Mr Herriot?'

  "Yes there is.' In fact the two things I was going to tell her were the

  only things which ever did any good. "First, I'm going to leave you some

  medicine for the worms which are in the stomach. We can get at them

  there, so Charlie must give every stirk a dose. Secondly, you'll have to

  start giving them the best possible food - good hay and high protein

  cake.'

  Her eyes widened. "Cake? That's expensive stuff. And hay .. .'

  I knew what she was thinking. The precious hay safely garnered for this

  winter's feed; to have to start using it now was a cruel blow,

  especially with all that beautiful grass out there; grass, the most

  natural, most perfect food for cattle but every blade carrying its own

  load of death.

  "Can't they go out again .. . ever?' she asked in a small voice.

  "No, I'm sorry. If they had just had a mild attack you could have kept

  them in at nights and turned them out after the dew had left the grass

  in the morning. The larvae climb up the grass mainly when it's wet. But

  your cattle have gone too far. We daren't risk them picking up any more

  worms.'

  "Right . thank you, Mr Herriot. We know where we are, anyway.' she

  paused. "Do you think we'll lose any of them?'

  My stomach contracted into a tight ball. I had already told her to buy

  cake she couldn't afford and it was a certainty she would have to lay

  out more precious cash for hay in the winter. How was I going to tell

  her that nothing in the world was going to stop this batch of beasts

  dying like flies? When animals with husk started blowing bubbles it was

  nearly hopeless and the ones who were groaning with every breath were

  quite simply doomed. Nearly half of them were in these two categories

  and what about the rest? The pathetic barking' other half? Well, they

  had a chance.

  "Mrs Dalby,' I said, 'it would be wrong of me to make light of this.

  Some of them are going to die, in fact unless there's a miracle you are

  going to lose quite a few of them.' At the sight of her stricken face I

  made an attempt w} encouraging "However, where there's life there's hope

  and sometimes you get pleasant surprises at this job.' I held up a

  finger. "Worm them and get some good grub into them! That's your hope -

  to help them to fight it off themselves.'

  "I see.' She lifted her chin in her characteristic way. "And now you

  must come in for a wash.'

  And of course there it was in its usual place in the kitchen; the tray

  with all the trimmings.

  "Really, Mrs Dalby. You shouldn't have bothered. You have enough to do

  without this.'

  "Nonsense', she said, the smile back on her face. "You take one spoonful

  of sugar don't you?'

  As I sat there she stood in her habitual position, hands clasped in

  front of her, watching me while the middle boy, Dennis, who was five,

  looked up at me solemnly and Michael, a mere toddler of two, fell over

  the coal scuttle and started to bawl lustily.

  The usual procedure was to repeat the intratracheal injection in four

  days so I had to go through with it. Anyway, it gave me a chance to see

  how the cattle were faring.

  When I drew up in the yard my first sight was of a long sack-covered

  mound on the cobbles. A row of hooves protruded from beneath the sacks.

  I had expected something of the sort but the reality was still like a

  blow in the face. It was still quite early in the morning and perhaps I

  wasn't feeling quite strong enough to have the evidence of my failure

  thrust before my eyes. Because failure it undoubtedly was; even though I

  had been in a hopeless position from the start there was something

  damning in those motionless hooves jutting from their rough blanket.

  I made a quick count. There were four dead cattle under there. Wearily I

  made my way into the fold yard, I had no cheerful expectation of what I

  would find inside. Two of the stirks were down and unable to rise from

  the deep straw the rest were still panting, but I noticed with a faint

  lifting of my gloom that several of them were doggedly munching at the

  cubes of cake in the troughs and others were pulling an occasional wisp

  of hay from the racks. It was incredible how animals with advanced

  respiratory symptoms would still eat; and it provided the only gleam of

  hope.

  I walked over to the house. Mrs Dalby greeted me cheerfully as though

  those carcases outside didn't exist.

  "It's time for the second injection,' I said, and then after some

  hesitation, "I see you've lost four of them .. . I'm sorry.'

  "Well you told me, Mr Herriot.' She smiled through the tired lines on

  her face. "You said I had to expect it so it wasn't as big a shock as it

  might have been.' She finished washing the youngest child's face, seized

  a towel in her work-roughened hands and rubbed him briskly, then she

  straightened up. It was Saturday and William was at home and I noticed

  not for the first time that there was something about the little boy

  which suggested that even at his age he had decided he was going to be

  the man about the house. He pulled on his little Wellingtons and marched

  resolutely with us across the yard to do his bit as he saw it. I rested

  my hand on his shoulder as he walked beside me, he would have to grow up

  a lot more rapidly than most youngsters but I had the feeling that the

  realities of life wouldn't bowl him over very easily.

  we gave the animals their second injection with the two little Dalbys

  again throwing themselves fearlessly into the rough and tumble and that

  was about the last practica