62 ALBACORA 



again. "When will you be able to take an X-ray?" I 

 asked. 



"Right away," Dr. Lombardy said. "Don't worry. 

 There is another X-ray machine at my friend's house, 

 and he lives near the power plant. It is a smaller ma- 

 chine but the electricity will be strong enough." After 

 another rocky ride the X-rays were repeated, and while 

 his assistant worked to develop the second set of plates, 

 I began wondering about Dr. Lombardy. 



"Do you do very much surgery?" I asked him. 



"Quite a good deal," he said. 



"What kind of surgery?" 



"Heart operations, brain, lung, abdomen, all kinds 

 of surgery. One cannot be so specialized here as in a 

 big city like New York or Santiago." 



"How do you manage under these conditions?" 



Dr. Lombardy smiled. "You do not ask how do you 

 manage," he said. "You simply manage, and it is not 

 so difficult as it would seem." 



I nodded and Dr. Lombardy turned his attention to 

 the X-rays. He was so unassuming that one might easily 

 overlook the fact that he was a profoundly dedicated 

 man who had chosen to practice medicine amid shocking 

 poverty and pestilence. It was much more than an hour 

 before my X-ray plates were finally ready for reading. 

 Dr. Lombardy studied them carefully before announc- 

 ing anything. "There is no break," he said, after what 

 had seemed like half an eternity. "The ligaments are 



