STARTING THE HOSPITAL 



" Because it is a custom of all hospitals to fix 

 some such hour." 



"Then are the people of England always ill at 

 nine o'clock in the morning ? If I expected the 

 Eskimos always to be ill at a fixed time there was no 

 sense in it. The people must be ill whenever they 

 wanted." 



I tried to argue " Certainly the door is open at 

 all times for accidents and sudden sickness " but it 

 was useless : they had got the idea into their heads 

 that some newfangled notion was being thrust upon 

 them, and, in the natural conservatism of their 

 minds, they resented it, just as they are inclined to 

 resent all other innovations at first sight. The only 

 possible thing to do, as I found all through my deal- 

 ings with my simple-minded neighbours, was to keep 

 to my word and let things shape themselves. 



" Keep literally to what you say," said Mr. Simon : 

 " any change of front makes the people suspicious/' 



I turned to the people : " Tava " (finished), said 

 I, in my poor halting attempt at their language. " I 

 shall say no more ; the doors will be open at nine 

 to-morrow " and then I left them. 



No doubt they went home and palavered the 

 business half the night; and I was more than a 

 trifle worried, it seemed such a hard reception for 

 my cherished plans. But the missionary only smiled. 

 " It will come out all right," he said. 



In the morning there were three people waiting 

 for the opening of the doors of the new out-patients' 

 department, and I breathed freely again. It was all 

 right: the people were my friends. That was the 

 beginning; and morning by morning they came, 

 with their plaints and their troubles and their 



265 



