Traveling at night, there is not much to see, the moon and stars, the sounds of owls, slow chirping crickets, an occasional sound of varmints fighting . Levi realized that he had a good friend in "Old Bully". Bully could sense danger and this set Levi at ease. Levi's thoughts soon turned to the gold they had found. He decided that tomorrow he would go kill a elk and salt the meat down for winter food. Then scratch in the branch for more gold.
He arrived at the cabin just before day break. There was a light blanket of frost on the ground and it was right at freezing. Before he could let everyone know he was home, Andrew was already up and met him at the door. Andrew seemed to always have something to tell Pa when he got back from being away. This time Herman had stepped on a large thorn and it had completely went thru his foot. Andrew stated, "Me and Mama pulled it out and made Herman wash it out in the branch".
Levi had seen people die from this; his concerns were great. He had sulfur ointment that he had made up for wounds and sores. This mixture was a combination of sulfur and animal fat. Levi grew up knowing that this was a cure-all that his Ma always used on him and his brothers. He told Andrew to go wake up Herman and get him over to the candle light. Herman wasn’t to happy about being disturbed this early in the morning but he knew that Papa would be mad if he didn't do as he was told. Levi looked at the foot and felt Herman's head to see if he had a fever---he didn't feel hot. The foot was swollen and red. Levi knew that infection was about to set in.
"Son. this is going to hurt but I need to get this ointment into the wound so you won't get sick". Herman was the tough one and told Papa "do what you got to do"
Levi fashioned him a stick about the size of the thorn and coated it with the ointment. He thrust it into the wound and worked it around. Herman gritted his teeth trying not to show any pain. He finally gave in to big tears running down his face. Papa pulled the stick out with the wound being coated with the sulfur ointment inside and out....only time would tell if Herman's foot would heal.
Gary Compton
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