Ridgeon.  Whats the matter?  Tuberculosis?

Mrs Dubedat.  Yes.  His left lung—­

Ridgeon Yes:  you neednt tell me about that.

Mrs Dubedat.  You can cure him, if only you will.  It is true that you can, isnt it? [In great distress] Oh, tell me, please.

Ridgeon [warningly] You are going to be quiet and self-possessed, arnt you?

MRs Dubedat.  Yes.  I beg your pardon.  I know I shouldnt—­[Giving way again] Oh, please, say that you can; and then I shall be all right.

Ridgeon [huffily] I am not a curemonger:  if you want cures, you must go to the people who sell them. [Recovering himself, ashamed of the tone of his own voice] But I have at the hospital ten tuberculous patients whose lives I believe I can save.

Mrs Dubedat.  Thank God!

Ridgeon.  Wait a moment.  Try to think of those ten patients as ten shipwrecked men on a raft—­a raft that is barely large enough to save them—­that will not support one more.  Another head bobs up through the waves at the side.  Another man begs to be taken aboard.  He implores the captain of the raft to save him.  But the captain can only do that by pushing one of his ten off the raft and drowning him to make room for the new comer.  That is what you are asking me to do.

Mrs Dubedat.  But how can that be?  I dont understand.  Surely—­

Ridgeon.  You must take my word for it that it is so.  My laboratory, my staff, and myself are working at full pressure.  We are doing our utmost.  The treatment is a new one.  It takes time, means, and skill; and there is not enough for another case.  Our ten cases are already chosen cases.  Do you understand what I mean by chosen?

Mrs Dubedat.  Chosen.  No:  I cant understand.

Ridgeon [sternly] You must understand.  Youve got to understand and to face it.  In every single one of those ten cases I have had to consider, not only whether the man could be saved, but whether he was worth saving.  There were fifty cases to choose from; and forty had to be condemned to death.  Some of the forty had young wives and helpless children.  If the hardness of their cases could have saved them they would have been saved ten times over.  Ive no doubt your case is a hard one:  I can see the tears in your eyes [she hastily wipes her eyes]:  I know that you have a torrent of entreaties ready for me the moment I stop speaking; but it’s no use.  You must go to another doctor.

Mrs Dubedat.  But can you give me the name of another doctor who understands your secret?

Ridgeon.  I have no secret:  I am not a quack.

Mrs Dubedat.  I beg your pardon:  I didnt mean to say anything wrong.  I dont understand how to speak to you.  Oh, pray dont be offended.

Ridgeon [again a little ashamed] There! there! never mind. [He relaxes and sits down].  After all, I’m talking nonsense:  I daresay I am a quack, a quack with a qualification.  But my discovery is not patented.