human
What is the pest, Ma, and what makes it?
gpt
Nobody knows, she answered softly.
human
It comes like a thief in the night and stays for months and sometimes for years. They call it the 'milk-sick' because the cows die, too--and sometimes the horses. The old Indian women say it starts from the cows eating a poison flower in the woods. The doctors know nothing about it. It just comes and kills, that's all.
gpt
O Ma, if it kills you!
human
It can't harm me, my son, unless God wills it. When he calls I shall be ready.
gpt
What's it like? he asked at last.
human
Can't you take bitters for it in time to stop it? How do you know when it's come?
gpt
You begin to feel drowsy, a whitish coating is on the tongue, a burning in the stomach, the feet and legs get cold. You're restless and the pulse grows weak.
human
How long does it last?
gpt
Sometimes it kills in three days, sometimes two weeks. Sometimes it's chronic and hangs on for years and then kills.