After an hour's drive the voyager was comfortably installed in a
mansion, under the ministrations of a distinguished physician. No one
could have been better treated. He afterward learned that his host,
beside his official position, was a large landed proprietor, owning most
of the village, and was a member of the great family of Gattoni de
Meletti.
Reports that the man in the rubber dress had been attacked by the fever,
spread all over Italy, and great numbers of people came from
surrounding towns to see him and inquire as to his condition. The fire
fever with which Paul was attacked (febbre del fuoco), is peculiar to
the districts along the lowlands of the Po, and he had been eighty-three
consecutive hours in the water when it overcame him.
For more than a week the doctor was in close attendance and then Boyton
was sufficiently restored to health to go about. He was treated with
the utmost consideration. The mayor took pains to show him everything of
interest. Among his other possessions, the hospitable Italian owned
great droves of cows. The cows of that vicinity are known all over the
world, the famous Parmesean cheese being made there. The mayor's herd
wintered in long sheds and were so near of one size that looking along
the stalls over their backs they seemed as even and as level as a floor.
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