During the acute stage of Roy Luther's stroke, Mary Call puts cold cloths on his head and covers him with a blanket.  Then, in the days immediately following, she makes poultices of gum camphor and turpentine for the back of his neck and his stomach.  Devola also makes him tamarack tea, and the children leave him to rest in bed in a cool, darkened room (Chapter 2).  When Roy Luther gets a little better, they spoonfeed him homemade chicken soup and keep him comfortable with sponge baths.  If she had her way, Mary Call would call a doctor, but in addition to the fact that there is no money, she knows that Roy Luther has always had an extreme aversion to doctors, and figures that if she did call one it would only make him worse (Chapter 3).