The Van Buren press., 1859-12-16

precisely aS tue tone Oh Tue listeeT MIND
may be.
Scarcely had read ten linej when a
laundering rap shook the house.
Query; shall be at home Il away ?
Shall be in or out :? Answer III am vis-
iting patient across the hill nd coming
home till tomorrow I'll try st. at all
events. And thinking thus, / blew out
the candle, and listened. BiowiiE out the
candle was not of much use wheh such a
blaze was On the hearth. l think there
was more light after had put itibut. And
the next instant heard Under mi window
voice that was exceedingly tlri.ling-
'' Doctor, Doctor--oh, Doctor Strong
do wake up!'
Very simple words, but very sthgiiling,
l say. She-it was womanb voice
must have come in at the gate, climbed a
fence at the side of the house, aH1 braved
| the terrors Of my dog Cicero--aR = ,ansnt
dog in good weather, and prof fSvs--s-
ard. too, hence his name saits she had
done all this to get under my witIow.
sprang to the easement. did not
know the voice, but who could resist wo-
mans appeal in such circumstances ? All
the sashes were fastened down and stuffed
with cotton. could see no ona. pressing
my face closely as l could agains. the glass.
SO shouted Wait moment, and plum
ging into pair of paataloons, opened the
door of my room.
'Ihe air OF the passage ncar}y knocked
me down. 1t was terrible for a man in a
| thin night shirt and pair OF trowsers-
But went down in the dark and opened
the back door
There was the faint misty moonlight
over everything. The snow storm was
nearly over. The old moon was shining
through driving clouds, and by .ts light /
saw lying on my door step motionless
form. She had fallen there exhausted. 1t
was the work of an instant to seize and lift
her and carry her up stairs to- my warm
room, chafe her hands and her face with
some whiskey, Il had it remarkably conve-
nient and with sundry similar appliances
recall the spirit to what seemed at first a
marble statute
was bachelor of thirty-eight, but
no one in town knew that. l passed al
ways for a widower My mouse was large
and roomy, but l occupied it alone, with
only an old black man and bis wife for SER
wants and housekeepers. They were both
deaf, and if the trumpet of tine angel wakes
them whea the day of rising eories, it will
do more than was ever able to 10 with a
conch shell at any hour before i've in the
morning.
/ looked in some perplcxity at my pa
tient. She was very pretty. Sic was more
than that--she was magnificent. | had
seen beautiful women. If l WIS., a country
doctor, had been about the world a little,
and nnna dxns,ad in the Pitti Ps'ace with a
Grand Duchess for a partner< II iiat is not
saying much to any one that knows the
freedom of the Court of Tuscany, but it
sometimes told well to my country prac-
tice.
But I had never seen anything like
this. She was tall, finely forme person
looking now as if twcnty-four or five, but
when she had recovered, evidently not
above twenty. She had auburn hair-pcr-
haps you will call it red. 1t was in heavy
masses, gathered back from her forehead. =
She was perhaps little larger in form
than was necessary to the perfect outline Of
beauty, but that was not 10 bc noticed when
she stood up and walked.
After littie time ! restored her. When
the blood came tinSling 10 her cheeks AMI
neck and finger ends, she was superb. Sac
rose, and looked about her, astonished, as
well she might be, to iiud herself where
she was, and for an instant she seemed con-
fused and overcome. She staggered to a
seat, but brushing her small hand over her
appeared to see through it all in an instant
You are Doctor Strong
l am that person, madam, and l trust |
can be of service to you.
l believe | tainted on your step. l re-
member calling on you and sinking down.
Pardon met is SO strange that scarcely
We. recall my GRAND. 1t Is terrible night
but you must go with ME doctor. My faith
er is very i'll, and l came for you myself
We mnst be in haste have | been long
here -
Not five minutes but will you tell me
while throw on some clothes, who is your
father, and who
Who l am. l am a queer messenger,
you think, at midnight for the doctor. My
poor horse must be nearly frozen. l will
go down and look after him while you get
ready-no--do not be troubled about me,
am perfectly strong now. l did not faint
from weakness. 1t is a fault, a disease, a
failing I have: lam well, now. only has
ten. doctor, hasten
In three minutes found her at the door
in her cutter, and we drove off over the
white road, plugging through drifts, dash
ing down hill and up, like the very wind
that was behind us.
When we were fairly started, began
to question her, and now learned who she
was. For it was strange that any one
within my beat should be unknown to me,
especially any one like this beautiful erea-
ture,
1t was ten miles to her home Old
Doctor p, who killed the people in that
neighborhood with incredible doses of Gallo
mel, had taken twenty grain dose himself
and was past the help of any one but the
sexton. Hence it became necessary to call
me in any important case occurring there
abouts since was the nearest physician.
Miss Duncan was the daughter of an
old Scotch farmer, an elder in the Presby-
terian church, just one mile farther on. He
was a man of whom had heard, but new
or seen. His family knew nothing Of l
now learned that he had but one daughter
Who with the female servants formed his