St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-03-24
but you have far stronger claims upon

but you have far stronger claims upon
me"
what are thcy?"
Sickness and sorrow
And DO these, which disgust and
brighten all the rest of the world, make
you my fricnl :"
Il am trying to prove myself as
such but as told You before, the
offices of friendship should be mutual"
You mean that should obey you
like slave"
"No; | mean that you should obligc
me like q friend"
"Do with me what You please"
cried the sick man and abandoning
all his opposition and his acrimony, he
submitted like a child to the wishes of
the Doctor, who, taking immediate adj
vantage of his relcnting humor, saw
him once more with his head upon his
pillow, and left him, as he believed,
composed and peaceful. Scarcely,
however, had lie descended the dirty,
crooked battered stairs, before the
old man, pcrtinacious in his purpose,
had again raised himself from his re-
cumbcnt position, resumed his tattercd
garments, his unsound shoes, and his
fully locked his room door, stta1ssgseaTSGsd
after him, clin&ing to the banisters,
and muttering rs he went.
Our Doctor paid his visit the cnsu-
ing day, unsuspicious of what had
happened. lie had not yet grown cal
lous in the course Of his profession,
and he was shocked 10 find his pa
ticnt with the last sands of life fast
falling through the glass.
a am DYING. !" said the old man,
" | am dying and you are the only
being in this wide world, who has
shown kindness to the destitute old
man. You said that you were my
friend, and that the Offices of friend
ship were mutual You have dis
charged them well and |, little as
you may expect it, have done some
thing on my part. ! had nothing to
love, neither wife, nor child, nor friend.
nor kindrcd-and so, because we must
love something, | began to make
trcasure-a god if you will-of gold;
it was because | had nothing else to
love. Aye, you little thoght you were
paying court to the rich old miscr, in
instead of showing charity TO the poor
old bcggar. But--stoop lower, my
breath fails me- Take this packet"
and he gave him a small parcel wrap
ped in the identical piece of torn pa
per which he had reproached him for
wasting. "Take tit is yours. |
went to the Bank yesterday to make
q transfer-into your name. There,
take thcm-thcy are Bank receipts.
l sared gov The Legacy daty."
The fortnight that had stood be-
tween Mrs. Heathcotc and the posses
sion of her fortunc-that is, the dcci-
sion of her law suit which she consid-
cred the same thing-had gone to the
tomb Of the Capulets. On that day,
our Doctor was guilty of the sin Of
neglecting his patients he remained
at home all that day.
The evening at last came. Mr.
Kcudrick took his hat it was covered
with deep Grape Mr. kcndrck hac
lost his poor patient, and was the rich
cr by more than twenty thousand
pounds.
He found Mrs Hcathcote in Mysteries
on the sofa her head dress disordcred
her checks stained with tears, and
Esther by her side, trying to console
her. He saw in moment that the
suit was lost.
Now we do not mean to impugn
our Doctors kindness Of heart, but
certainly the distress which he wit
messed brought a flush Of pleasure
over his countenance ; however, as
Stunning his own professional face, he
sat down and began to exercise his
province of giving advice.
And what was his advice Gentle
reader, it was neither more nor less
than this namely, that Mrs. Heath
cote should increase her connections
Chat was rather technical, J, by taking
the Doctor himself for son-in-law !;
and as her castles in the country had
turned out to be castles in the air
that she should content herself with
more mundane abode, and take up
her residence at his house, although
lie confessed that it was only built of
such materials as bricks and mortar.
And did the lady of a line Of kings |
SO condcscend She did, and Esther
was nothing 10th, nay, even rcjoiced
at the exchange, and 50 a Wife and a
Fortune were both found in the Doc
TORS Two patinntSr