Maryland free press., 1866-09-13
Iron tie y. r. Literary A1sm.1
Leaves fssA the Journal q An Old
s. Doctor.
A rALE OF wlLLrAsrsroR1.
EMBRACING a, sKEi, ET,oS., T"

g. az IA.
EMBRACING a, sKEi,EToN.,
81 Whce aenterrl the ofiiae ofmy Venerable pre-
Veptor, Df. 49,, I'm the village on tho Mary
land side-of the Potomac, seentioned In my mar
f"'ive Of the''Ghosily pettsi,ingers, 1t was ar.
ranged that TshedId sleep In the back room O
his office, This was n small brick building
crec'ed against the south side Of his dweliing,--
Between the two structures there was no direc
commpanica;ionr-a circumstances which the Doc
tor was, oftcn heard 10 regret, after age had
grown upon him, arsasas With il impaired
health for II necsssitaied his exposing himself,
~ "hen he had no student, TO r,aty q driving
MORN against !whira his ambre.ta was, little OF
ho protection. Sach u luts.tiea struck me as
ra!her lonely and aslNvitlag us,p fer a sleeping
ruosn, and cuniess that, was with something
skih, spx sariddrr. atai i-sndfezselr mysvlf and
retired TO festt?) for sometin.e after hal been
assigned 10 II IN accordance With custom. which,
required thef dent TO- receive te a5g ht. calls
T., and protect his prcceptor against Interruptions
oi MS sieep aud exp0surete bad weather by calls
to patteats more frightened than impcriilra, OF
such rs were known to be t.rdy in p,yiug their
'ilis though aRpndaptly abb 10 81. sn pronpily,
or--shall tell it out of school ?-such as .&ere
known to be Unable to pay ut all; for you Gee
thst tie ssyiug, ''there Is good deal Of hu,usn
nature nature IL man." Is applicable to physicians as
lwell.ss -olher people, and they encounter SO
maeytnslsqsssl Of 'fpo psyt apd: no ,hanks," in
- their earlier years, that they gradually become
more and more insensible to appeals to their Be-
nevolence, albeit that organ is expected to be
largely developed in their crahiuths, 'as matter
Of course. .s&.tIIyIi
But the detached position Of my dormitory was
not the only cause of my uncomfortable sensa-
tons as, night after night, reluctantly sought
aay Couch. Before it was fitted up for me, Tom,
the cclered SERVANT Of the doctor, hal occupied
rs his chamber--ttere haSIag been no student
In the office for some tiIncA-and he Was not slow
& to work upon my imagination with accounts of
tile curious noises he had heard therein, rcscm-
bling The ''rattlin Of the dry boaes" deposited
In boz hider tise bed, aud eseA tive chat,eriag
OF teeth in closet where wired skeleton wis
hanging at full length. ,,.. ,I.,,. ......-.. ''
Under these, circumstances, became quite n
gocaJcsstsners p, tho village, sipse,. where my
: nrecepter kept aa aecS aat--or rather, helped
him to tiiake a better onc-.by reason Of the in
creased number Of sperm,cili candles | required;
and l1urthernoye got the. insmsi Of beiRg 1the
sAost s,adiuas young NAN ever known in those
alsrty. m,N 81, =" ,1'i ''''. ID
su see ,hatiI was indebted to tho store-kecp-
or fcr tAis. reputation, for he was not slew to
mention his impression that wash mar, Ell for
studiousncss to several Of his customers, inclu-
ding the doctor bims IL. The latter was OF
course, pleased, and rather fattercd than other
wise, tsecNssecf the conprstulatofy tone in which
the circumstance WIS alluiel ytol Nor did he
suspect the truth Of the matter until the store
keepers bill was seatin, and his goo,l lady pro-
Ncstel that ''no studiousness would begin to ac-
coaat for enormously increased consumption
ofeAndles?r tor which SHE added, that iEmnst
have employed the whole Of my nights, in read
ing, to'tAe utter exclusion Of sleep, for several
months, On the theory that all that light was re-
quired for study, and that she ''feft confident nc
young man could look rs bright as l did with
out sleep for so long time.N'
Tom having been Questioned in way thai
seemed TO throw suspicion on him rs having sP-
propriated the candles, was quick to rcseA the
secret, with the statement that had been in the
habit of ietting the candle buts al scar compa-
ny, Ease sEe.r@ sv them ar bones and he ad
ded, alphabetically, II doesn't wonder that
young doctor was sort O skittish, fur used tr
in that ar lonesum pl. e.".s-H!.l
Familiarity with the bones, which was re-
quested to keep by m; all the while, for reference
In nay anatomical studies, caused my sense O
dread to disappear ty dsgrees, so that I soon be
gan to be able to sleep pretty we'll withouta light
exec pt when some unusual noise fell upon my
slumbering ear. One of the exceptions alluded
TO will proceed to indicate.
1t was very warm weather. and had venturcd
to raise the only window in my room. This
opened upon pasture LOT, which stretched out
,nRly a few feet Aeisw it, between the Office and
u strcs~a of wallet that,cmpticI into the Potomac
few rods to the southwark. To this stream
the young men of the village we're ia tAc habit o
resorting for bathing purposes. One night,
brightly illumincd by a full moon, while | lay
sleeping soundiy, with the window hoisted-all
the more soundly, because of having been aftci
studying very late, and aroused several times by
calls for the doctor, to one of which I had re
spondcd with visit as q su,stitute-T.wa star
tied by rattiins sin tsh. 1t sounded as if all
ths bones in the room had been sent, by giant
hands, crashing against each other and then
against the ceiliag and the aoor, by turns in til,
most fearf III way imagisst@c-
Fore noment ] Was completely trrriSc&: Iva
was reasssred by the recognition of tho supper
part Of horses skeieten--the head and ID por
tiOn of the spiae with the ribs still attacked
which had thrown there after became familiar
there~ith, fy ssins il to illustrate my studies in
CorHpsrative Anatomy-tnd which recognition
Instantly suggested the probable agents at wor1
upon my supposed timidity. The notorious vii
lnge wags, pointed out by their initials mention
ed above, I felt sure, had hurled the bones
4kcoagh the window to Tighten and 80 get the
ssagh q the ~:grecn student" as they would
osh me. So put my head out OF the window,
and esnied them sure enough, scaling the fenc,
of the lot where il bounded tie street in 'front.'.
i took the precaution to shut down and securely
Tssten the window and then returned to bed.