The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1868-12-18
Mistellauenas,
TIE SURGEONS STORY.

Markham, q young physician, was slttting
alone In the dusky little room that the
sign without dlgnlfied with the title Oh
"Office," when the words fell upon my
ears. had just returned from visiting
the few patients could boast OF, thor
0ughly heartsick ut the want Of humanity
In the world, wet to the skin and moro
than half frozen. -,
i never remember worse night In oil
respects. It was as cold as the Arctic,
clustering, and the sleet that ratified upon
the windows soon covered them with q
coating OF Ice. 1t had stormed heavily oil
the day, and the streets had been deserted,
the stores closed, anu the sidewalks ven
ders driven to shelter.
"GOd help any one who Is forced to %
abroad tonight" had been my thought,
rs hurried along after finishing my pro-
fessional duties, and breasted n,Y' way
homeward.
But scarcely. had reached 1t, c9inged
my saturated garments, coaxed the spark
ling anthracite into cheerful glow, made
myself comfortable and begun BUILDING
castles In Spain Of the time when SHOULD
have lucrative practice, ride in my car
riage, and own brown stone front. when
tho strange and heart chilling words fell
upon my ears, causing all my pleasant
fancies to drift away In an instant.
"Will you buy my body, slrT
sprang from my easy chair. dropping
my well colored meerschaum In my as
tonishment and turned to see who It was
that like Poe's raven, had uttered the ter
rlble words
..wlll you buy my body, slrY"
The question was repeated for tho sec
ond time before hsd sufficiently recov-
cred myself-before was convinced that
1t was no lll-omened bird, but one Of hui
man semblance ut least. Yet the request
was so uttersy unusual, so much ut vari-
ance with all preconcelved notions ofbar-
ter and sale, that all / could do was to
push chair toward the intruder, and
stand In silent wondermcnt.
In few moments tho self.command I
had learned during hospital practice came
to my aid-and saw that my visitor kyas
a woman-a girl rather, for she could not
have been more than nineteen or twenty
at the utmost-and that II It had not been
for the extreme pallor of the face, the
pinched-up look about the mouth, and tho
sad, sunken eyes, who would have pos
sesscd far more than Is ordinarily the
case, the rare gift Of beauty.
The fllckering light Of the fire flashed
upon the soft brown hair, giving II a more
golden glory, and dlsolving the snow
flakes that had lodged there, made them
glitter like liquid pearls. This much, aud
that the dress aud shawl were of the
cheapest material, and but poor defence
against the bowling storm and pltiless
cold, and the strange request dartcd again
with Tightening rapidlty through my
brain.
Draw nearer to the fire. I said. You
are numbed. Warm yourself, and
Il have no time-niust not stay she an.
swered with sigh, though she dropped
heavily into chair and brushed away the
snow.drops from her face with her thin
hands.
Without waiting for further remon-
strance I hastened to get some reviying
medicine, OF which I saw she stood so
much In need, and with gentle force hold
II to her lips. :.
Il cannot-cannot,' she gaspcd, half
You must, I insisted. Remember I
nm physlcian-that Is q prescription
that your life may depend upon it.
Life! o God! How long and sad?
VIM It save my life, will It give me
strengthY
THAT certainly Is the object that I have
In urging you to take It! What else
should 1t beP'
Give 1t to me-
And she swallowed It without muir
mur, save one OF thankfulness.
wheeled her chair up nearer the fire;
stirred the Goals to a more brilliant glow,
hoping that the portion would quiet her
excitement, wake the chilled blood to q
warmer and swifter flow, and that sleep
wovld follow. And for moment i fan
cled I was right. The little hands drop
ped nervelcssly into her lap; the softly
yelled lids dropped over the deep blue
eyes; the head fell forward upon the
breast. But alas 1t was only inomen-
tary delusion. In another instant she
sprang to her feet again; pressed her
hands upon her temples, as II to still their
throbblngs, and looked wildly around.
% God! she exclaimed; u here amid
warmth and comfort and-and-,'
convulslve sobs chokcd any further ut
terance,
sit down and tell me the reason Of
your coming here,' almost commanded,
as placed her IN the chair.
'Ah! remember all now. Remem-
Der! Is there no such word rs fOrgetful-
nessP Yes. remember all. i came
here Toto
BE calm. I understand that You are
In need and came for assistance
Il came,' she replied, and looked upon
me with such utter dispalr, and spoke SO
calmly that It made my blood run cold: Il
came Doctor to sell my body
Was talking to q sane woman or a
maniac? The latter was certainly my
thought, but could detect nothing In the
clear blue eyes Of the wanderings OF In
sanity. Sell her body! She spoke OF 1t
as an everyday transaction.
Great Heaven" / exclaimed, laying
my fingers upon her pulse with the ex-
pcctatiOn of finding II bounding with race
horse rapidity, but OH the contrary fnd.
Ing It moro calm than my own. Great
Heaven! You cannot be In earnestH'
4 am In earnest. God alone knows how
much In earnest. 1t was my last resort.
VIII you buy itf VIII you give me some
money for itS'
And she reached out her hands toward
me as q mlser would have done who heard
the dear sound OF jlngling gold.
How car purchase itr You. are yse
allve.'
But will soon die, and then-then you
can claim It. For the love Of Heaven give
mo a llttle-just little money And
the hitherto dry eyes were flooded with
tears.
'why do you wish to sell It? You can,
not but understand that It Is an unhearu
OF proceeding. Our profession never pur-
chases bodies chow shuddered rs l gas
cd Into her face, while I was forcing my
self to calmly utter tho wortls,) before
death, no matter what he may do alter
II know It'll know It, but must have
money, and there Is no other means lett
me to get It. ] must have It now Instant
lyH 49,. i,
And she would have risen again, but
rcsolutely held her down.
For what purpose do you wish t!'
TO purchase food, fire, medicine
For yourself?
,Ah! no. Had that been the case ! new
or would have come hlther. would nave
lain down In the gutter and died. Coo