The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1869-11-05
gtlistelIanGOns Selections.
From Appleton's Journal.l
THE DOCTORS STORY.

I NfaafttN-T htlANuAAADAdhOCg L NV AAOhNO
cgil 1t what you will-choses for US ,
and we quietly slip into the groove
that seems to have been channelled
out for us in ages gone, and move on
ward. Free will, foreordination, fore
knowledge, unalterable destiny-well,
We win not stop to discuss these
questions now. They have vexed
stronger brains than yours or mine,
and we must be content to let them
pass unsoiled.
Nevertheless, it is mystery to me
how l happened to spend two-thirds Of
a long life in this little town of Altoona
high up among the mountains, out
of reach, until a comparatively recent
day, of railroads and telegraph-poles |;
far removed from the world of culture,
of books, of men; away from the
whirl, the stir, the hustle, the eager,
impulsive, eDgrossing life that I should
once have thought was the only life
worthy to be lived.
But-Marior had loved that quiet
secluded spot; and, when she left me,
after one short year of welded bliss,
l simply loath to leave the hills, the
woods the streams, the skys that had
been hallowed by her presence. Not
to spend my days in vain repinings, or
to fold my hands in dreamy idleness, g,
had a thoughtful yet busy life, aud
at length, as time deadened the keeness
of my anguish, and the turf thickened
upon her grave, life that grew full and
rich. A Thousand close and endearing
ties sprang up-nay, grew up-between
me and the plain, honest-hearted peo-
pie about me. They brought me love,
and l gave them love in return. Life
is not niggardly of our best gifts; she
will not turn US away empty-handed f,
If we come to her with arms outstretch-
led, and let her choose for US the
benefactions she is ready to bestow.
But she seldom allows US to choose for
Yourselves. Is it that she is wiser thar
we, and knows our needs better thar
we can know them?
Yet 1 felt that my life was greatly
enriched when the railroad was built,
and the quarries were opened, and
Dudley Randolph, with his fair wife
and three lovely children, came to live
in Altona. It had long been knowr
that the old Randolph Farm was ricf
in marble But, if it had held all the
wealth of Carrara hidden in It's greer
bosom, it would have ayailed little tt
the owners, so long as there was M
mode of transporting it from its noun
tain-bed to the populous cities, wheri
the living and the dead alike awaited
e its coming. With the laying of thu
iron track, however, and the shrill shriel
of the engine, there dawned a new da,
for these hills and valleys. Dudle,
Randolph, in the distant city where h'
lived, heard family the, dull thunder Q
the blast, the clinking of the drills, tn
monotonous grating of the saws, and
closing up his mercantile business, b
came back to the old homestead to Sc
for himself if gold were indeed hidde
~ in the blocks of marble, just beneatl
the surface of the pastures where hi
graudfather's cows had glazed.
Right over yonder, between tha
clump of naples and the big elm, 20
can see the gables of the house b
- built-a house whose quiet, unpretend
ing elegance did not put to shame ii
humber neighbors, nor exalt its ow
pretensions at the expense of their
1t seemed to grow out of the soil, an
to belong to the scenery as truly as di
the surrounding hills, and the gaun
powders that had been beaten upon b
the same storms of centuries.
d Idoubt if l can make you understan
: what that home, with its books, il
5, pictures, its flowers, its atmosphere {
J refinement, became to me. A quiet
y commonplace country-doctor, l ha
almost forgotten how much wealth, j
the hands of taste and culture, can ad,
o to the beauty of living. Still less ca
D l hope to tell you in fitting words wha
strength and joy and companionship
l. found in the society of Dudley anC
Isabel Randolph. With the exception
of the minister, l had been the onl
Iliberally-educated man in the littl
town, and, in more than one sense,
had been alone, until their comini
opened the door of new life.
Not at once, however. My lonl
seclusiou had made me somewhat sh,
; and reserved. 1 did not seek them
neither did they seek me. But on
night a messenger came for me. Littl
Ethel, the youngest child, was sick.
u 1t was case of croup-its first visi
to the family. For many hours tn
child's life hung in the balance. Nor
than once my heart failed me while
, unfiuchingly fought Death single-hand
ed. But at last, when hope was vel
nigh death, sudden relief came.
''She will live, Isaid, quietly. 9Th,
danger is over, Mrs. Randolph"
That night of conflict and of watch
ing brought US nearer together thar
years of ordinary intercourse nigh
have done, and from that hour the
couutry-doctor took his place in the
family as a chosen friend, an ever wei
come guest.
1t was a long time-so charmed wal
I with the peace, the purity, the appar
ent blessedness, of that home-before
perceived that, after all, it had it;
skeleton. Perhaps 1 might not have
perceived it even then, had 1 not been
physician as well as friend. Doctors
grow keensighted as ther grow older.
They learn, if they are men of clear
sight, to discern spirit as we'll as mat
ter, to read soul as well as body.
Learned at last Isabel Randolph, in
spite of her beautiful home, her noble
husband, her lovely children, was not a
happy woman. The knowledge came
Ito me by slow degrees. Not through
any confidence of hers; for she was not
one Of the weak women who are for
ever babbliug of their own sorrow, and
she was not given to tears or signing.
1t came to me through the sudden pal
Ilor Of her cheek, through the whiten-
ling of her lips, through the strange
stiffness that sometimes settled down
upon her when all around her were
giaddest and gayest. l read it in her
eyes-great changeful orbs, that were
now light, now dark, according to her
mood. Sometimes when | met them