Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-02-02

Wimbush and her daughter Garry, living
/ together n Wilmington Lodge, Hgbgate
1 MIS-. Narrables, the youthful and ungrand
! mOthcrly, dwelling by herself at Taunton
and deyotinp her time TO collecting sub
scriptions for different charitable objects
mot forgetting her own rents Mrs. Vim
bush seldom corresponded with her
mother They were on the best Of terms
now, vet, by sort Of tacit understanding
each pursued the even tenor Of her
way, very rarely interchanging ecstacies BY
post.
In the spring Of 1863, Mrs. Wimbush
shut up house in Highgate, and came with
her daughter to Bournem0uth, where she
hired a villa Many of her friends were
staying at BournemOuth and through the
assistance Of parties and jaunts, and pic.
mics and balls, she made great many
more. Among these, the Brookshanks
must be especially noticed as particularly
involved in this brief history.
Old Brookshank ESQ everybody called
him., cheerful old person on the shady
side of sixty, was very rich, but very un.
presentable, in the eyes OF the rather rigid
society Of the place. He had made his
money by the invention Of patent medi,
cine, familiar to US all by the name OF
Brookshank's Infallible Ointment. II
brought him no end Of money. But al
though he lived in grand house in fash
ionable watering place, he was still sole
proprietor Of the 1nfallible Ointment, and
his London mandatory and depot was
yet in full working, with Brookshank '
over the door, and pictures OF people with
sore limbs all over the windows AL this
/ society might have winked at-might have
Admitted him within its doors upon suf'
ferance, and pretended never to wake to
the notion Of stranger present in the
gallery" But the worst of old Brook
| shank was, that not content with living on
! ointment, he talked ointment always, and
pulled it everywhere. 1t was not hypocri.
| sy; the man believed in it, heart and soul.
| He said he had sacred mission TO allevi-
ate the woes Of mankind at thirteenpence-
halfpenny the box; and he meant it. He
believed in all his testimonials-more de-
voutly than the writers could have done.
He was consciously of opinion that the
ointment was, as he said, good for NOR.
tai complaint, inside or out" He carried
bills with him everywhere, and distributed
them zealously as though they had been
tracks "Shall cease" said he, whilst
single fellow-creature suffers agony that
/ can cure?" Society could not stand this !;
for the man would have distributed his
bills in every ballroom and every soiree,
and never rested till each guest was sup
piled with a picture Of bad legs and a
string of testimonials. He believed in his
mission as much as Mohammed did. He
said he had committed many sins in his
lifetime, but he trusted the good his oint.
ment had done to suffering humanity might
be taken into account when they were
reckoned up. The ointment was his creed
the ointment his extreme JUNCTION.
Brookshank's sister kept his house; a
little old maid, who believed in him as
much as he did in himself; would move
softly in his presence, from a reverent re-
gard for the great healer of the people ;
who would place his last published testi
monals in her hymn book, and read them
on Sundays with every appearance Of de-
voutness--offering up thanks from her
simple heart for the good works he had
been enabled to do. Brookshank had two
sons, both getting on towards middle age.
Thomas, the eldest, surgeon, with cap
ital practice, used to declare that half his
cases among the poor were those of peO-
pie suffering from the effects Of the Infal-
lible Ointment though, of course, he only
said so to tease his aunt His brother,
Charles, was lawyer, of good position
and good circumstances. Neither was mar
ried people said they were not marrying
men. What blunders people make, some
times, on this score!
CHAPTER III.
1t was strange what an impression Mrs.
'Wimbush seemed to make on those two
men. She met them everywhere, and the
attentions they paid her were plainly
marked by something warmer than polite
ness Presents too--f1owers and hot
house fruit-found their way both from
Mr. Tom and Mr. Charles to the widows
table OF the two, Mr.. Tom was by far
the most in earnest. Yet she feared to en-
courage either, and for some time pre-
served an attitude of strict neutrality be-
tween the rival powers, and could con-
scientiously report that she was on terms
of the closest friendship with each of the
belligerents; the fact being that the key
of her impartiality was less a matter Of
sentiment than a desire to ascertain the
relative standing Of the two. brothers in
the eyes of their father with regard to flu
ture contingencies.
1t was not long before she had an oppor-
tunity Of satisfying herself on this point.
The sincere admiration she pr0fessed for
the Infallible Ointment made old Brook
shank's sister her sincere friend for life,
and Mrs. Wimbush became visitor at the
big house. She soon found that old Brook.
shank had bad opinion Of his eldest son,
Tom. Partly jealous Of man who pro-
fessed the art of. healing as derived from
books, and expressed criticism as to the
inspiration of the ointment, and partly dis
trust Of a man who might find out It's sa-
cred ingredients, and hold them up to pub
lie derision, contributed to this bad Opin-
ion. Tom was hereto, and an unbe-
lever in the Brookshank creed--a scoffer
at the best authenticated testimonials-and
held the government stamp in open con-
tempt. Charles was not SO. Hard man of
law though he was, he consumed quanti-
ties of the ointment, or professed to do SO,
and always said it did him good. Mrs.
| Wimbush would talk ointment by the hour
with old Brookshank, and consequently
became great favorite, besides getting the
credit for being q most discriminating
woman. The old man would even 20 &C
far as to show her his unpublished testi
| IL. lat