The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-06-11
A Doctors Adventure.

II hOOUO1 . A1OA O1AUIAAO "
:, "And now we'll have cosy, com
Portable evening together" said my
wife. ''And-but what's that, Irving
My wife started nervously as ;
sharp peal at the bell interrupted oul
I brief interval of domestic quiet.
"OnIy the surgery bell, my dear
Somebody wanted me, l suppose"
And l went Down stairs, secretly
wondering to myseifif, after all, there
was such a very wide difference be-
tween galley slave and country
doctor.
The surgery door stood wide open
but nobody was there, and through
the binding darkness without could
just discern the black outlines of q
closed carriage, and a man standing
at the horses head.
who's therc-What's WantingY ]
asked, coming to the threshold, and
instinctively buttoning up the over
coat had hurr1edly thrown on.
"You're wanted, Doctor" said the
man, speaking indistinctly behind the
muffiing that surrounded his face.
ayes; but what for? Who wants
me?"
81 am not at liberty to tell"
had already entered the carriage,
but this suspicious answer inspired
me with distrust. l made a step 10
descend, but was too late. The We
hicle was already in motion.
cit is quite unnecessary to alarm
yourself, DOCTOR" said q quiet, measur-
ed voice at my side. "Believe me,
you are quite safe; and l trust you
will not feel any uneasiness when 1
tell you that you must be blindfold-
ed."
And at the same instant a folded
bandage was deftly slipped over my
@Holdl" I calculated. at strikes
me that is rather superfuous. The
night is dark as Erebus, and you have
no lamp"
"Possibly." returned the dry voice,
''but it is best to run no risks"
s And then ensued a silence of some
ten or fifteen minutes, while the car
riage rolled swiftly along, and the low,
murmured breathings of my unknown
companion kept time to my own un-
comfortable thoughts.
AT length my companion spoke
again in the same soft, modulated
tones:
sDoctor, once more a little precau-
ton is necessary-your promise never
to divulge to human soul word of
this nights visit"
l hesitated.
81 cannot bind myself by any such
covenant. The relations between ply
sician and patient are of couIs Sc conf
dental but"
The carriage paused abruptly here,
and the door was swung open. At the
same instant some thing cold touched
my temples. It was the muZzle of a
pistol, recoiled in horror.
you surely would not murder me 2
"You promise, DOctor~
81 promise" 1 gasped, reeoiling
once more from the chilling touch OF
the cold steel at my temples.
every well. Gomez
/ was led up narrow walk, through
a doorway into a room; where the
bandage was removed suddenly from
my eyes.
The spot was very familiar to me
Il ruinous cottage, long since abandon
ed to decay, in the very heart of dense,
sWampY woods. How the carriage
had ever reached it L was at loss to
know. Upon pile Of straw, hurried
ly thrown into the corner of the moul-
dering floor, lay q PROSTATE figure,
moaning at every breath. His face
was concealed by handkerchief, and
the blood was slowly dripping from a
gunshot wound just above the ankle
a wound that had been clumsily band
aged by some unskillfuI hand. More
over there was dark red stain upon
the straw where his head lay, and his
light brown hair was matted with
coagulated drops.-Two or three men
stood around, with rude masks of
black cloth drawn over their faces, In
which three Sits were cut from their
eyes and mouth; and a female figure
knelt behind the heap of straw, veiled
closely.
The men silently made way for me
as / advanced into the apartment, and
held their lanterns so that that the
lurid light should fall upon my strange
patient, as silently | stopped and ex-
amined both wounds.
"Well ?" asked my carriage compan-
ion.
81 can do nothing. The man will
die"
"Nonsense A mere bullet through |
the leg-What does that amount TO ?"
hurriedly gasped the man.
"In itself, not much but that blow
upon the skull must prove fatal"
A low, half-suppressed cry broke
from the woman opposite. She tore |
the veil from her face, as il she could |
not breathe through its heavy folds, |
revealing features as white and beau
tiful in their marble agony as so much |
sculptured stone. She did not seem
more than thirty, but l afterwards |
knew that she was indeed ten years
older. But in spite of her present |
anguish how grandly beautiful she |
was Large dark eyes-hair like coil
ed gold, catching strange CLEANS from
the shining lanterns and broad,
smooth brow-it was face you see |
once in whole life time.
And yet, in the midst of her dis
tress, she never spoke.
cat least you can do something for
him, doctor?" said my interlocutor,
"Don't let us waste time
here
A. L Proceeded in my ministrations
tn moaning grew fainter and fainter,
the convulsive movements became
scarcely perceptible. A faint CLEAN
of hope lighted up the face of the wo-
man who knelt withclasped hands op-
posite she looked appealingly at me.
"He is better-he is surely better?"
"He will be better soon," l answer
ed, moved to pity in spite of myself. |
Gle cannot live more than half an
hour longer" !