The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1874-03-06
SeIerte0 gtoru.
A DOCTORS ADVENTURE

"And now we'll have a COSY, com
Portable evening together" said m,
wife. "And-but what's that IrVing?i
My wife started nervously as
sharp peal of the bell interrupted
our brief interval of domestic quiet
"Only the surgery bell, my dear
Somebody wanting me, I suppose.
And / went down stairs, secretly
wondering to myself if, after ali
there is such a wide difference be
tween a galley slave and a 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 close carriage, and a man stand
ing at the horses head.
"Who's there-what's wanted?''
asked, coming to the Threshold, and
instinctively buttoning up the over
coat I had hurriedly thrown on.
@Yeu're wanted, Doctor" said the
man, speaking indistinctly behind
the muf1ing that surrounded his
face.
eyes; but what for? Who wants
meF'
II am not at liberty to tell"
/ had already entered the carriage,
but this suspicious answer inspired
me with distrust. / made step to
descend, but / was too late. The
vehicle was already in motion.
at is quite unnecessary to alarm
yourself, DOCTOR" said s quiet. meas
ured voice at my side. Believe me
you are quite safe; and I trust you'll
not feel any uneasiness when 1 tell
you that you must be blindfolded.' -
And at the same time a folded
bandage was deity slipped over my
eyes.
aHold" 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"
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 un-
known companion kept time to my
own uncomfortable thoughts.
At length my companion spoke
again in the same soft, modulated
tone:
doctor, once more little precau-
ton is necessary-your promise
never to divulge to a human soul a
word of this nights visit"
/ hesitated.
II cannot bind myself by any such
covenant. The relations between
physician and patient are of course
confidential; but"
The carriage paused abruptly here,
and the door was swung open. AT
the same instant something cold
touched my temple. 1t was the muz-
zle of a pistol. / recoiled in hor-
ror.
"YOu surely would not murder
meP'
"You promise, doctor?"
II promisep I gasped, rocoiling
once more from the chilling touch of
the cold steel at my temple.
every well; come!"
I was led up a narrow walk through
a doorway into a room, where my
bandage was removed suddenly from
my eyes.
The spot was very familiar to me
-ruinous cottage, long since aban-
doned to decay, in the very heart of
dense, swampy woods. How the car
riage ever reached it l was at loss
to know. Upon pile ofstraw, hur-
riedly thrown into the corner of the
mouldering floor, lay PROSTATE fig
ure, moaning at every breath. His
face was concealed by a handker-
chief, and the blood was slowly drip
ping from a gunshot wound just
above the ankle-a wound that had
been clumsily bandaged by some un-
skillful hand. Moreover, there was
dark red stain upon the straw
where his head lay, and his light
brown hair was matted with goag-
ulated drops. Two or three men
stood around, with rude masks of
black cloth drawn over their faces,
in which three slits were cut for the
eyes and mouth, and female figure
knelt behind the straw, yelled closely.
The men silently made way for
me as l advanced into the apartment,
and held their lanterns SO that the
lurid light should fall full upon my
strange patient, as silently stopped
and examined both wounds.
"Well% asked my carriage com
panion.
Al can do nothing. The man
must die"
Nonsense! /! a mere bullet through
the leg-What does that amount top
hurriedly gasped the man.
ain itself, not much; but that
blow upon the skull must prove
fatal"