Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1875-12-08
The Black Doctor.
ANNIE ROBERTSON NoxoN.


persons, We experience a certain amount
of shock and jar. Is it not true?
''Often such an introduction of spirits
is pleasant, and makes the blood more
hearty in its course through this poor
machine, the body, which we abuse like
beggar for some years and fly from
one eventful day with great disgust and
shuddering.
again this contact is like blow
from a hammer on a finger nail. We
are slightly stunned by il, and feel a
numbness and tingling, the result of a
ort of strike among the workers i'm the
workshop of the brain, which creates a
revolution not always short-lived.
"These encounters are frequent, and
are not to be avoided by running away
from home"
The speaker, man in the middle
years of his life; strictly pale, with a
shrinking nature which went much
against him in the profession he had
chosen-he was physician and sur
geon-pushed back the damp black hair
from his forehead with a nervous hand,
and looked at us seriously with pair OF
wonderfully black eyes. Eyes with
copper Innings that emitted now and
again, strange yellow CLEANS as one
may observe the eyes of black cat to
do, when she winks in the dark, or sits
blinking at the sun.
Such eyes looking earnestly into ours
-apidly made converts of us TO his doc
trines. Strange influences were at work
on us every hour in the day-of that
there could be no doubt, So much ac-
knowledged, the doctor assumed the air
of a teacher; and leaning back in his
great shagreen study chair, prepared to
disseminate information to us i'm any
shape. As we were all cut out and de-
signed for doctors, six harem-scarem,
crack-brained youths, with diseased
patrimonies and small expectations-we
were nearly all quite ready to listen to
a full-fiedged doctors experiences, and
TO profit by his wise reflections, seeing
in him a person of probity and success,
as he was by far the most successful
surgeon for miles around, although
comparatively a stranger at Progues-
burge and the neighborhood about
there, having settled only in the early
fall.
He had been introduced to the college
by Skinker, our demonstrator of anato-
nv, a fat little man with wild mess Of
coarse, red hair and a foxy beard.
Before the lectures, or after them, it
was not unusual for some of us, or all,
to drop into the doctors cosy office to
tell stories and listen to his. He was a
man of rare ability as story-teller,
and was sometimes uncomfortably re-
alistic, and gave more than one of us
students, rather bad dreams by his
manner of reducing odd adventures,
and archaeological facts into narra-
tive shape.
Poor Bob McMasters! How well l
remember his actual horror OF the
..black magician" as We called Brixton
among ourselves.
Bob always sat on the outside of the
circle of listeners; his girlish yellow
locks tossed back in a heap from his
white temples, frozen stare in ms blue
ewes and his hands working nervously
with his watch-guard.
Bob was a queer fellow, at best; a
quiet little chap, who was remarked for
his writing letters home all day Sunday
as sure as the day came, and taking long
walks alone. He was the meditative
kind, and it was rather strange how the
boys let him go his way unmolested.
1t is, and has been the fashion from
the days of Esculapius down TO the
present, for students to play uncon. !.
scionably foul jokes on each other, and
to get up cabals, much more often noted
for the wit there is i'm them, than the
modesty or elegance. Our fellows were
no better than other embryo doctors
were worse, perhaps, in many ways
but it was understood among us that
IN no rlaNnG in
shape. He was n gentleman every
inch, and although older than some
others, he was totally inexperienced in
tricks of any kind, and had been raised
at home like a girl. This could be seen
by the way he kept his needles and
threads in little worsted pocket, and
the dexterity with which he mended
his clothes and kept track of his linen.
He had little snuggery all to him
self in the clearinghouse, preferring
to be alone, even If in less cheeriul
ouarters-and as special favor, L was
often asked in to his den. Gard PIC
lures adorned the walls; little knlck-
knacks of brackets and sponge bags,
cushisn covers and shoe cases ieant a
cheerful, homely air to his miserable
little chambers and made the boys re-
spect, if they could not emulate him.
found him one night actually darn
ing his hose with monstrOus needle,
taking long time to the threading OF
livery careful to make regular wo-
mans knot i'm the thread and careful to
nut the knot underneath.
"why, Bob, old chap" l said slap
ping him on the back; ''you don't mean
to give yourself curvature OF the spine
i'm this sort of style, surely; come, ieave
that to the women folks, and lets go
over to Brixton's for an hour. Inc
other fellows are going; don't sit mop
ing here; if you ever expect to make a
sawbones of Bob McMasters for heavens
sake don't fry tn snoil his hand by Civ