The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-02-02

Wno W JuSeAy AhhhV euoAoo6A6otAS w
lief in me by getting on, instead of mere
ly drifting along l set to work, and
my naturally retiring tenn
per by trying very hard indeed.
If | had not been married should not
have tried; but then, on the other hand,
the fact that me trying to win seemed to
make me fail in winning. We took
lodgings in a poor neighborhood, where
many patients might mean q few fees;
we economized more and more; and / oc-
casionally earned q guinea or two here
and there from the medical journals.
But we could not afford to wait, and
meanwhile things kept getting worse in
stead off better. Sympathy suficed to
tell me Of what Annie was thinking
when she looked 50 grave; for ] was be-
ginning to accuse myself of having
wronged the one woman l loved by mar
rying her. She, I knew, was wronging
me BY accusing herself Of keeping me
down; and / knew that she, as well IS ],
would have shared starvation rather
than escape by undoing what we had
done. Love did not even look towards
the window, though Poverty was knock
ing furiously at the door.
At last, when things had reached the
threshold of the very worst, was offered
the place of surgeon on ship bound for
Jamaica, with the prospect of finding q
West Indian settlement at the end Of a
few voyages. 1t was the only sort Of sp-
pointment had not asked for, because
it was the only sort that would necessar-
lily divide me from Annie; and there
fore, as matter of course, it was the
only offer that came to me of its own
accord, / was sorely tempted to say no.
But there was nothing else to be done;
and very shortly l should have to sup
port not only q wife but child. That
made the parting all the harder and all
the more imperative At the same time.
So made arrangements with my en-
ployers to pay my wages to my wife dur
ing my sailings, sent her down to her
fathers, and went on my first voyage.
The Darien, which was my ship, had
many passengers; but none of them gave
me much trouble in my professional
capacity save one. But then he made
up for everybody.
His name was Julieus Mendoza sin
gular name for an Englishman; but I
was told he represented an old West In
dian commercial house which had been
established very nearly, if not quite, as
long ago a. the Spanish times. One Of
the ladies' on board nick-named him "the
Buccaneer." But to my fancy he looked
much more like the descendent Of one of
those much more successful free traders
who bought and sold what the pirates
and buccaneers took by the strong hand.
| have never wondered what became of
Captain Kidds treasures. / expect
some of the forefathers Of Mr.. Julius
Mendez, and others like them, could &C
count if they pleased for every dollar,
and had sent it down to their remote de-
scendants in company with their features.
Mr.. Mendez was = small, dried-up, bill
ious-looking man of between fifty and
sixty, with black fringe round yel-
low bald scalp, long hooked nose, and a
pair of sharp black eyesround which had
pressed the claws Of q whole flock Of
crows. His whole face was pinched and
keen; his expression, harassed, eager, and
yet not without dignity. People whe
knew something of him at home said he
was miser; Others who professed to
know him better, said that, whatever one
hand scraped in, the other threw away in
all sorts of solitary self-indulgences that
men call pleasures. Nobody spoke well
of him, and most seemed a little afraid
of him. In manner, he was always po
lite, but never cordial. . s...
But I had not been twenty-four hours
at sea before found out his ruling pas.
sion, or rather his ruling terror. 1t wat
q morbid dread Of death, and a perpetual
fear that he was going to die, which al
mest amounted to monomania. He un.
doubtedly had very sluggish liver, but
that did not account for such exagger
ated symptoms Of hypochondria From
the moment he fount out that / was 8
surgeon, l had no peace with him. He
discovered some new and alarming symp
tom in himself every day at least, and
more often twice or thrice every day.
expect, from his talk, that he studied
medical books whenever he was alone
and cultivated the art, common enough
of feeling in himself every new symptom
Of which he read. I had to treat Mr.
Mendez for heart, stomach, brain-every
organ that he had about him, or rather
to treat him for the liver disease while
affecting to treat him for these. And
yet, where health was not concerned, ht
was no coward. The Darien was once in
real peril; and while the other passenger
were thinking of the boats, Mr.. Mende,
had no thought but for an itching of the
nose, which he had heard was symp
tom Of incipient brain-softening. At last
/ did not know whether most to detest
or to pity Mr.. Mendez. ......
The day before we were due at Kings
ton, he said:
- ITO BE Continued