The Red Cloud chief., 1881-09-15

the safest and best thing to do. he
slipped OF upstairs aud went TO bed.
When he had 90: snuyly in bel Is
was beginning TO grow dark. Aboa,
an hour later his mother heard him toss
ing aud moaning. She came immedi-
ately To his assistance aud found him
sick indeed. She called Mr. Thomp-
son. n soon the whole family Was
alarmed. Should they send for the
doctor' II was three miles ;o town.
and he was too sick 10 wait so long.
Consequently they were obliged To take
the case in hand themselves; and when
they took a case in hand on the hilly
farms. when Sam vas q boy. IL meant
something. IL mean that either the
dis a or the patient was bound to
yield; and IL would be interesting to
know in just what proportion o. such
cases il was the patient who yielded.
But they had undertaken the case.
They began the course of treatment
with camphor and water. and n warm
oot-batii. and followed these with cat
nip tea. mustard poultic.s and Indian
liniment. Still Sam tossed and moan ii.
and the whole list was gone over ag sin.
Then his mother. who was Amos; as
fertile in medical as Aunt
Jane Wclton. thought % Number
Six" The thought had hardly more
than struck her when she called down
stairs:
Phoebe. look on the upper shelf in
the pantry and bring up the ho.-drops,
and be quick now"
Phpbe obeyed the command instant
ly. and ran up the stairs in such haste
as to stumble and spill a cupful of wa
ter which she carried in n band.
The hot-drops was hastily prepared.
but San shrap&. He had tasted some
Of it before, and it was terribly hot
stuff.
Take il at once. SAM" said his
mother in the most encouraging tones
she could command; land here's a
spoonful Of peach preserves for you. to
take the taste out OF your mouth"
With a heroic struggle he swallowed
the draught. and then. snatching up a
handful OF the bed-clothes To cover his
mouth, he said: ''Oh, no., no; / don't
want any preserves"
He soon afterward began r. get bet
ter. and again he improved rapidly. IL
he was liable to sudden attacks. we are
bound to say for him that usually he
was not long sick. and therefore con-
vaIesced quickly. In fact the whole
Thompson family. even after having
suffered a serious fright, was able TO re
tire in good order at eleven O'Clock that
night.
Sam slept soundly till morning and
walked i'm good health. But he had to
take a mild breakfast in bed and stay
there till the middle of the forenoon.
When he got up and dressed he looked
SO sound and hearty that his mother ex-
claimed: "Well. Sam, hOt-drops is a
wonderful medicine! I've heard your
Aunt Jane say it was good for anything
from a bunion To- the cholera"
All that is to be said further about it
is that Sam never told just what allied
him; and the reason is that they never
asked him. IL they had. he was quite
too good a piece of stuff to make a bad
matter worse By telling crooked story;
and so the cauSe of that mysterious but
brief spell Of sickness was never more
fully explained than it is here. But
after he was grown to manhood he
sometimes smiled at his mothers faith
in h~ot-drops; in fact. he often thinks
with fearful eyes of her earnest solicit
he was a thoughtless boy and unable to
provide for either; and to this day he
doesn't believe there ever was a woman
who could beat her making peach pre-
serves. X. SteUdrt, IN WIie-1Wake.