News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1885-05-14

size, she came to be constantly busy
Babies grew quiet as she took them j
her arms, fever became lighter at th
touch of her cool hands, and pain wa
easier to bear after Marie had banG
aged the wound.
Those who had been sick growle
when we'll that she should be indulge
in her whims, and the whole peopl
came in time to consider her gifts, whic
were those of good nurse, as a
especial provision for their necessities
DIR. Hoyt, it CHANGED, had neve
before been summoned. 1t was
sight, pitiful even to professional eyes
that met his view, as he entered tn
cabin.
The boy was groaning and writhin,
on a pile of straw in one corner th,
close, dark room was crowded with mel
smoking and women chattering-mel
aa4and wSmen ~slike~tilthy as their sur
roundings. The one mitigating circum
stance was the woman kneeling by thu
bed, gently bathing the wounds, bu
evidently ignorant of further remedy
The Doctor recognized her as the son,
who talked for them"
"Send these people OUT" he said Il
her. "They are killing him, using tn,
little air there is with their vile pipes. ,
"They will not CO." she answered
'1t is not customary with my people tt
trust the worlds people,"
With an ejaculation, expressive of dis.
gust, DIR. Hoyt turned to his patient.
shall not attempt diagnosis; there were
broken bones and ghastly wounds. The
boy was fast weakening from his more
than mortal agony.
Chloroform, that angel of solace to
the sufferer, was first administered; and
the long-bearded men, gathered close
arouD the bed, watched the immediate
effect Of the medicine, and saw that the
boy gasped little, grew more quiet,
and lay dead.
The enlightened reader will not find
it easy to comprehend ignorance such as
pASA4E', cuu bhCoO IACA Aho OAlJ tl1C Cfl-
dence of their senses, with no past ex-
porience, or even knowledge. 1t was
only natural, therefore, that they should
jump to quick conclusion, and that
hatred of the alien and stranger, already
strong enough, should, with this added
provocation, call forth every mans
knife. with intent to kill
DIR. Hoyt was too taken by surprise
to be more than dismayed at first.
The threatening glances at the bed, the
redoubled howls of one of the women,
made plain the cause of the murderous
preparations. He turned to the girl by
the bed, whom he had thought of
higher grade of intelligence than the
rest; but her face showed only panied
distress.
sit is chloroform. Don't you know ?"
he said, appealing to her. SIT will make
him sleep while I set the bones. Then
he will awaken. Tell them quick, or it
will be too late."
She looked at him long before she
spoke. and the rest waited, b1eathless,
for her words. She noted the dexterity,
the certainty of his motions, and her
faith rose above the judgment.
"He says it will be right" she said,
in Russian, ''that he will sleep only till
rne wounds are dressed. do not un-
S=-~.end; but I think he knows. See,
"a works in a good way. 1t is the
custom in America, perhaps. Do not
kill him yet"
The Doctor worked rapidly, and the
men fell back into one corner and num-
ureu together. One OF them spoke
presently, gesturing d great deal and
pointing to his knife.
"He says" translated Marie, ''that
hey will not kill you. if your words are
true, and the boy lives. If he dies,
you will not leave us alive. That is but
just"
She spoke in tone of calm convic-
ton, and, seeing that to argue was but
to waste breath, the Doctor turned again
to his patient, upon whose chance of
life his own depended. He was not a
religious man; but I think he prayed as
we'll as labored during the next half
hour; for, humanity speaking, there was
every probability that some of the many
wounds were fatal, and that the sick
one would never revive.
Marie watched more intently than any
of the others. Her confidence increased,
and every few minutes she turned to the
group with an imperious nod.
"He is right; he is right" she said.
When, finally, the boy opened his
eyes, and knew pain again, the men
and women wished to bring altar gifts
to lay at the physicians feet; but Marie
only said, tearfully:
"We did not know that America held
so wise man. I will never think,
hereafter, that am called to nurse the
sicE"
Everything depends upon you now,''
he answered. Nursing must do the
rest" and, leaving directions, he drove
away, meditating seriously, for SO light
hearted man, upon his strange escape
from death.
For two weeks he was daily caller at
the cabin; and long before the end of
that time his interest in the boy had be-
come secondary to his interest in the
nurse, who developed astonishing abil-
ity. She seemed to expand and human
ize from day to day.
'She would be fortune to any CON-
munity." he said, in speaking of her.
"Such gifts of voice, touch, and manner,
rarely come in one person" Her hands
were his especial admiration; he held
the right one in his own, one day, and
looked at it steadily; it was large and
flexible, perfect in shape, and imbued
with a strength that made simple con-
tact with it pleasant. He looked at her
face, and its expression made him drop
his hand.
'You must be very strong" he said.
eyes," she answered. my ancestors,
you know, killed oxen with their fists.
| am very strong"
The rest of the community were IN
accountable in their behavior. After
that first day, when they we're disposed
to crown his head, and lay doves at his
feet, and make him feel altogether like
a fool, they seemed to return to their
first state of suspicious dislike, tempered
only with some dread of his mysterious
power.
1t was week after his last visit, that