Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-01
DOCTOR TRIFULGAS.
Jules Verne In Figaro !

Jules Verne I'm Figaro.l
The rising gale whistles. The rain como.
down in torrents. Low sway the trees under
the blast that sweeps the Volsinian shore
and dashes its fury against the slopes Of thu
mountains Of Crimma The rock bound
coast Is rent ana riven by the tempestuous
billows that surge and foam along the vast
MegaIocrida sea-
Inthe depth of the bay nsstles the little SEA.
port town Of Luktrop 1t boasts few hun.
dred houses with greenish miradors shelter
ing them from the winds Of the main, and
four or five steep streets that look more like
the beds of mountain torrent than public
thoroughfares Not far of smokes the Van
glor. an active volcano, which by day
belches forth thick volumes of sulphurous
vapor, and by night fitful floods Of fame
TbE Srater, seen fully $50 kertses out at sea,
answers the purpose of a beacon, and guides
home to Luktrop the coasters-felzanes. YER
hches, or balanzes-that plow the troubled
waters of the Megalocrida
On the other side of the town arc heaped
up ruins OF the Crimmerian era; while tho
suburb, of Moorish aspect, like q casbah or
Algerian fortress, with its white walls,
round roofs, and terraces calcined by tho
thrown together at hap-hazard Fhe whols
mass looks like a cluster of dice, the dots of
which have been worn away with age.
Among other peculiar structures may be
seen an odd.looking building called the Six
-Four from the number of its windows SIX in
front and four behind
A steeple rises above the town, the square
steeple of Saint Philfilene, with its bells
visible through the open stone-work, and
when they are swung las they are at umes)
by the violence Of the storm, it is accounted
q bad sign, and the good people Of the place
are filled with fear at the omen Such is
Luktrop, with a few stray houses on the
heath beyond, scattered amid the broom and
furze, as in Brittany. Luktrop, however. il
not in Brittany. Is it in Francss-I can not
say. In Europei-I do not know.
At any rate it were useless to look for the
place on the map
Tap, tap A discreet rap is heard at the
NARROW door of the Six-Four, on the left
hand corner of Messaghsrs street A CON-
Portable house this, if such a word Is known
at Luktrop and of the thriftiest of the
place, If to earn on an average . few
thousand fire zers a year be a sign Of thrift.
A Aferocious yelp, something between a bark
and howl, as from a wolf, has answered
the rap, whereupon a window above the
door of the Six-Four is thrown open, and an
Angry voice bawls out:
"To the devil with all intrudsrs"
young girl shivsring in the rain, with q
sorry cape thrown ovsr hsr shoulders, in
Quires If DIR. Trifulgas is at home.
He is or isn't-all depends"
Il come for my father, who il dying
~and where is he dyingp
@By the Val-karniou, four kertsss from
here"
-And what's his namsl"
@Vort Kartif"
"Vort Kartif-the cracknel-makerf-
YES; and if DR.. Trifulgas would only"
SDoctor Trifulgas isn't at home"
And the window is brutally closed in the
girls face, while the wind and the rain out
side mix their voices in deafening din
A hard man be, Dr. Trifulgas, with but
little feeling for u fellow-creature, and one
who attends a patient only if well paid in
advance for his services. His old dog, Hur-
Eof-a cross between a bull and q spaniel
would have more heart than he. The door
Of the Six -Four remains invariably closed to
the poor, and open only to the rich He has,
moreover, his scale Of prices; typhoid fever,
SO much; brain fever, 50 much; so much for
q pericarditis, and for as many more diseases
as doctors choose to invent by the dozen
And Wort kartif, the craknel maker, is q
poor man, with q penniless brood Why
then, should DR.. Trifulgss bedevl himself,
and on such night The rousing me from
my Sleep" snuffisd he, as he went to his bed
again, lis alone worth ten fretzers." Twenty
min hpl hxy tba. tk
knocker again woke the echoes Of the Six
Four. Grumbling, the doctor got out Of
bed, and from the window growlsd:
"Who is therei"
Il am Wort Kartif's wife,
"The cracknsl-maker from Val -KarniouF
~Yes; and if you don't come he'll die"
"Well, then, you'll be a widowl"
Here are twenty fretzenn-
~What! twenty fretzers to 60 to VslKAr-
niou, four kertses hence!"
@For Gods sake, comet"
"Io to the devilI' And, with an oath, the
window was again slammed Twenty
fretzersl" muttered he; "what an ideal Run
the risk Of catching cold or lumbago for
such a sum, when one has to attend to-mor-
row morning the gouty-but wealthy
Edzingov, at kiltrens whose ailment is
worth fifty fretzers a VISIT
With this pleasant prospect, Doctor Tri-
fulgas sought his bed and went to sleep as
soundly as ever.
Rap, rap, rap"
Three blows from the knocker struck with
a firm hand, have this time added their rat
tie TO the noise of the storm The doctor,
startled from his sleep, got up in towering
passion On opening his window the hurri-
cane came in like a whirlwind.
-'Tis for the cracknel-maker--
"What, again that wretchP
Il am his mother
May his mother, wife and daughter all
die with himlr
@'Tis fit"
@Ay, and tight one, no doubt chuokled
the doctor.
I'VE have a little money" said the old
woman, -an installment on the house sold to
Dantrup. the drayman, of Messagliers street
If you don't come, my granddaughter will be
without father, my daughter without q
husband, and myself without a son!"
1t was heartrending and horrible to hear
the old hags voice. and ts think that the
wind froze the blood in her visns, and
renched the very bones under her skin.
"A fit, say you! The fee is 200 frstzsrs,"
re1olned the heartiess leech.
I'VE have but 100"
Good night, thsnI" And oncs more the
window was closed.
On second thoughts, however, he came to
the conclusion that, for an hours trot and
half an hours attendance, l20 fretzers made
fretzers an hour-1 fretzer q minute! 1t
'as small profit at best, hut not quite to BE-
despised-
So, instead Of getting into bed, the doctor
dipped himself into his velvet suit, hurried
down stairs in q pair Of thick water proof
boots, mufiled himself up in a large overcoat,
put on his gloves and sou'wester, and, leav-
ing the lamp lighted on the table near his
Codex opened at page l07, pushed opened the
door Of the Six-Four, and appeared on the
threshold
The old crons was there, leaning ON q stick,
hsr frame smaoiatsd BY eighty ysars Of
misery.
"Ths money" said he.
Hare; and may God return IL . hundred
lpldrn