St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-11-27
THE UNKNOWN DOCTOR"
A Story of Emperor Joseph III and Crue
Physician.


Physician.
Night was falling over Vienna, and
the cold November rain, which had
been threatening all day, was begin
ming to come down in earnest Every
one seemed to have gone home who
had home to go to, and the streets
were almost deserted. when tall man,
in broad-brimmed hat and long. dark
cloak, came tramping down a narrow
lane in one of the poorer quarters of the
city.
Nowadays. any one can walk about
Vienna at night safely enough; but a
hundred years ago, when rogues and
vagabonds swarmed in every street,
few honest people cared to be out after
dark more than they could help. The
cloaked man, however. went forward
briskly and fearlessly enough; but
any one who had been watching him
would have noticed that whenever he
happened to pass policeman, he kept
his head down, and pulled at the collar
of his cloak, as if wishing to hide his
face as much as possible.
ALI at once ragged, half-starved boy
came flying past, who, catching sight
OF the tall man, ran up to HIM, and
said, imploringly:
Zone gulden (forty cents), good sir;
just one, for PHYS saker'
He hung back little as he spoke,
as if fearing that his petition might be
answered with hard word, or even a
blow. But the tall man replied, in a
kindly tone:
why do you want gulden so
much. my boy? Are you hungry?"
..It's not that" painted the boy.
Mothers very i'll, and the doctor
won't come to see her unless l give
him gulden first. and l haven't got
so much as cent; and perhaps mother
may die in the meantime"
The stranger paused and looked
keenly at the boy, his large eyes SEEM
ing to glow like live Goals under the
dark shadow of his SLOUGH hat Such
tales were told every day by the knaves
and beggars of the town; but the poor
little fellow looked thin and miserable
enough to make his assertion that he
had no money only too probable. and
could not be mistaken.
Here's gulden for you, my lad.
Go quick and fetch the doctor, and I'll
look after your mother in the mean
time. if you'll tell me where she lives"
The boy hastily gave him the adj
dress, and, muttering few broken
words of thanks, darted away, like an
arrow from a bow.
$50. here's an adventure alreadym
the unknown; land strange
one it seems likely to be. There are
doctors in this town, it would seem,
who would let sick woman die
rather than lose a gulden. And yet
people call me hard-hearted. Bah.'
just then he passed = bakers store,
and sudden thought appeared to
strike him. He went in and bought
small brown loaf, taking care to choose
the freshest he could find. In that part
of the town most men were fond of
keeping their faces hidden, so that the
baker was not surprised to see his Gus
toner pull his hat over his eyes as he
came in; but it struck him that the
hand which took the loaf was far too
white and well shaped to suit the
greasy, threadbare cloak that hung
over it. The stranger pushed on at
brisk pace through the maze of crook
ed, gloomy alleys. and soon reached
the house to which the boy had direct
ed him
A dismal den it was. much more
ike wild beasts lair than the
abode of any human being. Not with
out more than one awkward stumble
lid the visitor make his way up the
pitch-dark and tumble-down stairs, to
The small, bare. chilly garret in which
the sick woman was lying. with nothing
but an old plank between her and the
1ard. plank floor. He greeted her
Kindly, and she, supposing him to be
he doctor whom her son had gone to
setch, told him all about her illness
readily enough. But he soon saw that
what she was suffering from was simply
and breaking up the loaf
which he had brought, he proceeded to
iced her with the softest morsels of it
Now" said he. seeing that she was
to revive little. 'I'll write
lown the name of medicine which |
hink will do you good. Send your
ION with this paper tomorrow morn
ng to y Ferdinand street. and they'll
give you what you want apS not charge
Tou any thing for it,
May God bless you!' murmured
he poor woman. family.
At that moment the rickety stair