Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-06-20
MY FIRST PATIENT.

IN your private rather than IN your piV,'s'
sicnsl capacitys Since my dear wiie nas
been falling thas sadly she has evlncea
Great dread OF medical men; ana were sue
to guess you other than an oralnsry gsese
trvmble for the consequences. Inc carr'ag.
win meet you al Blsckburne s,auon a'
whatever hour you pane, iours 'y''
truly. Asfhoh 'hA"fo"''
Th;s Is an extract from letter that
received on the 10th Of June, 1870, aud
being but . young fellow Of twenty-six,
was very much elsted thereby. The
great drawback to being what Ia called
s specialist Is that the generality ofpeo.
ple--for what reason ! have never been
able to discover--are afraid to employ
You until you are well on in years, and
Consequently this Mrs. Crawford, for
whom my services had boon enlisted,
was ny first private patient. My spe-
cialty was madness, and firing equally
Of hospital work and Of idling in my
own rooms, l was heartily thankful for
the good luck that had befallen me. In
a previous letter Mr.. Crawford had Civ
en- q detailed account ofhis wife's symp-
toms, and now all arrangements were
completed. and was due at his Berk-
shire homo on the following day.
When the train steamed into the lit
tic country station ] found carriage
and pair ready to meet me. Evidently,
to Judge by the general getup Of the
whole thing, the Crawfords were wealthy
folk; and this impression was confirmed
when We reached the house, which was
standing in the midst Of lovely park.
In true country fashion the hall doors
were standing open, and my host met
ne on the threshold with outstretched
hands.
"This Is exceedingly kind OF you"
be said, genially, "forI know you have
come at your very earliest convenience.
Journey from town pleasant? Yes!
That's right. James, take Mr.. Len
nox's things to his room. Lunch in the
morning room, hey? Come along, my
dear sir you must be half famished."
So saying he preceded me down a
long corridor, whence ! caught distant
climpses of q beautiful garden at the
back of the house and into q snug little
room where luncheon was laid. While
l discussed cold chicken Mr.. Crawford
went on chatting, and ere / went to my
room for a wash and brush up before
presenting myself to his wife we were
excellent friends. ! do not think |
ever met man who so much charmed
me at first sight nay, he more than
charmed, he captivated me. lie was
about thirty, and exceedingly hand
some, with fair, curly hair, and bright
blue eyes. He had bronzed complex
ion, and hearty laugh, and was alto
gether 8 most attractive specimen Of a
Young Englishman. When | had fin
ished luncheon, his manner changed alb
ruptly as he began speaking of his
young wife.
81 did not like to enter upon the
subject before you were rested" he
began courteously "but | am intense
ly anxious you should see her. For
some months past she has been suffer
ing from intense melancholia, and late
ly she has taken a deep distrust Of
those around her, more particularly Of
me-" He stopped abruptly and bit his
lip. doctor, simply worship her."
he went on passionately. 4" When mar
rieS, her Ave years ago, she was the
blithest, merriest girl in all the shire
and now. to see her like this-why, it
breaks my heart !" and he dropped
into q chair and buried his face in his
hands.
There was an awkward pause, for in
those days was too inexperienced to
be much of hand at consolation, and
then stepped nearer to him and laid
my hand upon his shoulder. "COme,
come" l said cheerily, "there is no
need to despair like this. We must
hope for the best. How does she show
her distrust Of your"
He raised his head to answer me.
" By keeping the boy from me, for
one thing. She will hardly let me
touch him."
1.-THE boy? A son Of yours?"
"Our only child" he answered.
dear little fellow Of nearly four; and
she betrays terrible fear whenever
have him with me-"
"Does she eat well?"
Hardly at ALL"
/" sleep at njght?"
He shook his head and then fol-
lowed q string of various professional
questions. Our conversation at an end,
/ requested to be shown to my room,
promising to be in the drawing-room
for S o'clock tea, when should be in
troduced to Mrs. Crawford.
GAS Mr.. Lennox, if you please"
suggested the husband as we crossed
the hall. "You remember that | asked
you to drop the Doctor, and seem an or
binary visitor? ?"
OF course / agreed; and then he told
me he had spoken to her Of Inc as an
old college friend and finally he left
me to myself.
When l descended to the drawing
room, l found both Crawford aud his
vito waiting for me. lie was standing
by the open window playing with the
climbing roses that were nodding by its
sill /; no was talking merrily as | en-
tered, and looked the personidcation Of
life and good spirits. A girl was stand
ing by the mantel shelf, with her back
toward me, and l had barely time to
admire the slight figure and graceful
pose before Crswford's voice rang out
in hearty cordially:
"Ah! there you are at last Let
me introduce you to my wife. Beatrice,
this is Mr.. John Lennox."
She had half turned when he began
speaking; but as he said my name she
gave sudden gasp, and confronted me
with large, startled eyes. | have seen
the eyes Of a shared bird and those of
. hunted stag, but l have never seen
such look Of piteous fear as dwelt in
hers then. For one moment she seemed
half mad with terror but the next it
fed as quickly as it came, and she held
out her hand in greeting. As she did
90, IN ugly scar on the smooth, white
wrist caught my eye. 1t looked to me
like an unskilful but intentional cut
L.. IL