Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-03-13
THE DOCTOR SKIPPED.
Sad Tale Of q Hopeful New Eng
land Citizen.

Everybody looked at a man with a
brC ken nose, and he hitched around
i'll a nervous manner, and then began:
Several years ago l was at work in
a livery stable in a town in New Eng
land. While | don't claim that l be-
longed to the cream of society, | must
nevertheless beg you TO believe that [
was honest and upright. and paid my
pew-rent i'll the Baptist church with
sacred regularity. / have no doubt
that, had heen permitted to pursue
my occupation u~ndisturbed, l should
in time have reached the top round Of
the ladder, and been elected mayo Of
the town. But, in the language of the
poet, "a dark cloud lowered DER the
scene
"One day as | was brushing Off a
bob-tailed, creain-coiored horse q GER
tain town doctor slid in on mo, and
auxiously inquired after the state of my
health. My health was good. He
wanted to know if had a tender heart.
| had. Then he took me to the back
end Of the barn and related a sad story.
A citizen of tho village had lost his
W fe. This doctor fully believed that
she had been buried while in a trance,
and he looked upon it as a solemn
duty to rosurrect the body, restore
life, and present the bereaved husband
with his own again. He wanted my
help 30 do all this, and, for fear that l
might be out OF pocket in the transact
ton, he promised mo 1925.
Now, gents, my sole motive in 90
ing into the job was to restore the wO.
man to life and to her glieving hus-
band. The $50 was an outside issue.
Tho doctor and l shook hands on
it, and that night. just before mid
night, | drove off to the graveyard
in a ons-hOrse wagon. The doctor
was there before me, and, for fe n that
someone might disturb our operations,
he watched while | attacked the grave.
1t took me a couple of hours to get the
cadaver out and into the wagon, for
the doctor left it all for me to do, and
just as we were ready to drive off he
heard some sound which caused him
to skip. The understanding was hat
the body was to be taken To a certain
college, ten miles away. Noono came
to annoy me, and after a bit / climbed
into the wagon and drove off for the
college. You'll naturally inquire if /
didn't feel a bit sbaky, driving along a
lonely highway, in a lonely night, with
a stiff so close behind me. In this
case l didn't. She was in a trance, and
we were going to bring her back to
life.
"Well, had logged along for about
five miles when Il couple of tramps, who
were going my way, asked me for a
ride. | made some excuse. but they
wouldn't accept it, and as | whipped
up they caught the endboard Of the
wagon and climbed in. In so doing
they pulled tho blanket off the cadaver,
and the yell they set up was my de-
%structiOn. The horse gave a sudden
jump. flinging me off the seat and over
the wheel, and then started off on a
dead run. l fell in such q way as to
break my leg, and couldn't move a
yard. Soon after daylight a gang of
excited citizens bounced upon me and
hauled me off to jail. The horse ran
about a mile after throwing mo out,
and left wagon and cadaver beside tho
highway. 1t was no job at all to trace
everything back to me, and, as the
doctor had skipped. l had to face tho
music alone. Gents, my case is a
warning that the innocent may suffer
as well as the guilty. lay in Jail for.
several months, ar d was then sent to,
prison for three years"