St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-11-09

eouiuli help but get ahead some
out then he was crazy to get tn,
schoolma am; and she never Daid mr.
attention to him, just went with Abe
Abe was teachin' her mathematics
seeing that was the one thing where
ne knowed more than she did-out.
side OF farmin'. Folks used to saw
that II Ephe had Abe's head, or Abe
had Ephe's face, the schoolma am
would have half of the Dodge farm
whenever the OF man Dodge got
through with it; but neither Of t hem
dld have what the other had, and so
there it was, you see.
Well, you've heard of Squire Cation
OF course; Judge Cation, they cali
him, since he got to be judge of the
supreme court-and chief Justice at
that. Well, he had farm down
there not far from Fox River, and
when ne was there he was Just a
plain farmer like the rest of us.
though up in Chicago he was a high,
up lawyer, leader of the bar. Now
1t SO happened that young doctor
named Brainard-Daniel Brainard
had just come to Chicago and was
startin' in, and Squire Cation was
helpin' him, gave him desk.room in
his office and made him known to
the folks-Kinzies, and Butter6elds,
and Ogdens, and Hamiltons, and
Arnolds, and all of those folks
about all there was in Chicago in
those days. Brainard had been to
Paris-Paris, France, not Paris,
Illinois, you Understandable knew
all the doctorin there was to know
then. Well, come spring, Squire
Cation had Doc Brainard down to
visit him, and they shot ducks and
geese and prairie chickens and some
wild turkeys and deer. too-game
was just swarmin' at that time. All
the while Cation was dom what law
business there was to do; and
Branard thought he ought to be
dom some doctorin' to keep his hand
in, so he asked Cation if there wasn't
any cases he could take up-surgery
cases especially he hankered after,
SEEM he had more carving tools
than you could shake stick at. He
asked him particularly if there
wasn't anybody he could treat for
"strabismus." The squire hadn't
heard of anybody dying of that COM
plant but when the doctor explain
ed that strabismus was French for
CROSBY es, he naturally thought OF
poor Abe Dodge, and the young
doctor was right up on his ear. He
smelled the battle afar off; and
most before you could say Jack
Robinson the squire and the doctor
were on horseback and down to the
Dodge farm, tool.chest and all.
Well, it so happened that nobody
was at home but Abe and Ephe, and
it didn't take but few words before
Abe was ready to set right down,
then and there, and let anybody do
he was mind to with his
eyes. No, he wouldn't
wait till the old folks come home
he didn't want to ask no advice he
wasn't afraid fpain, nor of what any
body could do to his eyes-couldn t
be made any worse than they were,
whatever you did to 'em. Take 'em
out and boil 'em and put 'em back if
you had a mind to, only go to work
He knew he was OF age and he
guessed he was master OF his own
eyes-such as they were.
Well, there was nothing else to do
but 60 ahead. The doctor opened
up his killing tools and tried to keep
Abe from seeing them; but Abe he
just come right over and peeked at
'em, handled 'em, and called 'em
"splendid"-and so they were, bar
rim havin' them used on your own
flesh and flood and bones.
Then they got some cloths and a
basin, and one thing and another,
and set Abe right down in a chair.
(No such thing as chloroform in
those days, you'll remember) And
Squire Cation was to hold an instru-
ment that spread the eyelid wide
open, while Ephe was to hold Abe's
head steadily. First touch of the
lancet, and first spirit of blood, and
what do you think ? That ornery
Ephe wilted, and fell fiat on the
floor behind the chair!
Squire" said Brainard, "step
around and hold his head"
II can hold my own head" says
Abe, as steady as you please. But
Squire Cation, he straddled over Ephe
and held his head between his arms,
and the two handles Of the eye-spread-
er with his hands.
1t was all over in half minute,
and then Abe he leaned forward, and
shook the blood off his eyelashes,
and looked straight out of that eye
for the first time since he was born.
And the first words he said were:
THANK the Lord She's mine"
About that time Ephe he crawled
outdoors, sick as dog; and Abe
spoke up, says he;
Now for the other eye, doctor"
"Oh," says the doctor, wed
better take another day for that"
"All right" says Abe; "if your