The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-08-21


him to come back to school, and he
answered to please excuse him. After
bit she asked him if he wouldn't come to
oblige her, and he said he calculated he
was obhgin her more by stayin away.
Well, come to that she didn't know
what to say or Go; womanlike she upped
and cried, and then she said he hurt her
feelings. And the upshot of it was he
said he'd come, and they shook hands on
it-Abe givin his other hand of course.
Well, Abe kept his word and took up
schoolin as if ,sothing had happened,
and such schoolin as there was that
winter! I don't believe any regular
academy had more learnin and teachin
that winter than that what that district
school did. Seemed as if all the scholars
had turned over a new leaf. Even wild,
ornery, no account Ephe Dodge couldn't
help but get ahead sofae--but then he
was crazy to get the schoolma am, and
she never paid no attention to him, just
went with Abe. Abe was teachin her
mathematics, seeing that was the one
thing where he knowed more than she did
outside of farmin. Folks used to say
that if Ephe had Abe's head or Abe had
Ephe's face the schoolma'am would
have half of the Dodge farm whenever
oil man Dodge got through with it, but
neither Of them did have what the other
had, and so there it was you see.
Well, you've heard of Squire Cation of
course. Judge Cation they call him since
he got to be judge of the supreme court
and chief Justice at that. Well, he had
a farm down there not far from Fox
river, and when he was there he was
Just plain farmer like the rest of us,
though up in Chicago he was high up
lawyer, leader of the bar. Now it 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 Butter
fields 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, Ills, you understand
and knew all the doctoriA 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 doin
what law business there was to do, and
Brainard 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, seein he had more
carving tools than you could shake a
stick at. He asked him particularly if
there wasn't anybody he could treat for
ssstrabismus." The squire hadn't heard
of anybody dying of that complaint, but
when the doctor explained that strabis-
mus was French for crosseyes he natu-
rally thought of poor Abe Dodge, and
the young lawyer 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 anything he was
mind to with his misfortunate eyes. No,
he wouldn't wait till the old folks come
home. He didn't want to ask no advice.
He wasn't afraid Of pain nor of what
anybody could do to his eyes-couldn't
be made any worse than they were, what
ever 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 wasn't nothing else to do
but go ahead. The doctor opened up his
killing tools and tried to keep Abe from
seeing them; but Abe, he just comeright
over and peeked at 'em, handled 'em and
called 'em splendid, and SO they were,
barrin havin them used on your own
flesh and blood and bones.
Then they got some cloths and basin
and one thing another and set Abe right
down in chair. (No such thing as
chloroform in those days, youth remem-
berry And Squire Cation was to hold an
instrument that spread the eyelid wide
open, while Ephe was to hold Abe's head
steady. First touch of the lancet and first
squirt of blood, and what do you think?
That ornery Ephe wilted and fell fiat on
the floor behind the chair!
esquire" said Brainard, "step around
and hold his head"
IT can hold my own head" says Abe
as steady Us you please. But Squire Ca
ton he straddled over Ephe and held his
head between his arms and the two ham
dies of the eyespreader with his hands.
It was all over in half a minute, and
then Abe be leaned forward and shook
the blood off his eyelashes and looked
straight out Of that eye for the first time
rince he was born. And the first words
he said were:
'sThank the Lordl She's miner
About that time Ephe he crawled out
doors, sick as dog, and Abe spoke up.