The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1895-04-30
The Doctors Of HOuldnd
BY A. CONAN DOYLE.
copyright, 1895, by the Author.l

on the very first day that the law al
lowed him to put his name at the foot of
prescription. In few years the old
gentleman retired and settled ON the
South coast, leaving his son in undis-
puted possession of the whole country
side. Save for DIR. Horton, near Bas.
ingstoke, the young surgeon had clear
run Of six miles in every direction and
took his 81, 500 year, though, as is
usual in country practices, the stable
swallowed up most of what the consult
ing room earned.
DIR. James Ripley was two and thirty
years of age, reserved, learned, unmar-
ried, with set, rather stern features and
thinning of the dark hair upon the top
of his head, which was worth quite a
hundred year to him. He was par
ticularly happy in his management of
ladies. He had caught the tone of bland
sternness and decisive suavity which
dominates without offending Ladies,
however, were not equally happy in
their management Of him. Profession
ally he was always at their service. So
cially he was a drop of quicksilver. In
vain the country mammas spread out
their simple lures in front of him.
Dances and picnics were not to his taste,
and he preferred during his scanty lei
sure to shut himself up in his study and
bury himself in Virohow's Archives"
and the professional journals.
Study was passion with him, and
he would have none of the rust which
often gathers round a country practi-
toner. 1t was his ambition to keep his
knowledge as fresh and bright as at the
moment when he stepped out of the ex-
animation hall. He prided himself OH
being able at moments notice to rat
| tie off the se<en ramitications of some
obscure artery or to give the exact per-
centage of any physiological compound
After a long day $ work he would sit up
half the night performing iridectomies
and extractions upon the sleeps eyes
sent in by the village butcher, to the
horror of his housekeeper, who had to
remove the debris next morning His
love for his work was the one fanaticism
which found place in his dry, precise
nature.
1t was the more to his credit that he
should keep up to date in his knowledge,
since he had no competition to force him
to exertion. In the seven years during
which he had practiced in Hoyland three
rivals had pitted themselves against
him, two in the village itself and one
in the neighboring hamlet Of Lower
Hoyland. OF these one had sickened
and wasted, being, as it was said, him
self the only patient whom he had treat
Ell during his 1S months of rurali2ing.
A second had bought fourth share Of
Basingstoke practice and had departed
honorably, while third had vanished
one September night, leaving Quilted
house and an unpaid drug bill behind
him. Since then the district had be-
come monopoly, and no one had dared
to measure himself against the estab-
lisbed fame of the Hoyland doctor.
1t was, then, with feeling of some
surprise and considerable curiosity that
on driving through Lower Hoyland one
, morning he perceived that tho new
house at the end of the village was &C.
cupied, and that virgin brass plate
glistened upon the swinging gate WHICH
,, faced the highroad He pulled up his
80 guinea chestnut mare and took a
good look at it. "Verrinder Smith, M.
d., - was printed across it in very neat,
; small lettering. The last man had had
lettering half foot long with lamp
; like a fire station. DR.. James Ripley
noted the difference and deduced from
it that the newcomer might possibly
prove more formidable opponent. He
was convinced of it that evening when
he came to consult his medical direc-
tory. By it he learned that DR.. Yer
rinder Smith was the holder of superb
degrees; that he had studied with dis
tinction at Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin
and Vienna, and finally that he had been
awarded gold medal and the Lee Hop
kins scholarship for original research in
recognition of an exhaustive inquiry
into the functions of the anterior spinal
nerve roots. DR.. Ripley passed his fin
gers through his thin hair in bewilder-
ment as he read his rivals record.
What on earth could so brilliant man
mean by putting up his plate in a little
Hampshire hamlet?
But DR.. Ripley furnished himself
with all explanation to the riddle. No
doubt DR.. Verrinder Smith had simply
come down there in order to pursue
some scientific research in peace and
quiet The plate was up as an address
rather than as an invitation to patients.
OF course that must be the true explana
ton. In that case the presence of this
brilliant neighbor would be a splendid
thing for his own studies. He had Of
ten longed for some kindred mind some
steel on which he might strike his flint.
Chance had brought it to him, and he
rejoiced exceedingly
And this joy it was which led him to
take step which was quite at variance
with his usual habits. 1t is the custom
for newcomer among medical men to
cell first upon the older, and the ETH
quette upon the subject is strict. DR..
Ripley was pedantically exact on such
points, and yet he deliberately drove
over next day and called upon DR.. Yer
rinder Smith. Such waving of cer-
emouy was, he felt, a gracious act upon
his part and fit prelude to the init
mate relations which he hoped to estab.
fish with his neighbor.
The house was neat and we'll appoint
ed, and DR.. Ripley was shown by a
smart maid into dapper little consult
ing room. As he passed in he noticed
two or three parasols and lady's sun
bonnet hanging in the hall 1t was a
pity that his colleague should be mar.
ried man. 1t would put them upon a
different footing and interfere with
those long evenings of high scientific
talk which he had pictured to himself
On the other hand, there was much in
the consulting room to please him.
Elaborate instruments seen more often
in hospitals than in the houses of pri-
vate practitioners were scattered about.
A sphygmograph stood upon the table
and a gasometerlike engine. which WAS