Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-10-17
The Story Tellrr.
TIT FOR TAT.
THE DOCTORS PRESCRIPTION.

Old DR.. Johns lived in the little vii
lage of Honeyhurst, and for 40 years
he had been the sole physician in the
district where he resided. No one
cared to enter the lists against him in
that locality, for the simple inhabit.
ants fully believed that there was not
such another master of the healing art
in the known world and so he drove
his red-wheeled gig over the lanes and
byways of the countryside without a
rival, and dared and bullied the in
habitants in his rough and kindly
fashion to his hearts content.
The doctor lived in great ramb'
ling house halfway down the village
street, with wide expanse of lawn in
front, and his little brick Office in one
corner next to the sidewalk. His
wife had died many years ago, 80 his
household was conducted by house,
keeper. But as the doctors family
was small, and he loved society, he
was hardly ever without student, to
whom he taught the healing art in the
back office. Thus it was that Charlie
Horton came to Honeyhurst to study
medicine with the doctor, and, as his
predecessor had done before him, oc.
cupied the back Office and the north,
west chamber. He came from a town
somewhat distant, and was unknown
to the town folks, and, like every
stranger who came among them, was
made the subject of much critical ex-
animation as be walked up the broad
aisle of the village church the Sunday
evening after his arrival. .
"Well, doctor, how are you? ?" said
Farmer Smith, as he leaned over the
gate of his cornfeld next morning as
the doctor came driving by.
"Ah, Smith, how do you do ?" re-
piled he, as he drew rein on the gray
mare and stopped. "How's your
folks?"
"Toler'ble, thank zee; wife's a little
ailin' this mornin'. See you've got a
new young man seed him yesterday
at church. Coin to make doctor
out O. him, eh ?"
ayes, I think So" replied the doc
tor.
"Think ye amt got the wrong pig
by the ear, eh, doctor ?" said the
farmer, laughing.
"Well, don't know" replied the vii
lage Esculapius "can't tell yet"
Now, "getting the wrong pig by the
ear" was one of the doctors great ex-
pressions-in fact, his favorite one.
Like Shakspeare's justice, he was "full
of wise saws and modern instances" !"
and had a proverb or apt quotation
upon every occasion. With him, if a
man made a mistake, it was "getting
the wrong pig by the ear" OF course
this popularity was we'll known
throug ghout all the country about
where he practiced, and hence the
quotation of Farmer Smith.
Time passed on, and Charles Hor-
ton became fully domesticated in the
doctors household. He was a fine
young fellow, somewhat overconfident,
perhaps, and needed the rein little.
This, the doctor was not slow 10 put
on, and he mingled his instructions in
the healing art with admonitions about
"getting the wrong pig by the ear, ;"
until Charles was heartily tired of the
homely proverb. But he was good
fellow, nevertheless, and great fa-
vorite.
Two years passed away, and Char
lies studies with the old doctor were
drawing to close, when suddenly the
idea popped into his head that he
would 90 to Paris and finish his medi-
cal education with a course through
the Continental hospitals. DR.. Johns
pooh -poohed the idea, and thought it
utterly useless.
"Why, boy" said he, "what do you
want to be gallivanting off to France
for? What bee have you got in your
bonnet now? Can't you be satisfied
with home learning, but must 90 and
tack on some newfangled foreign tom
foolery, that will knock all your sensi-
BILE knowledge out of your head? Go
to Paris? Nonsense Don't get the
wrong pig by the ear !"
But Charlie was not to be talked
out of his new idea. He was bound
to 20 to Paris to study, and see the
world, and so one day he packed his
trunks, babe his friends good-by, and
mounted the stage-coach, was wheel
ed out of the village world. But be-
fore going, the old doctor called him
into his Office, and, shutting the door,
thus began
"Now, Charlie, you are off to for
eign parts, and hope you will enjoy
yourself. Stick to your books, and
get what knowledge you can out of
those fellows over there, although I
don't suppose they know so much
more than other people. But, never
theless, you may learn few things.
don't suppose you'll be apt to 60 to
acting, as you have been too we'll
brought up for that; and now I've
got something here that want you to
take with you. It's a recipe that it
has taken me a good many years to
find out. You will find it of great
value in your practice. 1t will cost
you 95."
L 81