Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-09-24

XA\ she spread her
MN broad wings and
~ caught the ocean
swell of Sandy Hook, nothing had
lbeen farther from my thoughts
than a voyage round : the Horn
Ia trip by balloon, an exploration
of African wilds, or or raid on the
north pole would have seemed propo-
Isition as feasible as this venture to the
southwark, to young physician strug-
Cling Intellectually to prove that the
community had need of him and that
the years of preparation for his profess
sion had not been thrown away.
Tt was chance the first that Capt. Alb
ner Peck should come back from Il
voyage to the west coast to find the
wife of his bosom in failing health, and
tc resolve to take her with him on his
next run to the farther side of the sis
ter continent. It was chance the sec
ond that, in his anxiety for his spouse,
the skipper should decide to ship n sur
geon; rs part owner of the Mary Peck,
he was entitled to some luXuries., 1t
was chance the third that the captain
and I, Alfred Morris, NJ. D., should meet
lat the house of q friend in the New Eng
land city in which was striving to earn
my daily bread; and it may have been
ichance the fourth that we fraternized
with uncommon cordiality. The sea-
man told me something of his plans;
i confded to him the story of few
slzirmishes of my uphill fight The talk
Tended in his making definite PROPOSE
ton. I asked As hours to consider it
<oI r
I gave up little. A few patients, chronic
as to maladies and uncertain as to pay
ments, would be forced to seek new
medical adviser; in exchange for them,
Il bargained for passage on fine ship,
lforgetfu.ness. of the landlord bugbear,
land pay sufficient to supply spending
money at the ports we might touch at
and to bring me home with a little
loose silver in my pockets.
T Once the die was cast, the thought of
Ifhe voyage filled me with glee; for it
ioffered n first prospect of adventure,
though from bOyhood mine had been an
teXistence of vicissitudes. Leftan orphan
an childhood, 1 had grown up into my
teens under the care of an uncle, an
,elderly bachelor, who treated me with
"a mixture of the fondness he felt for
kins folk and the distrust he manifested
toward those debarred from the suf-
frage by circumstances of age or sex.
He did not understand children, and he
feared women. He owned a small fac
tory in ROdneytOwn, a village on the
New England coast which had closed
it's days Of progress about the middle
of the century, but which still main
stained activity enough to keep it alive.
My uncle seldom attempted to inter-
Ifere with my amusements, which, as it
Happened, generally took me out of his
sight and hearing, thereby, no doubt.
gaining his tacit approval. / was a
rather solitary little fellow in those
days, with liking for prowling about
the fields and along the beach or pad
ding a crazy raft up and down the
shallow tidal streams in which the
;neighborhood abounded. and on the
banks of the largest Of which Rodney
town was built. Behind the village
rose long low ridge, and beyond that
in turn was a rolling country, well
wooded and fairly fertile. Between the
ridge and the beach stretched lowlands
ifringed on the seward side with salt
marshes, and penetrated in many places
iby the tidal creeks of which mention
has been made. For farming purposes
the lowlands were of little value, and at
mo time had they many jewellers. In
fact, to this day there is scarcely habi-
itation to be found from one end of the
plain to the other. though little way
Iup the slope of the ridge which bounds
1T are several clusters of farmhouses.
found fascination of kind, in this
waste region, which seemed to belong
hardly more to the land than to the sea;
and spent many happy days exploring
it Here and there. rising from the
marsh. were rocky hillocks, steep
isided. and dotted with dwarfed trees
and bushes wherever, by accident, sui
ificient soil had collected to give the
roots a covering. On one of these islands
las they may be called for want of 9
better term-I discovered house, old
land long untenanted, but not dilapi-
dated. Why it's builder had chosen its