The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1897-12-30
A NEW YEAR EPISODE
BY HELEN A. MORTON,

otuth WdltOu, was as new anu Cnedp
and crude as the substantial old town
Of Walton, of which it was an offshoot,
Was sober, dignified and respectable.
New streets, rough and unfinished, ran
at right angels with the railroad track,
and were lined on either side with pre-
tentious little dwelling-houses, which
had heavy looking round towers out of
all proportion with the buildings which
they were supposed to adorn, but
which they only vulgarized and cheap
ened.
The few public buildings were hud-
died about the railroad station, and
were as plain as the dwelling houses
were ornate, but had the same air of
newness.
One of the plainest of these was di-
rectly opposite the station. 1t was a
big, box-like structure, two stories
high, just primed over with an ugly
reddish yellow paint, through which
the coarse nails and the pencilings of
the lumber dealer were plainly visible
There was a narrow hall through the
3,
transom over the door, and a window
at the extreme end.
On one side of the door was the post
office; on the other the South Walton
branch Of the Walton public library
and the inevitable laundry Office and
Small-wares store combined.
A modest tin sign on the left-hand
door post informed the public that "E.
Nelson, M. d." had an office on the sec
a1d floor, and the same name appeared
in larger letters over the rough piazza,
between two windows on the right
The shades at these windows were a
soft ecru, and the windows themselves
were bright and clean. In marked
contrast to those in the lawyers Of
dce across the hall.
The people at South Walton were
somewhat slow, at first, to accept Doc.
tor Nelson, on account of her sex; but
Walton was four miles away; those
who consulted her because she was at
hand did so afterward because they be-
iieved in her; then they spoke of her
70 their friends, and so 1t came to pass
hat three months after her first ap-
pearance in the place, she had a very
respectable showing of names upon her
books.
Now all this promised well for the
future prosperity of Doctor Elaine Nell
son, but such prospective success did
not materially alter the fact that New
Years Day found her in the unenviable
position of a person with her last dol
lar in her pocket. She was an orphan:
her nearest relative was half brother.
now In the West, and as he had not
approved of her choice of profession
lhe was too proud to appeal to him for
aid. The thousand and one expenses,
little and great, of moving and settling
in this, her first practice: some bills
contracted during her year of hospital
work, the rent and incidental expenses
VI her life at South Walton, had re-
t1ced to this what had seemed at the
outset money enough to last at least
six months, In case she had no patients
for that length of time
She tried to joke about her plight to
herself, She had bridged over many
rough spot in her path by persistent
~ looking at the humorous side, but
It was hard to see any chance for a
joke on this occasion.
Who corld be jovial on the eve of the
New Year if in a strange town, with
no relatives within a thousand miles;
with only bread and butter and an egg
in the larder, and only a dollar in ones
pocket?
Certainly not Doctor Nelson, al
though she made brave attempt, Gay-
ing to herself
We'll, one can't starve on bread and
milk, and there's coffee and that egg.
only hope 1t won't prove a bad one.
Nven II no patient comes In between
now and tomorrow, still have my
dollar; / can't starve, though l shall
Il course be lonely. am glad I have
that dollar. To think Of beginning the
year with gnawing hunger biting at
my digestive organs, and my birthday,
too! i had quite forgotten that. Well,
can't freeze, fortunately, in this
steam-heated house. l really must eat
that egg for supper. I'm so tired of
bread and butter, and shall surely
have some Office call before night"
But the evening wore away, and no
one called except the postman with n
letter from her hslf-brother. This is
what she read:
A