Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-12-16

ANNOYANCE When IL DIeW. TehenDeT
the appearance of his coat, which he
patched himself upstairs in his room,
and which, before the end, was nothing
but patches. He never wrote or re-
ceiyed letter, and he never spoke with
any but the neighbors, and with these,
for the most part, only when drunk on
rum. The great sea-chest none of us
had ever seen open.
He was only once crossed, and that was
toward the end, when my poor father
was far gone in a decline that took him
off. DIR. Livesey came late one after
| noon to sec the patient, took bit Of
dinner from my mother, and went into
the parlor to smoke pipe until his
horse should come down from the ham
let, for we had no stabling at the old
Benbow. I followed him in, and / re-
member observing the contrast the
neat, bright doctor, with his powder as
white as snow, and his bright, black
eyes and pleasant manners, made with
the coltish country folk. and, above all
with that filthy, heavy, blearcd scare
crow of pirate of ours, sitting far gone
in rum, with his arms on the table. Sud-
denly he-the captain, that is-began
to pipe up his eternal song:
Fifteen men on tho dead mans chest
Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle OF rumi
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo-ho-ho. and bottle OF rumi'
At first I had supposed 1.-The dead
mans chest" to be that identical big
box Of his upstairs in the front room,
and the thought had been mingled in
my nightmares with that of the one
legged seafnring man. But by this time
we had all long ceased to pay any par
ticular notice to the song; 1t was new,
that night, to nobody but DIR. Liyesey,
and on him l observed that it did not
produce an agreeable effect, for he
looked up for moment quite angrily
before he went on with his talk to old
Taylor, the gardener, on new cure for
rheumatics. In the meantime the cap
tain gradually frightened up at his
own music, and at last tapped his hand
upon the table before him in Il way we
all knew to mean-ailence. The voices
stopped at once, all but DR.. Ldvesey's;
he went on as before, speaking clear
and kind, and drawing brislfly at his
pipe between every word or two. The
captain glared at him for awhile,
tapped his hand again, glared still
harder, and at last broke out with u
villainous, low oath: silence, there
between decks!"
Were you addressing me, sir?" says
the doctor; and when the rufiian had
told him, with another oath, that this
was SO, IT have only one thing to say to
you, sir" replies the doctor, "that IL
you keep on drinking rum the world
will soon be quit OF n very dirty scoun-
dreli"
The old fellows fury was awful. He
sprung to his feet, drew and opened q
sailors clasp knife, and, balancing 1t
open on the palm of his hand, threat
ened to pin the doctor to the wall.
The doctor never so much as moved.
He spoke to him, as before, over his
shoulder, and In the same tone Of voice;
rather high, so that all the room
might hear, but perfectly calm and
steady:
"If you don't put that knife this in
slant into your pocket, promise, upon
my honor, you shall hang at the next
assizes."
Then followed a battle OF looks be-
tween them; but the captain soon
llnucllled under, put up his weapon, and
resumed his seat, grumbling like beat
en- dog.
And now, sir" continued the doctor,
"since | know there's such fellow in
my district, you may count I'll have an
eye on you day and night. I'm not
doctor, only; I'm magistrate; and If
catch n breath of complaint against
you, if lt's only for piece of inciviiity
like tonight, I'll take effectual means