The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-31
Of Dick Pearson
And His Friend, a Physician
Who Saved Him,

An excellent narration is that by a
writer in the New York Evening Post
who is basing his story on facts. He
writes:
The logs were burning snappishly.
Cond had piled them in the big fireplace
so cunningly that the flames wrapped
them in a riotous arabesque-
At last the doctor said, as he, stirred
his glass: st doubt if anybody who has
not had my experience, knows what des-
olation is"
Were you ever in an army post in an
Indian country, six hundred miles from
supplies, with a weeks blizzard raging,
and the wolves trying to jump the pal
isades?' asked Palfrey.
NO." said the Doctor; that is some
thing like effeminate luxury beside my
! experience. You never dropped off the
stern of a vessel in the middle of the
! Atlantic. without anybody's knowing it.,
did you?"
NO replied Palfrey, with a smile.
Did you?"
81 did," said the Doctor with that con-
scious superiority which a man shows
only when he has been worse off than
| anybody else. 81 did, indeed; and, by
Jove, the curious part of It, come to
think, is, it's a Christmas story"
The doctor stopped moment as if try
ing to recall something; then he said to
me, ''Why, you must have known of the
Pearsolls-they came from Westbury."
'Dou you mean the school Pearsolls?'
Why. of course, I knew them. We used
to call them the school Pearsolls' be-
cause old Job had four daughters who
were all school teachers"
Yes; but he had a SON.
81 never knew anything about him. He
was a black sheep wasn't hep"
well that depends on how you look
at it. I am inclined to regard him as
an angel of light and the doctor smiled
in his own benignant way and presently
resumed: II couldn't tell this story to-
night if it hadn't been for him. He ran
away and went to sea, to the disgust of
his sisters, who would never tolerate him
afterwards. When I came home from
the mate of that vessel. He had chang
ed his name and was known on board as
Dick Pearce. When We had been out
two days word came to the cabin that
Dick was dead. The captain, an old
Gloster man, cursed and swore at his
luck, and asked me to make out some
kind of certificate before they shot the
fellow overheard. Well I was a pretty
fresh young student, and had all the
recklessness of my kind. went for
ward and sat down in front of a bunk
with official complacency to frame some
kind of authoritative excuse for his dy-
ing without any Of the usual prelimin-
aries. He was rolled up in a dirty
blanket, which I tore off. and, pulling
the body over so I could see the face,
1 was astonished at the delicacy of it,
which death had apparently enhanced.
All the superficial roughness Of the sea-
man had left it. 1 sat there with a pad
in my hand, trying to think Of the cas-
lest way out Of it, and was just about
to write heart disease on my pad as
the safest conclusion, when I looked up
and saw two men behind me, one of
them holding a large canvas sack.
"Is it all right, Doctor?' he asked.
You see, there's a squat comm up, and
we've got to get him over at once
GAS he said this I was looking at the
corpse and thought I saw the eyelid
twitch. You are very apt to have such
an illusion when you stare at an object
in the dim light; but 1 said to the men,
Wait a minute and I jammed my ear
down on the cold breast Not the faint
est murmur, and yet it was not as cold
as I expected. Bring me a candle. I
said. One of them brought a light, and
I held it close to the dead eye. At first.
it was no use; the pupil did not stir. But
something made me push the experiment
a point further. I made the narrow
room as dark as could and then struck
the light suddenly, and thought there
was a slight contraction of the pupil !
That decided me. I sent the men away, |
took my coat off. and put the flame OF
the candle close against the flesh Of the !
mans arm. The smoke blackened it so !
that I could not plainly discover any |
thing, but I persisted. and after wiping |
away the SCOT saw something like a lit |
was one of those cases of suspended an |
imation which so often deceive the su- |
perficial observer. Then I got a lancet |
and opened a vein. You have no idea /
what an intense moment that is to |
doctor who is reaching down into a pro- j
found mystery. At first the incision /
showed no blood. I stared at It with so |
much suspense that I could hear my |
own heart beat, and then I saw a little /
red bead form and grow. to break away !
like a tiny bubble and drop upon the /
floor. 1t was followed by another and /
another. While 1 was watching it, the |
captain came in cursing and swearing, |
and wanted to know by all the fends /
what the devil I was monkeying with
that corpse for. Then it flashed into my
mind that perhaps the man himself was
conscious and could hear our converse
ton, and said with considerable en-
ergy: Captain. he is not dead
q Not dead?' shouted the old sailor.
Let me tel you, young man. I've seen
more dead men than you have. and this
one can't stay aboard my craft with a
black nor'wester comm up hand over
hand My men are waiting to shove him
over
he IS not dead I said. and II you
shove him over. III stand against you
with a charge Of murder. unless you
shove me over, TOO
He let out an cath and went on deck.
I think he hated me from that momen,
With the stupid hatred that only a su-
persJtious man can engender. Well. to
cut the matter short I pulled Jack
Pearce OUT Of It, worked over him for
hours With not = drop OF ammonia on