The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1899-11-30

relationship was to
my naccustOmed
mind in a certain sense improper and
irksome. although by no means I'M
pleasant. Also it wasted time and
tended to direct our attention from the
vast undertaking to which we were
pledged Accordingly, within very
few days of the occurrence already de-
scribed, | visited a register, and hav-
ing, as it seemed to me, paid several
unnecessary fees, provided myself with
license. On my way back walked
down Fleet street, thinking amiably
of getting married and DR.. Johnson,
and intending to take the omnibus at
Charing Cross. AS | went | happened
to look up, and my eye fell upon no.
tice to the effect that a certain we'll
known life assurance company had its
offices within the building opposite.
Then it was that the idea first oc-
CURED TO me that / ought to insure
my life, so that, should anything hap
pen to me, Fanny might have some
thing to keep her from poverty. AS
it was, she would have absolutely
nothing. All that l had, and that my
wife had brought with her, was strictly
settled upon the boy John in such a
way that | could not even give my
subsequent wife a life interest in it,
or part of it. | stopped there in the
street, and having given the matter
a few moments consideration, came
TO the conclusion that it was my duty
TO provide for Fanny to small extent
say two thousand pounds.
Upon this decision, / crossed the
roadway, and, entering the Office,
some inquiries from clerk. AS il
happened, the doctor attached to the
company was at that moment in at
tendance and disengaged, so thinking
that / could not do better than get
disagreeable business over at once,
sent up my card and asked to see MIN.
The messenger returned presently,
with request that would "step up"
which l accordingly did, to find myself,
to my establishment, in the presence
OF an old fellow-student of my own,
with whom / had in former days been
tolerably intimate, but whom / had
not seen for years. We greeted each
other cordially enough, and after few
minutes talk / told him the business
had in hand, and he began his medical
examination with the series of stock
questions which doctors always put
upon these occasions.
The only point upon which he dwelt
at all was insanity, and he was SO
persistent upon this matter that ] per-
ceived he had heard some of the
-rumors about me being mentally de-
ranged, which my friends and relations
had so materially assisted to spread.
However, l got through that part of
the business, and then I undid my
shirt, and he proceeded with the ply
steal examination. First he applied
the stethoscope to my heart, and
quickly removed 1t, evidently satisfied.
Then he placed 1t over my right lung
and listened. While he did so, saw
his face change, and a thrill of fear
shot through me as 1t suddenly came TO
my mind that had experienced some
trouble there of late, of which ! had
taken no notice, and which had, in
deed, quite passed out OF my mind.
Next he tried the other lung, and
placed the stethoscope on the table.
What is the matter?" / asked, keep
Ing as calm face as I could, for /
could tell from his look that there was
something very wrong.
Come, Gosden, you are a medical
man yourself, and clever one, and
there is no need Tor me to tell you
about it,"
upon my word" / answered, "I
know nothing of what you mean. /
have not bothered about my own
health for years; but, now think of it,
I have had some local trouble on the
chest. last winter especially. What Is
1T 1t is better to know the worst"
Our rule here" he answered dryly,
lis not to make any communication to
the person examined; but, as we are
brother practitioners, suppose 1 may
dispense with it, and tell you at once
that l cannot recommend your life to
the board to be insured upon any
terms. That Is what is the matter with
you. old fellow" and he went on, in
terms too technical for me to write
down here, to describe the symptoms OF
one of the most deadliest, and yet
J most uncertain, forms of lung disease.
In short to pass sentence of death up
on me.
do not think am coward, and
! nope | took 1t we'll. The bitter irony
= OF the whole thing lay in the fact that
while was in active practice, / had
made this form OF disease a special