St. Tammany farmer., 1901-04-20
NE. F xENRY WHARTON

be ae 1nitted it to himself At 1:4s
oc xcck .. m. on October IL, in
de year of Our Lord 1900. after a
season of wrestling with himself
which had lasted for five mortal
hours In the lonesomeness Of his apart
:ments. Over and over again he had de-
niec it to himself, but 1t last had been
compelled to admit it.
Dr.. Henry Wharton was compelled to
be honest with himself. His entire sue
cess had been built upon the analytical
clearness of his brain. The reason Of
his phenomenal rise in his profession
At m age when most men OF his years
were struggling for the faintest recog-
milton, was that he never sought to con-
vince himself of anything. He observed
and then drew his conclusions with the
accuracy and impersonslity OF ma
chine
He had found it very hard to do this
in the present emergency. but the crisis
mas so important and the issue SO vital
that he had compelled himself to apply
rthe rule OF his professional life to the
matter, and the habit of years had tri-
umphed and he had faced himself with
the hard. cold Tor rather the warm.
pulsating) fact that he was heels over
head in love, and, try as he could. he
could not help it. And what made mat
tiers worse, all his phenomenal profes-
xionai success and the glowing promise
of the future which all indications held
out to him, appeared as naught to the
dream Of the successful elimination OF
hie desires regarding pretty Elsie
Burns, the pink and white daughter
of the blum old major, whose case he
had taken 1T the earnest request OF
friend and retained partly because OF
genuine admiration of the sturdy quail
ities of the old soldier and partly (he
confessed in his relentless self-exam'
ination) through the attraction OF the
seIf-sacrificing daughter.
DIR. Henry Wharton was .. southerner
by birth and training. His people OF
the foregoing generation had all been
alaye owners, and all the men of any
account had been in the confederate
army. He had grown up in the stupe-
tying atmosphere of the south in the
years following the war. but after grad.
usting from college and lying around
on the decaying and bankrupt planta.
tiun for two or three years he had raj
lied one day and announced his inten'
tien to become . great physician. More
Of the meager patrimony OF the house
had been expended on his professions
h. vrnnynnnH he
ceived his sheepskin he had headed for
the great northern city determined to
win the first laurels Of his profession
or 20 down in ignominious defeat. i,
had been . hard struggle, but he had
chung to it with . persistence foreign to
the traditional qualities Of the people
of the south. Selecting speciality
that Of lung diseases. he had pursued II
with . persistence which sasored ol
the Yankee character, added to all the
ardcr o1 the south. 1t was hard
struggle, but he won, not only as ali
psrsistent effort wins, but with the
added success which comes from bril-
; liant attainments. In the great com.
nercial metropolis of the north he be
came It the age Of 80 the foremost au'
tnority in his chosen specially. lee
trrsr in the most famous medical col
l.xes. counselor in the most important
hospitals and the man most sought aft
er by the wealthiest patients.
II was about this time that . friend
begged him to lend his great talents te
the case of old Maj. Burns. The maloi
was = veteran OF the union army who
had seen gallant service in the rebel
lion. He was pensioner-with mos'
modest pension, and resided in the mos'
fnexpensive of apartments with hi.
daughter Elsie, . daughter who hsd
come to him late in life, and whose birth
had cost his wife her life. The major
was aniicted with pulmonary trouble
and a mutual friend had interested Ut
wharton. He went at the behest OF
friendship. He found himself little In
terested in the case. which, in sooth
was commonplace enough from thu
..andnoint of . specialist He con
t;nued. however, to attend the major
although he had seen after . few VIE
its that there was nothing he could Dc
70 bring permanent RELIEF. Instead o,
droppin1 the case when he satasnec
himself Of this-as was the case usually
IN .he course of his practice. he found
himself making visits more ana mofs
frequently; and what was moro scan
6alous. he found himself indulging IN
divers and sundry deceits tending u
comfort the majors state OF mind, ou'
more particularly to bring to Elsie
rosy cheeks glad smile and look q
: sraHtudes This had been going on fol
some weeks. when DR.. Wharton held
hieh counsel With hinseh and decided
!. grsa1y to his perturbation, e noted
above, that he was in love with the faa1
daughter Of his patient.
he discovery Distracted him great
T. He vas not = lAdy's naA in any