Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-08-02
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Doctor at Pleasant Hill.
rCopyright. 1872. by :. b. LewIs.I


to have doctor. When the ragged
disciple of Esculapius came to camp
with his satchel, Jim Davis. the COM
mittee's spokesman. said to him:
Stranger. do We know yer bizness as
a DOCTOR
''Is thar any critter yere as says
don't?" demanded the doctor as his
right hand went back for his gun.
1--WE want somebody who kin tell
broken leg from case of typhoid fe-
ver," continued jim, land if ye are the
man the job is open. The last critter
took skip bekase he treated Tom Bar
Ium fur dyspepsia instead OF broken
rib. Should We make any SIGH mistake
as that
II never make medical or surgical
blunders." stiffiy interrupted the new
doctor as his hand went back again.
Are We Il sensitive cuss?"
CAS- to my purfeshun. yes"
And the stranger drew his revolver
from its holster and looked around him
FOR Il human target. The committee ad-
mired his action. He was Il doctor with
sand. He was proud of his profession
and would fight for it. The next day
he entered upon his Job" and word
went about the camp that we had
fighting doctor and that there was to
be no fooling with him. He had a
shanty by himself, and he said lie had
with him in his satchel all necessary
drugs and surgical instruments. 1t was
week before he had u case. Then
Abe johnson had an attack of bilious
colic-that is, dozen of us pronounced
it bilious collie, when the doctor arrived
and felt of his pulse and looked at his
tongue and said it was the beginning
of serious case of dropsy. AS he said
it his hand went back to his gun, and
he looked around and listened for pro-
testations. There was none, and he
ordered that Abe should be stood on
his head for five minutes to let the
blood leave his feet and then stripped
of all his clothes and then wrapped in
a water soaked blanket. The water
was ice cold at the time, and it took
four of us to get the blanket around
the yelling and struggling Abe and
keep 1T there for an hour. The cure
was complete. There are things which
even bilious collie has to give in to, and
the way we treated Abe would have
scared the yellow fever out of camp in
a hurry.
This remarkable cure of "dropsy"
was one for the new doctor, but he
didn't come out quite so well with his
next case, which was that of Joe
Singleton. Joe complained of pains in
his head, a terrible backache and
dry throat, and the doctor said ii was
a case of catarrh of the stomach. He
had his hand on the butt of his pistol
as he looked around to see who differ
ed with him. but nobody opposed his
diagnosis. He left n powder TO be
given every thirty minutes, and the
half dozen of us who tasted it was
sure it was nothing but ginger. At the
end of two days the patient was worse,
and the doctor bled him and also rails
ed a blister on the stomach and order
ed the patient to drink two quarts of
hot water. Nothing awaited, however,
and Mt the end of ten days Joe expired.
There was no question but what the
Lord had removed him in spite of all
that medical science could do. There
might have been, but the doctor said
it was so, and he said it while toying
with his gun. and it seemed best to let
him have his way.
A few days later old Tom Hastings
fell over the rocks anil broke his collar
bone. The doctor was sent for, and
ne felt of Toms pulss and looked at
his tongue and dalliedwith the collar
bone, and by and by ekaid:
"You had n fall, but your collar bone
Is only bruised. What ais you is or
ganic weakness of the heart, and if
you don't do exactly as l tell you
you'll be a dead man in a week"
But he can't raise his ann, and that
shows n broken collar bondp' protested
Toms chum.
''Does it?' demanded the doctor as
he felt for his gun. 81 doRt think it
does If there is any onefhere who
wants to pick me up on my diagnosis.
why
That was enough. He was not picked
up. He dosed Tom with sonhe of that
ginger, ordered starvation| diet and
blistered the soles of his feet to draw