The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-03-30
THE SENTIMENT DENTIST
AllD. HIS. HORRIBLE. MISTAKE
Fein Love With Patient With Disastrous Results the End OF
Which Was His Giving Up His Practice.
!,

strength and purity and beauty Of t. the
molar. In my excitement 1t Is possiDle
that l. COMPOUNDED professional mstihct
with personal devotion was no longer
mss ter Of my words or@thougnts. = naus ..
have been eloquent, for at last 1 saw
thai she was moved. She shook Win
suppressed emotion. and smiled on me
Tor the first time since she had entered
the Office.
You are very kind, DR.. Tucker, she
SAID, .but all that you say is useless anu NJ
some of it do not understand. = came
here to have a tooth drawn. ~ you
kindly do as have desired. or let me
60 elsewhere. 1t will be time enough
to speak Of other matters afterwards.
s.What did she mean? Was it possible
that -? No matter, I would do her
bidding and extract the fated molar,
though, as Tennyson says, though my
heart be at the root. I was intoxicated
bin ded, with mingled love, hope. 5Wonoe1'
excitement, as I leaned over the chalr,{
and turning my eyes away lnVolutllldalll lllS'
applied the fatal forceps.
.'She did not Shrek, nor faint, nor
falrer, though 2, spasm Of pain con2ulseu
her beautiful features for an instant.
AS for me- I was grief-stricken at the
needless sacrifice, but uphorne by the
consciousness Of duty done
There I exclaimed, holding aloft
tie proof of my self-sacrifce; have
obeyed you at a. cost to my feelings which
you can never comprehend. I have no
desire to display my superior Judgmen
for, as you know too well, dearN MISS
Baker II was very sorry here that l rad
never learned her first name; Tor II IS
g. little disconcerting to have to make
an impassioned address to the object Oh
your devotion as dear Miss anytllnsy'
but if YOU will be kind enough to examine
this molar, you will see that the little
trouble which has given you SO much
pain. and i1npelle6 you to this great sacis-
fce, could have been remedled Wllhoue
So heavy a cost.
'.I don't want to SEQ it, she cr1ea,
turing away her head; ! hate 1t. Iake
it away and burn it, / say.
But conscious Of rectitude. and anA-
ic,1s, perhaps over-anxious. to show my
superior Judgment, L continued:
..s'rardon me, my dear Miss Is. u
thought dear Miss b. was a little less
stiff and formaD but really must request
that you notice, if only for an instant.
that tho decay. or carries at the oasc OF
the tooth, is merely superficial. VIII
roint 1t out with the end oflthe PROBE.
1t is just there
IAN then if you will believe me, when
turned the tooth to the light to locate
the spot exactly. could not find a. speck
or shadow Of decay anywhere. l couia
hardly believe my eyes; so L put on my
glasses, with trembling fingers, and then
then, for the frst Tune ulacofeleu
my fatal error.
II actually sl,rieked aloud in my re-
morse and horror-for / had drawn tho
wrong tooth!
She saw it in my face. T think, for
she simply set her lips firmly. and in ICY
tones asked:
xviii you be good enough, Mr.. Tuck
err to tell me what you have done now?s
What couldtI say? What would YOU
have said under the circumstance:
tried to explain. in1plored- her for
giyeness. l told her, that woul pro-
cure the finest artificial tooth the
habltable globe, to repair my terrible
mistake.
''She rose from the chair. and went into
the retiring room without a word. and
presently came back with her hat and
cloak on.
Then drawing herself up to her full
height, and surveying me from head to
foot, she said:
:. If i understand you Alright. you have
made me a iiattering offer of the gifted
hand which has just dsfgureG my mouth.
II it were possible for on be in
suited by an inferior, you haa one your
best to insult me. You have only sue
ceeded in inf1icting physical INJURY, for
which 1 shall take care to have you
suitably punished
'sThcn, sir, by Jove, she walked out.
siamming the door after her. If had
felt like following her. I need not have
opened it'll was small enough to so
through the key-hole.
".What happened afterwards you
ask Nothing happened afterwards.
There hasn't been any afterwards yet,
worth mentioning. This is Thursday.
isn't it? Well, that is the Thursday I
spoke of in the beginning. The lady
you met on the stairs is Miss Baker.
What will happen 1 don't know, don't
intend waiting to find out, either.
have had enough of life here. Don't
stir, sir am going to finish filling that
cavity tonight, if I am ever to fill it.
Tomorrow you won't find any DR..
Tucker, no matter if every tooth in your
head was afire, as I hope they aren't
going to be-
So ended the Dentists Story. I stopped
to reason with him, after paying my bill.
telling him that he must not yield to
despair, that there were ''as good fish
in the sea- etc., and faint heart and
SO forth; but he only shook his head
despondently, limited that he would know
more about the sea and it's fish; before
morning, and utterly refused to listen to
my: Weak commonplace.
is felt a little uneasy after leaving the
office, and even went out of my way to
drop into the police headquarters and
impart my suspicious. The Chief thanked
me and said he would send a man to
KEEP an eye on the erratic dentist. But
when the man called at the office he
found it closed, and the janitor Gould only
inform him that DR.. L. had gone out
about eight o'clck and taken the street
leading towards the river.
There was an item in the papers of the