Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1906-10-03
A Doctors Story



hecked by the leaves OF a tree. 1t is
a mixture of light and shade, though
I admit that the shade greatly pre-
dominates. He will announce to q
family that one of Its loved members
Is doomed, jump into his buggy and
drive to his next patient to find a hap
py household getting a convalescent
put of bed.
The greatest relief | have felt In my
professional duties has been In bring
ing a child safely into the world. The
strain over, the mother smiling, the ia
Their taking a "bracer," the nurse put
ting on the baby's first clothes-all
these are as delightful to the physician
who has borne the responsibility as
to any member of the family. l had
gone home one night from such a
scene as this and, tired out, had
thrown myself on a lounge. l was
falling asleep when the clock struck
IL, and at the same moment my night
bell rang violently. Rousing myself, l
went to the door. There stood a man
white as a sheet, and | noticed blood
on his coat sleeve.
you a s~urgeonf'
Yes; physician and surgeon"
"Come with me, quick. My wife will
die before you can get there"
My man had not finished unhar-
Messing my horse, and l directed him
m mt him haal In tho hIIUOu Thor
| asked the stranger to get In and got
In myself. AS we drove off l asked.
rs 1t far?"
about six miles"
six miles! Did you walk itf''
"Yes-no. Whip up your horse. We
shall be too late"
There was something uncanny about
this person and | began to feel an In
stinctive dread Of him Though he was
sitting beside me l could neither zeal
him breathe nor see any rising or fall
ing of his chest. But l attributed this
to my own disturbed feelings, for l do
not know that l could have heard the
II or seen the other. My horse
seemed as Uneasy as l and SHE'D at
every object beside the road. Con
stantly urged to drive faster, l was not
long In making the distance, and on
arrival at a massive dwelling standing
alone In large grounds / was ushered
into a parlor. There on a lounge lay a
young IN Beside her knelt a man
about her own age, and another wom-
an who looked younger han the invalid
sat weeping at the foot Of the lounge.
Removing al afghan with which the
invalid was covered l saw blood on the
clothing and soon discovered a large
knife wound In the side. 1t was my
duty to tell those present that the wo-
mans life was ebbing out and that she
could live but a few moments. All
made way for the man who had
brought me, and quivering in every
nerve he leaned over her. 1 heard her
say, "I forgive you, darling" There
was a fainting, q rattle in the throat
and the woman was dead.
l have no recollection OF anything
further till In the gray Of the morning
l found myself sitting in my buggy,
my horse tied to a post before he gate
Of the house l had been In. How l
OullC dlClC L 1oot1 NV SObJS(NoAS" 1io
house was closed and not a light was
10 be seen within. Then l noticed that
every shutter was closed and b house
had a dilapidated appearance. 1t was
hard for me to believe l had been In an
Inhabited dwelling In which l had
passed through a death scene. My
nerves, or, rather. my brain. seemed top
pling. To pull myself together / en-
deavored to Danish that which was
now a confused picture by calling up
It's predecessor, In which the central
figure was a newborn child. Again l
laid the infant beside Its mother and
saw the heavenly smile with which she
greeted 1t, while the father bent over
and gave both u kiss. This gave me
time to recover, and l turned my at
tention again to the house before me.
As a wind blew over 1t, rustling the
leaves on the trees beside 1t, there was
a want of response which told me for
the first time that no one was within.
Where had that death group gone?
l got out of the buggy and unhitched
my horse with a view to putting dis
lance between me and the grewsome
place as quickly as possible l
heard the sound of wheels, and pres
emily a mllkman drove by. l hailed
him, and he pulled In his horse.
"Is that house ~occupiedY' l asked.
mo, and it hasn't been In ten years"
Singular" l said musingly.
eve was talkin' about 1t last night.
1t was jist ten years at midnight that
the Morrison murder took place there.
Mrs. Morrison was conidante in a love
affair of her sister hat was forbid
den by the girls parents. Her hus-
band didn't know nothin' about it, but
he got on to it and suspected the girls
lover was his wife's lover. The lovers
were married secretly, and Mrs. Nor
riSon was harborin' 'em unknown to