Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-08

Yes" said the doctor as he crammeu
the tobacco into his pipe, what you say
about French fortune hunters is true and
only goes to show that kind hearts do not
always throb\ with Norman blood, and
that a man may be born with coronet
and yet lose every vestige of simple faith
before he attains his majority. On the
other hand the converse is true. and one
cannot practice medicine for many years
without discovering that a natures noble
man is not always the mere mythical ere
alton of the She Meant Well, But Went
Wrong type of melodrama, that he is pop
ularly supposed to be.
Speaking Of natures noblemen,'' con-
tinued the doctor, as he at last succeeded
in inducing his pipe to draw, well, III
tell you about it.
II had operated on fourteen-year-o!d
girl who lived in neighboring suburb,
for mastoid abscess, which had been the
eliminating result of a long-continued aus
delicate sickly child, whose mother had
died at her birth. and who had been
brought up by her grandmother, with the
idea that it was criminal to be i'll and
cowardly to complain. Under this mask
of repression, the disease had slowly. ad-
vanced until it had reached point where
1t was a question of immediate surgical
interference, or an equally lmmeolate
early in the morning, as is the custom now.
in order that the patient may recover from
the effects of the ether and the shock OF
the operation before night. everything
had gone well and without hitch, ana
beyond a rather long-continued depression
of the hearts action there had been no
complications. At my second visit at mid
day the heart was still weak and the pulse
feeble. Stimulants however, brought them
up and when 1 saw her again at pm.
everything seemed as favorable as possible.
l instructed the grandmother to let the
girl sleep quietly, but if the heart dropped
or she seemed weak, to give her more
brandy and to telephone me-
AT about midnight she called me up to
say that the girl had fainting spell and
was very low, and requested me to come
few things that l thought l should need
and being lucky enough to catch an electric
car without waiting, l was soon at the
house 1 noticed 1 walked up the park
ing, between the gate and the steps, that
there was no sign of light about the prem
Uses. with the exception of a faint CLEAN
from the window Of the tnvalid's room.
This was accounted for. by the grand
the cook. who lived in the house, had been
called out suddenly by illness and that
the cooks niece, who acted as maid, slept
at her own home. They were very worthy
Scotch people, she went on to explain, so
that while it was very inconvenient she
would have to put up with 1t for that
night at least She offered to light the
gas in the entry, but as l already knew
the way l followed her without trouble in
the darkness to the sick room. There |
found the child practically in a state Of
collapse the heart weak and low, the pulse
small and Pickering, and the feet and
hands like ice. 1 gave her brandy and
then the grandmother and I rubbed her
with alcohol and put hot water bags at
her feet This not producing the desired
effect 1 started to administer nitro-glyce-
the bottle in my hypodermic case was
empty.
Hastily writing a prescription l handed
it to the grandmother, but then remember
ing that she had no one to send, l d.
rected her to keep up the rubbing, to give
more brandy, If necessary, and started to
go to the drug store myself. On reaching
the front hall. l was suddenly confronted
by huge colored man, who was standing
close to the front door.
Here, 1 cried, take this to the near
est drug store and hurry or the girl will be
dead before you get back
THE man took it in silence and then as
he turned to open the front door he said,
Boss, is the little girl very ill.,?
$50 ILL., l answered, that she Will be
dead if you don't hurry
He unlocked the door, and then asked
very earnestly, How old is she?'
Fourteen / exclaimed, and she will
never be any older unless you CO.
with that he departed, but could hear
him mutter: My Cod fo'teen, fo'teen and
operated on! l returned to the bedside to
find that the child was holding her own,
the pulse was firmer and there was already
a faint flush in the cheeks, while the lips
and ears were not so deadly white.
I'm an incredibly short space of time the
colored man returned and hearing his tread
the steps went down and took the bot
tie from him.
How is the chid? he asked, can I do
anything more?
II told him to sit down and wait and /
would call him if l needed him, and left
him there like patience on a monument.
Half hour later the crisis was over
and all well. l started for home,
with a mind relieved, but as L crossed the
hall there was my herculean friend, look
ing even larger as he sat huddied up on
his entry chair. His feet were the most
enormous things l had ever imagined, and
covered as they were only by thick wooden
stockings, seemed to fill up the entire pas
sage way. He was very respectful and
after telling him that all danger was over
and that he could shut up and go to bed,
he wished me a civil good night and locked
the door most carefully after me. 1t was
a beautiful night. or rather morning, as l
strolled down the hill. But either the re-
lief from anxiety the long trying day
perhaps a combination of the two-had
wearied me sadly and after waiting over
half an hour for car l was thankful to
curl up in a corner and was soon doing in
my seat. Suddenly when l was half way
on my journey, 1 became instantly wide
awake with all my faculties alert, trying
to answer the one predominant question in
my mind
"'What was that man and what was he
doing in the house at that time Of the
night?
Nonsense / argued. he was doubtless
some friend of the cooks, some humble
retainer who ran errands for an occasional
meal That was simple enough until I re-
membered that the old lady had told me-
with the greatest pride that the woman
was Scotch-very Scotch, as she emphasized
it. What the good soul meant by very
Scotch l did not know, but l have visions
of a quasi Lady Macbeth, who wore a
cooks apron made of plaid and who danced
the sword dance between the sending up
of the soup and the dishing of the fish,
Clearly my midnight friend was not a
hanger-on of hers.
Then too, there was the damning fact
that he was inside the house without the
knowledge of any one, with thick stocking
ed, shoeless feet and that he had lighted
the gas after / went upstairs, as l remem-
bered reading the prescription over, as I
handed it to him, to guard against a mis-
take. On the other hand he had not only
gone for the medicine but had also paid
for it. For when l put my hand in my
pocket to give him the money and found
that it was in my overcoat upstairs he
had said he had enough and departed at
once.
inlx ha In,