Evening star., 1911-08-27
THE INHIBITION

sand miles of open sea, or, with 1ntu1tlonal
power that approached omnsclence, he
sensed from the unseen world of existing
facts the necessity of his presence at par
ticular time in a particular part of the South
Atlantic, the absolute necessity of his steering
due north against the dictum of his Captain
and the frenzied demands of starving men.
And the broken heads and broken bones that
/ mended after | had brought these starved
men to life testified to the fact that his sense
of necessity was strong upon him. He had
splintered live oak tlller on them.
Nov, enough of Dan for the present.
- must speak of myself, and Nellie. |
was graduated in time, received my diploma,
worked up small practice in the town, and
became a welcome guest in Nelles home;
but of course seeing her only during the IN
tervals of her fathers stay in port. After
few years during which time no word had
come to me Of Dan, and while Nellie had
matured to perfect beauty and womanliness,
l went down with nervous prostration due
to overstudy, and gladly accepted an invita-
ton from the father to make voyage with
him. 1t was easily arranged. | transferred
my few patients to a fellow practitioner,
packed my trunk, and boarded the ship at
New York, cheerful already at the prospect
of nearly years companionshlp with the
lovelleSt woman l knew.
But Nellie, whom had seen but once on
this visit home, seemed very abstracted and
uncompanionable. She was civil to me; but
no more, and | soon learned the cause. Her
father informed me that the mate OF an out
bound ship had waved greeting to them as
they towed in, and that, after burst OF ex
citement that nearly approached hysteria,
she had declared that it was Dan Boyd who
had once saved her life. Since then, he
said, Nellie had not been herself.
With further embarrassment between us
we sailed down the Atlantic, and in a month
reached the line, with its rains and Calms, its
squalls and momentary catspaWs, which, all
in all, go by the name of the doldrums. 1t
was here that we had our Christmas dinner,
good roast turkey from the coops for the
cabin, chicken and raisin duff with maple
syrup for the crew. 1t was an exceptionally
good dinner that the steward prepared for
us in the cabin, and we sat down to it filled
with Christmas spirit; even Nellie rouSing
from her moody state and entering INTO the
light and bantering talk at the table.
But it was the last meal that Nellie ate for
long time She refused her breakfast next
morning, as learned from the steward, and
toward the end of the day her father asked
me to attend to her professionally. She was
i'll, she could not eat, and had remained in
her berth From the limited medicine chest
prepared tonics; which she took for day
or two, then refused. They nauseated her,
she said but not SO much as the taste, the
sight, and even the thought, of food. In
vain did the steward, under my direction,
prepare dainty concoctions: she would turn
her face away and ask to be let alone. She
became irritable at last, and was forced to
consider her mood.
We caught the southeast trades in time,
and sailed on to the southwark, each day
showing increased emaciation of our patient
and increased antipathy to food Voluntary
starvation, we thought; for no other dag
nosis was possible. In mind or body were
no organic indications of disease, and |
watched her wasting away with emotions
that | cannot describe. Indeed, | need not;
for they have nothing to do with the case,
except, perhaps, that occasionally there
came to me fleeting, longing, hungering
wish for the presence of big Dan Boyd.
Her room was in the after cabin, across
. from her fathers, and here the anxious man
spent his time, leaving the navigation OF the
ship to the mate So far, as | have said,
there was no organic trouble; but about
: three weeks after her strange collapse slight
fever appeared, which, in her weakened con-
dition, brought on delirium. And in this
delirium she continually called, Dan, Dan!
Oh, come Come to me, DAM
Ii was heartbreaking; for nothing could be