Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1911-07-28
4 BARREL OF
COMMON SALT
Surprising Effect 1t Had In
Shaping a Mans Destiny.


to his friend Quackenbos, what lit
tie thing will turn mans destiny? l
know a man whose present condition
of wealth and head of family, all he
is, came from the overturning of
barrel of salt"
81 don't believe it, Golightly, but 1
am ready to hear about it,
"Let me see. You know the man,
and / don't want to give you his name
till after you have heard the story;
then We'll see if you can guess who he
is. For the present his name is Tom
kins. When he was youngster he
studied medicine and on graduation
settled in a suburban place where
there were people of all degrees, from
millionaires to waSherwOmen. At the
end Of the first month he had not had
patient, so he resolved to go some
where else. The day before his intend
ed departure a Hveried servant hur
ried into his office and said that Miss
Buckman's favorite saddle horse was
dying and would he waive profession
al repugnance at doing veterinary's
work and go to see the animal.
"Tomkins needed money to square
up before leaving, so he concluded to
make veterinary of himself for that
once. When he reached the stable
yard there stood a girl of twenty,
pretty as a picture, evidently much
distressed, watching a horse lying on
his side.
"'Oh, DOCTOR she said on learning
of the groom who he was, if you will
only cure Bob I'll love you forever!
"Of course she was so ratified she
didn't know what she was saying, but
somehow it came to the doctor that he
would cure Bob and the girl would
love him forever. 1t takes a young
man, you know, to build castles out of
air. He went up to the horse that was
gasping for life, but before the doctor
could get anything down the beasts
throat he collapsed, and there he lay
with his tongue hanging out, dead. At
least if he wasn't dead there are no ap-
pearances by which a horse can be
known to be dead
"What could Tomkins do-a dead
horse on one hand and a fearful girl
on the other? He pretended to work
on Bob by rubbing here, feeling there,
pouring a mixture of bran and water
down his throat-he had nothing else
but it was no use; the horse was dead
as dOOrnail. TOmkinS wouldn't own
it to the young lady, but told her to go
in the house and he would remain to
observe and take advantage of the first
sign of returning consciousness.
Don't leave US, DOCTOR she pleaded.
Remain all night. Your room will be
on the second story, back, where you
can look down on the stable yard
''Tomkins declared he would never
leave Bob SO long as there was any
hope, and the young lady dragged her
self away and into the house, looking
back often to see if Bob had come to
life. Tomkins remained by the horse
till a servant came out and said that
if the doctor felt that he could leave
the invalid he was to come into din
ner. Of course Tomkins could leave a
dead horse, so he went in to dinner,
but broke away after hasty meal to
avoid the storm of questions as to the
horses chances Of getting well. He
had promised to stay all night. Be
sides, the more time he spent the big
ger bill he could make for services, so
q I hn tn1 hn no
If Bob showed signs of life to call him
and went to bed. The hostler knew as
well as Tomkins that Bob was dead,
so he went to bed, too, leaving poor
Bob's body where it lay in the stable
yard. But before retiring he telephon
ed the town scavenger to come the
next morning to remove the carcass.
'"Tomkins hadn't ever slept on such
a downy bed before, so he didn't wake
up the next morning till late. Then
he took a bath, dressed and before
going downstairs drew up the window
shade to have look at the corpse.
'No miracle ever astonished any one
as the sight he saw astonished Tom
kins. There was the whole family in
the stable YARD and Bob up on his
four legs eating sugar out of Miss
Buckman's band.
"'Oh, doctor!' cried Miss Buchanan.
Can one ever repay you? When did
the change Gomez
My dear young lady, said the doc
tor evasively, at no time in my pro-
fessional career have been so pleased
at saving a human patient as I am
now at saving your horse
"After looking Bob over and seeing
that he was in excellent health the
doctor whispered to the hostler:
"'When did he get upY
"'Don't know, DOCTOR replied the
man and ran to the gate to head off
the scavenger who was coming to re-
move the corpse.
4'Well, Tomkins got the secret of the
horses recovery from a stable boy.
The boy had shortly before overturned
a barrel of salt where the horses head
rested. The tongue, hanging out, had
come in contact with the salt Then
the horse, having been revived, licked
it, and it proved to be what he need
ed. TOmkinS married the grateful
girl and is today a successful practi-
toner. Now, Quackenbos, guess who
he isl
"You. Your story is well enough,
but fate only required that you should
meet the young lady for a sure case
nf rn11t1Ja1 lnyvn Tho 1,1+